Adam Avery at the 2022 GABF

The Friday session for the Great American Beer Festival’s 40th anniversary wasn’t blessed by the crisp fall weather the festival often enjoys. Instead it was gray, damp, and a little chilly. In other words, perfect weather for a festival-appropriate warm flannel and malty beer.

I headed to the Colorado Convention Center to pick up my press pass wondering how GABF’s return after a two-year hiatus due to COVID would be.

There were some clear changes when compared to a few years ago, though overall it was still the event I’d grown to love. The Boulder County brewers I talked to were glad to be back and, as we started to walk through the rows of booths and beer drinkers, we found ourselves talking with Eric Briggs, co-founder of Lafayette’s Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. Between pours of Key Lime Gose, he shared his thoughts: “An absolutely awesome event. It’s weird, different to be here.” He added, “So much about downtown has changed. Falling Rock isn’t here. Freshcraft isn’t here anymore. But it’s still great to be back and incredible to see everyone here.”

As we walked further into the hall, we took note of what was the same as years past and what had changed. The first thing we noticed were fewer stalls and ample amounts of floor space, likely due to the fact that recent construction at the convention center resulted in 25% less floor space. There were still more than 500 brewery booths, a handful of food trucks, and live entertainment that went beyond the well-known silent disco.

We also noticed more costumes, including our favorite, a sparkly Elton John-Dodgers baseball player, and the festival’s ever-present bagpipers. We were also glad to see glasses rather than plastic cups had returned. There were three types: one for general guests, one for brewers and media, and one for PAIRED® attendees, an option that allows the guest to experience beer and food pairings.

Crowds at the 2022 GABF

Paired sessions felt different to us this year as well. It felt more crowded, with lines that moved faster but were longer than what we recalled from years past. We loved each of the pairings we tried and thought particularly highly of Wibby Brewing’s pairing of Jack’s on the Rocks, a Rauch Märzen Steinbier lager created with Jack’s Abby Brewing, with duck fat, mushroom, and chicken salt popcorn.

We were excited to see Boulder County chefs here, including Kelly Whitaker and Mara King of Basta and Dry Storage, who coordinated the Wibby pairing. As part of this, they added an equally delicious pairing of kimchi watermelon with Wibby’s Home Team pilsner. In another part of the room, Daniel Asher of River and Woods and Ash’Kara coordinated with Oregon’s Deschutes Brewing, pairing a Middle Eastern “crunch” taco with Deschutes’ imperial stout and a raspberry quad with chevre tartlets.

We returned to the beer hall to stop by some local brewers at their booths. We saw that Howdy, once just a fun name for a delicious pilsner, has become its own brand with its own GABF booth since being bought by the folks at Stem Ciders. Niwot’s Fritz Family Brewers was also pouring their well-loved standards. Across the hall, Robin Wibby, co-owner of Wibby Brewing poured for fans, handing out blowup pink flamingos to enthusiastic beer drinkers happy to have anything crazy.

At one point, we found ourselves on the receiving end of a Rumpkin pour from Adam Avery, namesake of the nearly three decades-old Avery Brewing, who talked to us while pouring Rumpkin into our glass. He was as enthusiastic as anyone else in the hall. “It’s f***ing great. I love the energy. I love the people,” he said. “After the years of it not happening, everyone seems generally happy to be here and enjoy great craft beer.” 

Of all the people we spoke with, he was the most likely to have attended more GABFs than anyone else. We asked how this one compared to the first. “Funny thing is, I can’t remember.” he said with a sly grin. “Must have been fun.”

Through the years, it’s perhaps the parts of the experience that haven’t changed that keep us coming back. Craft beer, friends, costumes, pretzel necklaces, and fun — whether it’s entirely remembered or not.

Good times.

The post Malty Good Times Return: GABF Returns for a 40th Anniversary Event | In The Cups appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Lyons’ Spirit Hound Distillers Creates Three Year High Rye Bourbon

Spirit Hound Head Distiller Craig Englehorn

The holidays are coming and that means plenty of drinks are in your future. Some of the tastiest cocktails, ones that help you warm, enjoy a date, and deal with stressful dinner guests, are made with bourbon. And if you’re looking to try a new, locally made bourbon, there’s something available to make your holidays brighter.

At the beginning of this month, Lyons-based Spirit Hound distillers issued a late fall release of their three year handcrafted bourbon that was aged on fully charred American oak barrels. We attended their socially-distanced release day and tasted the offering. There’s plenty to mention.

For starters, it’s an unblended spirit that’s designated as a high rye bourbon because it has 20 percent rye in the grain bill. That translates to a drinkable, complex, bright, and interesting whisky with notes of black cherry, vanilla, and other stone fruit.

Head Distiller Craig Engelhorn gave us some pointers about the best way to enjoy his newest baby. No surprise – he generally recommends it neat and sipped over time. He also said that the cherry notes in the bourbon makes for one of the best Manhattans he’s served from his tasting room.

This is one of a pair of late 2020 whisky releases from Spirit Hound, both of which were conceived at that same time. Engelhorn shared that, “We brewed the rye whisky first and I liked its character so much that I wanted to brew a high-rye content bourbon. I just loved the flavors we were getting out of it.”

He also explained that working with rye grain for both spirits came with a fair amount of challenges. “Our system isn’t designed to handle large amounts of rye – or corn, honestly. Handling mash for bourbon and rye is a giant pain…a long day. The grains’ beta glucans get pretty sticky.”

As it turns out, what wound up in the glass was a huge payoff for all the work. “When we tasted what came out of the still, we were like, Wow. That’s amazing. It’s a pain in the butt, but it’s yummy.”

While the bourbon is available in limited quantities in liquor stores now, It will be followed by the Rye release on December 5th. When we talked, Engelhorn was looking at options for how to make the release as interesting as possible. Keep an eye on their website at spirithounds. com.

*We intentionally spelled Whisky without the e. Want to know more? Ask Spirit Hound. They’ll be happy to tell you.

Benefit Craft Beer Release: Brewers Unite to Help One of their Own

Grossen Bart Benefit Brew

On November 10th Boulder County’s most prominent brewers gathered with craft beer lovers at Left Hand Brewing Company to support one of their own. They tapped a benefit brew that was designed, created, and poured in support of Walter Bourque, head brewer of Grossen Bart Brewing.

Bourque is in the middle of one of the fiercest battles of his life, a fight with testicular cancer. He’s waging it from Texas, where he’s from, but he’s still on the minds of many in Colorado.

Eager to help however they could, brewers did what they did best – they gathered around a brew system to combine water, malt, and hops in a way that they felt would best honor their colleague and friend.

It took the group some extended email-based planning to come up with a recipe they felt their friend would love. What they ultimately made was a relatively high alcohol content, English-style bitter ale that reminded them of one of Bourque’s favorite past Left Hand beers, an imperial version of the brewery’s Sawtooth ale. They’ve named the beer Texan Rampage.

The release was a full-on fundraising party. Even better, not satisfied with the usual brewing and consuming, there was live music and haircut/beard trims for cash donations.

Now that it has been tapped, it’s available for the general public to enjoy. And every purchase supports Bourque’s cancer battle. It will be available in the Left Hand taproom as well as at Wibby Brewing, 300 Suns, Shoes and Brews, and Oskar Brews. Left Hand is also looking to make it available at area liquor stores.

The post In the Cups: Spirit Hound Distillers / BoCo Benefit Beer Release appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.