Beer Calendar: Fresh Hops, Zwanze Day and Parties at Black Shirt and OMF

Denver International Airport has brought back Beer Flights, its temporary beer garden, to Level 5 between the Jeppesen Terminal and the Westin Denver International Airport. This is the third year in a row that the airport has used the beer garden to toast both the Great American Beer Festival, which begins next week, and the various Oktoberfest celebrations around town. Breweries represented include: Avery, Boulder Beer, Epic, Odell, Oskar Blues, Elevation, Tommyknocker, Ska, Telluride Brewing and Renegade.

The beer garden will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily from September 30 to October 10; Tickets are available at the door for $10 and includes a souvenir glass to try ten two-ounce samples.

Wednesday, September 28
Dry Dock Brewing will release the 2016 batch of Double Vanilla Porter at 2 p.m. at its North Dock Canoe Room tap room. The beer will be available on draft and in limited 22-ounce bombers. The 10.5 percent ABV whiskey-barrel-aged Double Vanilla Porter is part of Dry Dock’s Signature Series, a collection of small-batch, barrel-aged imperial and double beers. This one was aged in bourbon barrels for eight months. It has "a dark chocolate essence with hints of dark fruit and subtle smoke," the brewery says. "Big-bodied and creamy, Double Vanilla Porter is a strong ale that takes on whiskey and oak aromas from the barrels it ages in, and finishes surprisingly dry for a beer of its brawn."

Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project will release Surette Reserva Prunus Persica today at 5 p.m. at its tap room in the Source. Based on the brewery's rustic saison, this beer has been given a heavy-handed addition of Colorado peaches, "creating super fruity and tropical stone fruit characteristics layered with white wine notes," says Crooked Stave. 

Thursday, September 29
Black Shirt Brewing will kick off its three-day fourth-anniversary celebration today by tapping its anniversary beer, a bourbon-barrel-aged quad that was brewed four years ago and has spent two and a half years in bourbon barrels. Tonight you can find the beer on nitro. Each night of the celebration, Black Shirt is offering VIP tickets, as well: $10 gets a pour of the quad, a fourth-anniversary glass to take home, and a goodie bag. Only forty VIP tickets are available for each of the three days; get them at eventbrite.com.

Euclid Hall is celebrating the run-up to the Great American Beer Festival (which takes place October 6-8) with a series of intimate craft-beer dinners. For the sixth year, each dinner will have a multi-course menu created to pair with the particular brewery and a brewery expert on hand to discuss the beers and answer any questions. Each dinner starts at 6:30 p.m., and tickets, $65 per person, are available at brownpapertickets.com. Today's dinner features beer from Funkwerks.

Friday, September 30
Epic Brewing will pull the curtain back on the first two beers in its much-anticipated new sour series, Oak & Orchard, today at 5 p.m. The Syrah and the Pinot will be available in the Denver tap room on draft and in 375-ml wax-dipped bottles. Bottle purchases are limited to six of each. King of Wings will be on hand with wings flavored with Epic's Tart & Juicy IPA. Limited VIP tastings and cellar tours are also available, which include charcuterie pairings, select barrel tastings and your choice of either release for $30.

Grandma's House is turning two years old and celebrating all weekend with new barrel-aged beers, food and music. Beers on tap all weekend include: Russian Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels, American Barleywine aged in bourbon barrels, Russian Imperial Stout aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels, American Barleywine aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels, and Coffee Stout with Corvus Coffee Gedeb Mill.

The Brew on Broadway (The BoB) in Englewood will tap Cinderella’s Evil Wet Twin Sister, a wet-hopped version of its Cinderella Twin Double IPA. It will also tap Shady Wet Blonde, a wet-hopped version of its Shadyside Blonde. The brewery gets its hops from High Wire Hops in Paonia.

Black Shirt Brewing will continue its three-day fourth-anniversary celebration by tapping its anniversary beer, a bourbon-barrel-aged quad that was brewed four years ago and has spent two and a half years in bourbon barrels. The Black Feathers and RL Cole will perform live music on the Pallet Stage from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Each night, Black Shirt is offering VIP tix: $10 gets a pour of the quad, a fourth-anniversary glass to take home, and a goodie bag. There are only forty tickets per day. Get them at eventbrite.com.

Broomfield's 4 Noses Brewing will welcome back its third annual Oktoberfest today from 2 to 11 p.m. and tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The brewery will be pouring its Oktoberfest Marzen Lager and will have various food, music and games. Today, you'll find the LowcoFood Truck, a stein-holding contest at 8 p.m. and cornhole. Tomorrow, there will be brats and smoked turkey legs from Taste of Texas BBQ, soft pretzels, live music, another round of stein-holding contests at 2 and 6 p.m. and more cornhole.

Saturday, October 1
The 11th annual Fresh Hop Festival returns today from 1 to 4 p.m., but it has moved from its home at Falling Rock Tap House to a larger location: the future home of Brewery Liberati, at 2403 Champa Street. "Fresh hop season is a special one, and a short one at that," says Two Parts, which is putting on the fest. "This festival celebrates beers brewed with fresh hops from the vine, which deliver an unparalleled hop character. As one of the main ingredients in beer, whole-cone hops should be celebrated. Expect the unexpected at this festival. Not every beer will be bitter and hop-forward, but all will be super-exclusive of all varied levels of hoppy flavor, color and style." Participating breweries include: Alpine Dog, Barrels & Bottles Brewery, Black Sky, Boulder Beer Company, CAUTION: Brewing, Chain Reaction, Comrade, Denver Beer Co, Dillon Dam Brewery, Elevation Beer Company, Fate Brewing, Fermaentra, Fiction Beer Company, Great Divide, Horse & Dragon, Jagged Mountain, Joyride Brewing, Little Machine, Nighthawk Brewery, Odell Brewing, Paradox Beer, Sanitas Brewing, Spangalang, Strange Craft, The Brew on Broadway (The BoB), Three Barrel Brewing and Tommyknocker. Tickets are on sale now for $40 at TwoParts.com.

Crooked Stave's original Barrel Cellar will be the only place in Colorado to host Zwanze Day today — the annual event at which Belgium's Cantillon releases a new beer that is tapped simultaneously around the world. "This year’s Zwanze is going to be a throwback to the Framboise they were producing 30 years ago. As the name implies, it was a lambic aged on raspberries," Crooked Stave says. "Back in the ’80s, they used fresh fruit that lost its color quickly and often made filtration difficult, so cherries were also used to help maintain some rosiness and act as a secondary filter bed beneath the raspberries. Vanilla was also added to round it out. With modern flash-freezing techniques helping to maintain color and consistency, Cantillon began producing Rosé de Gambrinus with 100 percent raspberries. With Zwanze 2016, Jean [Van Roy] wanted to give a nod to the raspberry/cherry blend, but with a twist: He decided to use blueberries instead of cherries." Doors will open at 10:30 a.m. with first-come, first-served tickets. Zwanze will be tapped at 1 p.m., and last call will be at 3. Only the first 150 people will get a pour of this year's Zwanze beer. It will cost $20 for a pour of the beer, a Zwanze Day 2016 Glass and another Cantillon pour.

It's time again for Gratitude!, Our Mutual Friend's annual anniversary celebration of friendship and the beer made possible by it. "Every year [the Saturday before GABF], we take the opportunity to celebrate you! We wouldn't be where we are today without the support of our customers, friends, family, and countless people in the craft beer industry," the brewery says. "To show our appreciation, we will have $4 standard and $5 special release pours all day and more than twenty beers on tap." There will also be food trucks, music, giveaways and at least six bottle releases. Those releases include: Gratitude 3 Sour Ale, 2016 American Wild Ale, 24FPS Golden Sour (2015 GABF Silver Winner), Thanatoid RIS aged in Laws bourbon barrels, barleywine aged in Laws bourbon barrels, barlerywine aged in Laws rye barrels, and barleywine aged in Laws wheat-whiskey barrels. For the tap list, go to OMF's Facebook page. No tickets needed.

Black Shirt Brewing will continue its three-day fourth-anniversary celebration by tapping its anniversary beer, a bourbon-barrel-aged quad that was brewed four years ago and has spent two and a half years in bourbon barrels. Today, a version of the beer aged on Huckleberry Roasters coffee will be served. There will also be music and dancing from DJ Details starting at 8 p.m. Each night of the celebration, Black Shirt is offering VIP tix: $10 gets a pour of the quad, a fourth-anniversary glass to take home, and a goodie bag. There are only forty tickets per day. Get them at eventbrite.com.

Two Penguins Tap & Grill in Centennial is the place to be for pumpkin-beer lovers today, starting at 11 a.m. when it hosts the Big Gourds Pump Fest. The tap room will pour a stellar lineup of the biggest pumpkin beers around, including: Avery's Rumpkin and Pump[KY]n; 2015 Whiskey Barrel Aged Apumpalyptica and 2016 Woodford Reserve Barrel Aged Apumpalyptica by Wiley Roots Brewing Company; Dry Dock's Imperial Pumpkin; 4 Noses Pump Action Imperial Pumpkin; Upslope Pumpkin Ale; Country Pumpkin by City Star Brewing; and Pumpkin Patch by Eddyline Brewery. During the event, brewery representatives will be on site to hand out free beer swag and answer any pumpkin beer- or brewery-related questions. There will also be raffle giveaways and prizes. 

The Post Brewing in Lafayette will host Townie Fest today from 1 to 5 p.m. "Guests will enjoy a variety of Oktoberfest-inspired food, limited-release beers from brewmaster Bryan Selders, carnival games, swag giveaways, and a raffle. The festival will be held on the grounds surrounding The Post," the brewery says. There will also be all kinds of food, games, stein hoisting, kids' activities, raffles, a dunk tank, costumes and more. Ticket prices range from $10 to $100. Proceeds benefit the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce.

Lone Tree Brewing will release its annual Hop Zombie Imperial Red IPA today at 11 a.m. "Hop Zombie comes in strong at 8.9 percent ABV and 90 IBU. A hop lover’s dream, this beer is deep red in color, with rich malt character balanced by huge hop flavor and aroma," the brewery says. "Eight different hops spanning from North America to New Zealand are used to craft this brew, including experimental varieties that showcase citrus, floral, pepper, and dark fruit notes." The brewery will also offer a three-year Hop Zombie vertical flight tonight, along with special merchandise, a zombie costume competition and  food.

"Want to chat up some brewers and not deal with the GABF crowd?" asks 38 State Brewing in Littleton. Then come to the brewery to hang out and chat with brewers from multiple Colorado breweries between 3 and 5 p.m. Find peeps from Asher, Grand Lake, Halfpenny, Launch Pad, Locavore, Mu Brewery, Resolute, Ursula and 38 State. There will also be a GABF ticket giveaway.

New Terrain Brewing will open its doors for the first time in Golden today at noon. The brewery will have a lineup of seven or so beers, food and live music starting at 6 p.m.

Want to earn your beer? Then join Upslope Brewing for its second annual Backcountry Tap Room, a family-friendly hike to a pop-up tap room in the wilderness. This year, the brewery will lead participants to Vance's Cabin, a 3.1-mile hike along the Ski Cooper Trail at 10,980 feet. There you will get one 19.2-ounce can of Upslope's limited Fresh Hop IPA and up to two more cans of one of Upslope's year-round styles. The fresh-hop IPA was brewed with 400 pounds of Colorado-grown nugget and cascade hops. It "pairs perfectly with a fall day on the Front Range with some sweet views," the brewery says.

Sunday, October 2
Strange Craft Beer will use its new nonprofit tap, called Strangers Helping Strangers, to pour Heather’s Fresh-Hopped IPA, made with fresh nugget hops from High Wire in Paonia. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society. 

River North Brewery will host a GABF pre-sale at noon. This is where locals can snag some advance bottles of Barrel Aged Nightmare Fuel, Single Cask J. Marie and Saison Conspiracy Noir before the hordes arrive. Additional rare bottles will be available. The big cellar sale is next Saturday.

Black Shirt Brewing will wrap up its three-day fourth-anniversary celebration by tapping its anniversary beer, a bourbon-barrel-aged quad that was brewed four years ago and has spent two and a half years in bourbon barrels. Today's version was also aged on chiles and chocolate. Each night of the celebration, Black Shirt is offering VIP tix: $10 gets a pour of the quad, a fourth anniversary glass to take home, and a goodie bag. There are only forty tickets per day. Get them at eventbrite.com.Sunday is BSB 4th Anniversary Quad on chili and chocolate