30 minutes Northwest of Denver lies the liberal central of Colorado, Boulder. Home to University of Colorado, the majestic Flatirons, and Boulder Beer Company. Boulder Beer Company is Colorado’s First Microbrewery, which is pretty impressive given the number of breweries in Colorado. The Beer Friends traveled to Boulder on their recent Colorado Brewery Trip on route to beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater and had a few samples. Are are a few highlights:
Cold Hop was fantastic out (t)here. We can find this beer in NYC and really enjoy it, but always think it can be a little something more. Direct from the brewery was fantastic.
There was nachos in the middle…
Mojo IPA is a good beer, but having it on the sampler platter close to the Mojo Risin Double IPA is unkind and unfortunate for regular Mojo. Mojo Risin is everything us “hopheads” want out of a beer – drinkable and hoppy – but not over spiced. Mojo is a good introduction IPA for people and Mojo Risin is a good IPA for us veteran drinkers out there.
Obovoid Stout is a delicious stout by any means. This is creamy enough to have hints of a milk stout but is a oak-aged Oatmeal Stout instead. Always a delicious pour and a excellent beer for the upcoming fall and winter seasons.
Happy October 25th!(?) Today the Beer Friends explore a newer fad within the beer community – Pumpkin Ales. Available in the fall season, these beers give a alternative to the traditional Octoberfest beers available inbetween Summer and Winter. We reviewed Blue Point Supreme Pumpkin Ale and Fire Island Pumpkin Barrel Ale to see which was better and why. This is a battle between two New York City area beers, and the Beer Friends have visited Blue Point Brewery but have yet to check out Fire Island Brewery. Pumpkin + Beer! = Pumpkin Beer!
Hola Beer Amigos. As October winds to a close the temperatures will continue to drop and the wind will start to pick up blowing that pre-winter chill right through to our bones. A good remedy for the precursory signs of winter is to step into your local NYC Craft Beer Bar and grab the last of the fall brews or, if you’re lucky, the first of our winter style favorites. (more…)
Our Colorado Brewery beer review continues… we got a lot of breweries to get through! This week we tried Boulder Brewing Co. Hazed and Infused. This is a unfiltered (hazed) and dry hopped (infused) and delicious. Beer!
Located in a industrial park off Arapahoe in Boulder, unless you know Avery tap room and brewery is back there, you’ll miss it. Bad decision. Avery brewery has been doing some powerful stuff over the last few years and being recognized for it in the awards they rack up each year. Year after year Avery produces big flavors and excellent beers, and these Beer Friends all the way out in NYC get excited for every time it pops up on our radar. Upon visiting we tried some fantastic samples are have a few quick thoughts.
Brad:
The Seventeen Dry Hopped Black Lager was fantastic. Lately I’ve kept my eye open for this “new” style (I say new only because I haven’t seen a lot and I’m assuming it, otherwise I’m way behind the times… oops) of Black Lagers and Black Pilsners. As soon as I saw Black lager I was sold and soon there after wasn’t disappointed. Bottled in May 2010, this was a one and done series so if you’re in the Boulder area, find Arapahoe Road and Avery Tap road for this one time offering.
The Out of Sight Stout is a take off their Out of Bounds Stout with Malawi coffee beans added to the brewing process. This was one of the more “coffee” stouts I’ve ever had, much like the 2010 Sixpoint Gorilla Warfare offering. This is a bit too acidic for me, but I enjoy a smoother coffee stout, much like I enjoy a little sugar and milk in my coffee.
Dry Hopped IPA this style is a new favorite of mine as well. The flavor change from a regular IPA that happens with the “dry hopping” is a welcome one in my book. A delicious take on a IPA from Avery.
This week we’re showing the first (filmed) Beer Friends review in October… so we figured we could continue our Colorado Brewery theme AND do a delicious Imperial Oktoberfest beer – enter Avery Brewing Company The Kaiser. This is available in bombers out here in NYC and that’s a good thing, at 9.73 ABV, you don’t want a six pack available. Beer! Prost!
Hey all you Beer Friends out there! Let’s see what’s happening beer wise in this great metropolis of ours throughout this upcoming week.
Monday, October 11 – Troeg’s Tasting Event @ Amity Hall, Manhattan: Amity Hall is the place you go to when your nosing around Washington Square Park with your friends that are visiting the city and wanted to see Washington Square Park and then want beer. You know it’s there, you might not head to an NYU neighborhood regularly, but today you know that you will not take your friends to a light beer bar on Bleecker, but you will take them to a good craft beer bar on West 3rd. If all this happens to be happening tonight, Monday, October 11, then you will be in for a treat: Troeg’s Tasting Event. Troeg’s is a fantastic brewery from outside of Philadelphia. So after your friends have taken their respective pictures in front of the newly aligned fountain in Washington Square, bring them to Amity Hall, head upstairs and drink Troeg’s. They’ll thank you for saving them from tourist dogma.
Tuesday, October 12 – I Love NY Beer Week: Captain Lawrence Night @ The Spring Lounge, Manhattan: The Spring Lounge is a great beer bar that borders the entrance to Little Italy, a.k.a. many New Yorkers Tourist Nightmare (seems to be a theme today actually). However, you are not in Little Italy, nobody is throwing pasta at you and I promise you only have to choose 3 different flavors of gelato if you want to. The Spring Lounge is spending the week appreciating New York Breweries, from all over the state, starting with Captain Lawrence out of Kingston, NY. Come on by and grab some Westchester Pale Ale, Brown Bird Brown and Liquid Gold. And if you want, you can head over to Little Italy and get some gelato on your way out. You can even choose 3 flavors for the same price. If you want to.
Craft Beer Week is over. And it was fantastic. Anything that brings that much craft beer into this great city of ours is a good thing. The Beer Friends were in full support throughout the week and were thrilled with all the great beer events. Thank you to the organizers, the bars and the brewers for fantastic times! Although NYC Craft Beer Week is over, the craft beer events have not stopped flowing. This week’s listing is non-surprisingly thinner than last week’s, however I think you’ll still be able to find some great gems to head out to.
Tuesday, October 5 – Sierra Nevada Night @ The Pony Bar: The Beer Friends favorite NYC Craft Beer Bar is throwing another epic brewery event in a chain of equally epic brewery events. If you remember last years Sierra Nevada night then you will want to head on over to this one. Sierra will be taking over the taps and throwing on a couple cask lines hopefully filling our beer desires with Tumbler, Torpedo, Rebellion, Chico IPA and many more favorites. If you know Sierra, and how many beers they brew, then you know you’ll be able to find one, or two (or three, or four) brews of theirs that will ignite your curiosity. Oh, and we always forget to mention that the craft beers at The Pony Bar are only $5. ALL THE TIME. Except for 4:20 – 5:20 everyday. WHEN THEY’RE ONLY $4. Get there early, get a table, order the Roast Beast ( or the Friend Oysters and Bacon, or the Avocado-Lettuce-Tomato if you’re a Vegetarian) and get as much Sierra Nevada brew as your body can handle (responsibly of course), in an All-American atmosphere, all while being easy on your wallet.
On the recent Beer Friends Colorado Brewery Trip we traveled all over the great state of Colorado in search of the best breweries. Growing up in Colorado, I though I had a pretty good list of breweries to visit and sample. Unfortunately, the Estes Park Brewery totally escaped my mind and shame on me. The Estes Park Brewery is a hidden gem amongst the vast beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park. Walk in downstairs and be sure to belly up and try a sample of each of their beers.
After a week off (well just one of us) the Six Pack of the Week is back! This week we are saluting Troegs from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which won a Gold Medal and two Silver medals in this years Great American Beer Festival. We tried the Troegenator Double Bock which won a silver medal in the Bock category. Congrats! Beer!
30 minutes Northwest of Denver lies the liberal central of Colorado, Boulder. Home to University of Colorado, the majestic Flatirons, and Boulder Beer Company. Boulder Beer Company is Colorado’s First Microbrewery, which is pretty impressive given the number of breweries in Colorado. The Beer Friends traveled to Boulder on their recent Colorado Brewery Trip on route to beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater and had a few samples. Are are a few highlights:
dingerc
Brad
Corporate Kerouac
Phil
