Turn the page to see all of this week's craft beer news.
Wednesday, July 30Hall Brewing has begun canning three beers, and it will celebrate today at 5 p.m. with a canned launch party in the Parker taproom. The new cans are Farmhouse IPA, Farmhouse Red and Juicy Peach Blonde Ale. Six-packs of twelve-ounce cans will begin showing up on some liquor-store shelves this week.
The Copper Kettle will tap a firkin of Vanilla Bean Mexican Chocolate Stout today at 3 p.m. Ckrepes will be serving food as well.
Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery tapped a barrel-aged brett version of its Peakbagger Imperial White IPA yesterday. The beer, called BrettBagger, is a collaboration between Jagged Mountain and the Dragonmead and Kuhnhenn breweries out of Michigan. The beer brings the brewery's tap list to thirteen beers, including an imperial porter aged in thirty-year-old tequila barrels and weighing in at 11.5 percent ABV.
Friday, August 1
Left Hand Brewing will tap its first keg of Oktoberfest for the season at 5 p.m. today in its Longmont tasting room. The annual release is brewed using the time-intensive decoction mash process; it is a 6.6 percent ABV traditional Marzen lager. And wear your laderhosen and dirndl, because there will be a costume contest and prizes.
Saturday, August 2
The Colorado Brewers Guild and Imbibe Denver will present the second event in their "Lovibond series" of festivals today when they host Sesh Fest from 3 to 7 p.m at Sculpture Park in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. The event highlights "session beers," which are typically 5 percent ABV or less. The concept of session beers was created by the British, who don't like to get hammered when they're taking a lunch break. Tickets start at $20 and are available for purchase at seshfest.com. Participants include Black Bottle Brewery, Breckenridge Brewery, CAUTION: Brewing, Crooked Stave, Dad & Dude's Breweria, Denver Beer Co, Epic Brewing, FATE Brewing, Former Future Brewing, Great Divide, Kannah Creek Brewing, Kokopelli Beer, Left Hand, New Belgium, Odell, Pateros Creek, Ska Brewing, Station 26 Brewing, The Old Mine Cidery & Brewpub, TRiNiTY Brewing, TRVE Brewing, Upslope, Vine Street Pub & Brewery, Wonderland Brewing, and the Yak & Yeti. The Lovibond Series includes three separate events: Collaboration Fest (which took place March 22), Sesh Fest and the Fresh Hop Festival (which is set for September 27). Each Lovibond festival focuses on a specific aspect of the brewing process and industry, according to the CBG.
Sunday, August 3
Avery Brewing will celebrate its 21st birthday -- and its last at the brewery's original location on Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder -- today from noon to 5 p.m., when it will be serving up rare and vintage beers (including strong ales and sour/wild ales) along with all of its flagships. There will also be live music and a commemorative glass. Tickets, $40, are available at eventbrite.com. "Our alley has served us well for 21 years. We've gone from making 800 barrels of beer a year to 50,000, from three annual beer styles to 22 and counting, from three employees to 93 and counting, and from a six-car-garage brewhouse to a series of six-car-garages," the brewery says. "We will love our alley forever, but we need to keep following our dreams." Avery will move to its massive new brewing campus in north Boulder in the summer of 2015.
Barrels & Bottles Brewery in Golden will host a tapping of several sour beers today from 2 to 8 p.m. The beers that are part of The Sour Incident will include Brouwerij Liefmans Goudenband, Brouwerij Bockor Cuvee' des Jacobins Rouge, Uinta Brewing 21st Birthday Suit, Odell Brewing Fifty Niner, Russian River Consecration, Crooked Stave St. Bretta Summer, Trinity Brewing Super Juice, Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Ale, The Bruery Tart of Darkness and Barrels and Bottles Hot Lips.
For more events in August, turn the page. Friday, August 8
Diebolt Brewing will release a new beer, Biere de Triumph, today at 4 p.m.. The beer, a lager that took several months to make, joins the other nine brews already on tap in Diebolt's Sunnyside tasting room. The CKrepes food truck will be on hand as well.
Copper Kettle Brewing will tap Sombremesas, the fourth in its series of barrel-aged bottled beers, at noon today. This one is a little different, however: Weighing in at just 4.8 percent ABV, the beer is a pale ale that was aged in tequila barrels with fresh lime zest and agave nectar. Crazy Good Food will be serving food starting at 4 p.m.
Argonaut Liquors will host a tasting event and pre-sale of Denver Beer Co's two new canned beers, Graham Cracker Porter and Incredible Pedal IPA, today from 3 to 6 p.m. This is the first time the brewery has canned its beer and this is the first place to get it. The beers will appear on other liquor store shelves the week of August 11.
Saturday, August 9
Denver Beer Co will hold its third anniversary party today at its Platte Street taproom from 2 to 10 p.m., closing of 17th Street next to the brewery for with food trucks, live music, and beer in cans. The brewery will be releasing its first two canned beers, Graham Cracker Porter and Incredible Pedal IPA, as well. Details for the CANniversary party are available at www.denverbeerco.com/events.
Saturday, August 16
Black Shirt Brewing will release its once a year Red Evelyn Imperial Rye IPA today, a beer that owners Branden and Chad brew to honor their late grandmother. The party runs from 2 to 10 p.m. and includes live music and food. Red Evelyn will be available in 22-ounce bombers for $9.99 each beginning at 4 p.m. with a limit of three per person. It will also be on tap.
Crazy Mountain Brewery will host its fourth annual Ed Fest today from 3 to 10 p.m. at the Freedom Park soccer fields in Edwards. There will be more than forty craft breweries (find the full list at edfestbeer.com) on hand, including those from inside and outside of Colorado. There will also be gourmet bites from local restaurants and food trucks, wares from Colorado purveyors, and live music by the North Mississippi Allstars. Tickets are $39 in advance, while VIP tix are $79. Proceeds benefit the Eagle Valley Land Trust, a local nonprofit.
Verboten Brewing will celebrate the once-a-year release of barrel-aged Mountain Man today in its Loveland taproom with a breakfast starting at 10:30 a.m. The breakfast is $20 per person and includes an all-you-can-eat buffet along with a ten-ounce pour of Mountain Man and the first opportunity to buy a bottle (limit one per person.) For tix, e-mail Angie at [email protected] (only 32 tix available). Verboten will open to everyone else at noon and hold a best-dressed mountain man contest at 3 p.m. Mountain Man is an 11.8 percent ABV dark rye ale aged in bourbon barrels.
Sunday, August 17
Join BeerAdvocate's Todd and Candice Alstrom this morning at 11 a.m. for Waking Up with BeerAdvocate at Euclid Hall. Tickets are $65 and include these pairings: Dry Dock Apricot Blonde with Melon, Chilies, Citrus, Speck; Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale with Everything Bagel, tomato, breakfast Sausage, cheese; Black Shirt Brewing Red Ale with Bresaola cream gravy, sixteen-grain toast, fried egg; Ska Modus Hoperandi with Carnitas chimi, salsa, avocado, cheese whiz, sour cream, black beans; Great Divide Chocolate Yeti with red eye andouille gravy, crispy grits, pork belly; Avery Hog Heaven with Sourdough waffle, fried chicken, orange habanero glaze.
Follow Westword's Beer Man on Twitter at @ColoBeerMan and on Facebook at Colo BeerMan