Are you a restaurant or beer distributor looking to train your staff and get them ready for the Cicerone or MBAA Beer Steward Program? Well check out the new Beer Conscious Training Program. Great training that you can use for years.
This training package was just launched by the founders of Colorado Beer Week and there are some great deals for the next week or so. Don’t miss out.
Colorado Beer Week has only one ticketed event left that you can still get into. Our thursday event at the Falling Rock Tap House (1919 Blake St. Denver, CO) is our last ticketed event with a few more tickets to sell. All our other events have sold out and have been a great success.
This pouring of Alaskan SmoPo included vintages 2000, 2003, 2006 & 2009 and some amazing food provided by Falling Rock Tap House. Don’t miss out now, buy your tickets today. http://www.cobeerweek.com/products-page/premier-events/thur-april-14th/
Plus if you went on our Sold Out Cruiser Crawl on Sunday and you buy your Alaskan ticket now, you can get a free t-shirt from that day. We had a few leftover shirts and we’re giving them away with every ticket sold.
Many thanks to Outside Magazine for the piece on Colorado Beer Week over on their Facebook Page. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out at www.facebook.com/outsidemagazine
And don’t forget that we have listed our Opening Ceremony Beers at http://www.cobeerweek.com/events You aren’t going to want to miss these brews… Here is a sampling
Great Divide: In April we will have Colette Farmhouse ale in 12oz, 17th Anniversary wood aged double IPA and Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti both in 22oz bombers.
Oskar Blues: G’Knight Imperial Red, Old Chub, Deviant Dale’s IPA, One Nut Brown, Old Double Bagger Barleywine, Dales Pale Ale
Ska Brewing: 15th Anniversary beer – Dementia. (Euphoria Pale ale aged in bourbon barrels.), Mexican Logger
Strange Brewing Co.: Le Bruit du Diable Farmhouse Ale, Cherry Bomb Belgian Stout, Powerhouse Porter, Strange Pale Ale
Pumphouse Brewery: Sour Watermelon Wheat: American-style Sour Ale aged 3 months with Watermelon puree, Brettanomyces and Lactobacillius; Springtime Saison 2011: “American-style” Saison with Blood Orange zest and Jasmine Flowers; Oak Aged Backdraft Imperial Stout: American-style Imperial Stout aged with American Oak Shavings; Batch 1000 Barleywine: Our first ever American-style Barleywine to commerate our #1000 batch. Aged 10 months. 9.8% ABV
Bull & Bush: Kobee’s Double Irish Red 10th Anniversary Edition; Release the Hounds Barley Wine;
Tank Town Brown Ale (Imperial Brown Ale aged in a used 23 year old Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrel); The Legend of the Liquid Brain Imperial Stout (Imperial Stout aged in a used 23 year old Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrel)
Silverton Brewing Co.: COLD RUSH Golden Ale (limited release), Ice Pick Ale, Bear Ass Brown.
The Fort Collins Brewery: Edgar (Marzen Style Lager), 1900 Amber, Major Toms Pomegranate Wheat
Bristol Brewing: Compass IPA on Nitrogen, Yellow Kite Summer German Pils, Blackfox Spring Seasonal, Laughing Lab
We have been hard at work scheduling events that go above and beyond to offer you the best beer experience possible. We are still hammering out the last few details, but here is what we have going on. Make sure you get over to our events page to purchase tickets so that you get to enjoy all the great beers throughout the week!
FRI APRIL 8TH
Our Kickoff Event! Over 15 Colorado breweries will be pouring at this unique keg tapping.
If you are tired of the same old beer fest, don’t miss this unique Friday Night event. We will be pouring dozens of brewery’s beers, and representatives from each brewery will be on hand to tap their kegs and answer your questions about their beer. Your ticket gets you all the beer you could want during this event which lasts from 5:30 to 8:30 PM.
We’re not allowing any out of state breweries at this beer tasting and you won’t be disappointed in these unique pours. Plus we’re working on a celebrity keg tapping and we’ll have plenty of food available to purchase to pair with all that beer. PRICE: $39.99
SAT APRIL 9TH
Spend an afternoon with Odell Brewing Company and meet the Head Brewer and Owners of Odell.
Euclid Hall will be hosting an afternoon affair with Odell Brewing Company from 3PM to 6PM and you are sure to have a great time. For $25 you will get an exclusive pairing of 4 Odell Brews with 4 of the best appetizers you have ever had. The Odell team, Colorado Beer Week and Euclid Hall’s chefs are busy making these amazing pairings work and we’ll have 8 different pairings for you to choose from.
After you have sampled your initial 4 pairings, buy additional pairings and beers for just $5 each. Or, stick around after the tasting and enjoy Odell Beer Specials with a great Euclid Hall Dinner. PRICE: $25.00
SUN APRIL 10th
If you like Cruiser Crawls in Denver during the summer, get started early this year with Ska Brewing Company.
We will be starting downtown around 3PM and heading to 4 premier beer accounts that will be pouring some great Ska Brewing Company Beer. For your money we’ll buy you a Ska Brew of your choice and you’ll get $1 off each Ska beer you buy throughout the day.
Plus at each venue we’ll be giving away some awesome Ska & CBW Swag. What a great way to start the week. PRICE: $14.00
MON APRIL 11th
Our Exclusive Charity Golf Tournament at Pradera Golf Club!
The tournament starts at 11AM and we’ll soon be having a great time on this exclusive course. Jim Engh (Renowned Course Architect) will be there to MC the event and we’ll have a charity auction going on as well. Beer will be flowing freely throughout the course with several breweries pouring free beer on individual holes.
And to top it all off at the end of the day, we’ll have an exclusive beer and food pairing compliments of Fort Collins Brewery. You won’t want to miss this delicious food paid with these amazing beers after a great day of golf on this private course.
Plus, we’ll be holding a charity auction (to benefit the NSCD) throughout the day (with some great items donated by professional golfers and breweries alike. PRICE: $200.00
TUE APRIL 12th
Come to out on Tuesday after work to support Colorado Beer.
We’re donating a portion of the proceeds from this event to the Colorado Brewers Guild to make sure we continue to have great beer brewed right here in this state.
While you’re here you’ll get to talk to breweries about the inner working of the Colorado Beer Industry and drink beer from some of the most awarded Colorado Breweries throughout the state. PRICE: $20
WED APRIL 13th
Join Rogue Ales and Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Cafe for our Fresh Oyster Fest.
If you love to try new beers, this is the place to be on Wednesday. Rogue consistently brews dozens of styles, and they will have four of their best on display at this world class event.
We are overnighting thousands of fresh oysters caught just outside the Rogue Brewery in Oregon and pairing them with 4 exclusive Rogue Ales. For $25, you’ll get your first dozen and a pint of delicious Rogue Beer. After that, order as many dozens of oysters as you can handle and each time pair that with a new Rogue Ale. PRICE: $25.00
THU APRIL 14th
Join Alaskan Brewing Company and Falling Rock Tap House for this Vertical Tasting of Smoked Porter.
On Thursday evening (Starting at 5PM) we’ll be pouring 4 vintages of the most award winning beer in the United States. Alaskan’s Smoked Porter is brewed only once a year after the malt is smoked over Alder Wood.
For your ticket you’ll receive a healthy pours of the 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009 vintages. Plus, you can always head upstairs at Falling Rock to try more great Alaskan Beer that we’ll have on tap. PRICE: $30.00
FRI APRIL 15th
New Belgium has created an exclusive tour of their Lips of Faith Series.
The best part, this event is free! We’ll be posting which restaurants and bars downtown will be participating, but we are looking at 4 different venues to host Lips of Faith Beers. If you haven’t tried this once-in-a-liftime beers, you aren’t going to want to miss this.
New Belgium experts will be on hand to buy some beers for people and to answer your beer questions and we’ll be finishing with some great prize giveaways if you visit each account and try all of the Lips of Faith Beers.
Stay tuned for more more details about how to get your passport that proves you tried each beer.
SAT APRIL 16th
Our Closing Ceremony! We’ll be celebrating with a big event upstairs at Wynkoop Brewing Company.
We’ll have beers, food and plenty of fun at Wynkoop. Plus, we’ll be organizing a walking tour to 3 other iconic breweries downtown.
The walking parade to several downtown breweries will soon have the details announced, but plan on being at the Wynkoop at 2PM for the start of the closing ceremony. We’ll have plenty of great beer (included in your ticket price) and we are sure to have great food. Come finish off the Best Week in Beer with one of our best events. PRICE: $50.00
If you’re reading this you probably enjoy the the greatest beverage in the world, beer. And I bet many of you also like what I think is the greatest food in the world, bacon. What do you do to a recipe to make it better? Add bacon. Here are a few ideas I’ve been throwing around. I’m no beer pairing expert, but with the help of foodie and beer geek @JessHunter, we came up with a few suggestions. Check out the recipes and beers below. Let us know if you have a favorite recipe with bacon, and what beer you pair it with.
Beef stew with bacon - Hearty beef stew needs a beer that can stand up to the complex flavors. Fade to Black, Vol. 2 from Left Hand, a smoked Baltic porter, can do just that. With it’s heavily-armed smoky malt flavor is sure to go well with the bacon in this beef stew. The dark bready character and slight earthy hop bitterness also match the personality of the stew.
Grown Up Mac and Cheese - Gourmet macaroni and cheese has jumped on the scene as one of those comfort foods that is easy to make and will leave you fully sated and happy at the end of a meal. Adding bacon to mac and cheese is obvious, and an Imperial IPA would go well with the creaminess of baked mac and cheese with bacon. Perhaps Ska Brewing‘s Decadent, an Imperial IPA would work well. The fresh hop aroma and caramel creaminess make it a great partner to the mac and cheese.
Chocolate covered bacon – Delicious and easy to make, this simple dessert will be sure to please bacon lovers everywhere. Instead of a chocolate or cream stout, maybe a big beer, like Great Divide‘s Oak Aged Yeti would work well with the bacon. The vanilla character that comes on with the oak is a nice addition to the robust roastiness and up front hop aroma.
Everyone loves a pot-luck, and that includes beer geeks. Every once in a while we (the collective beer community) gather for our own version of a pot-luck, a bottle share. Some bottle shares are more of a bottle swap, where everyone brings something they’re willing to trade for that rare beer they’ve been coveting for so long. But personally, I prefer a bottle share where bottles are cracked and shared with everyone.
During these gatherings everyone brings a bottle or two (or more) of whatever they have tucked away in the back of the fridge, and it truly is a thing of beauty. Bottle shares often feel like an extremely intimate, and dare I say, exclusive, beer festival. I know my beer fridge that is filled with guilt. And by that, I mean I feel guilty opening one of those bottles without sharing. Whether it’s a bottle one of us went out of our way to find, a bottle of homebrew I slaved over, or just something I thought might be better after a couple years hanging out with his friends, I like to share with people who will appreciate it. I believe, and correct me if I’m wrong, most of us who enjoy great beer want to enjoy it with others, and play a little psychiatrist and talk about how the beer makes us feel.
Another beautiful thing about bottle sharing is that when friends get together it is virtually guaranteed that you will have the opportunity to try something you have only heard about, something that is rare or regionally hard to find. Passionate people are willing and happy to share these beers with like minded people, who appreciate the glory of beer.
So when you’re thinking about organizing your next get-together, think about your friends. Would they be interested in trying a few special brews? I bet they would.
