But that's not the only good news for beer lovers in Castle Rock. Last fall, construction began on Burly Brewing, which should open this spring at 680 Atchison Way. Burly will be the town's fourth brewery.
Keep reading for all the craft-beer events into mid-February.
Thursday, February 1
The Mountain Sun Pub company, which owns the Vine Street Pub in Denver and four other locations in Boulder and Longmont, will celebrate a quarter-century of stouts with its 25th annual Stout Month celebration. Over the next 28 days, the pubs and breweries will tap at least 31 Mountain Sun stouts and barrel-aged stouts, including 48 Smooth Chai Stout, Addition Imperial Coffee Stout, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Addition Imperial Coffee Stout, Nihilist Russian Imperial Stout, Dark Harvest Pumpkin Stout, Chocolate Dip Stout, Space Odyssey Stout, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Oatimus Prime Imperial Oatmeal Stout, and Chocolate Thunder Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout. In addition, stouts from more than thirty other Colorado breweries will rotate through their tap boards. Mountain Sun, Southern Sun, Under the Sun, Vine Street, and Longs Peak Pubs will also host special events, concerts, tastings, giveaways, and gatherings to pay homage to the great stout. Stay tuned to their Facebook pages for details and specific beer offerings.
Our Mutual Friend Brewing will also kick off its own Stout Month by tapping the Deepest Darkest Fear, an Imperial stout brewed with honey and molasses and aged in Deerhammer whiskey barrels for eleven months. Crafted in collaboration with Fort George Brewing in Astoria, Oregon, the beer will also be tapped at some point during February at all of the Mountain Sun locations in Boulder, Denver and Longmont.
Black Sky Brewery will also celebrate a month of stouts throughout February, bringing out a variety of dark beers. To start with, the brewery will feature Blackberry Stout, Chocolate Fudge Brownie Milk Stout, Mint Pistachio Stout, Fallen Angel Oatmeal Stout, and Scotch Barrel Aged Chocolate Stout.
Not to be outdone, Resolute Brewing in Centennial is honoring Stout Month by tapping its own lineup of inky brews. Today's beer is American Stout. "With an elevated ABV of 7 percent, the American Stout features dark, roasty malts balanced by a late addition of Citra hops, lending some unexpected citrus aroma characteristics and pronounced bitterness," the brewery says.
Comrade Brewing taps Junkie Cosmonaut DIPA at noon. This 8.5 percent ABV double IPA was hopped with Galaxy, Mosaic, Denali, Simcoe and Citra.
Join Great Divide Brewing as it launches a new limited-edition series of barrel-aged and sour beers called Wood Werks. To kick it off, the brewery will release Wood Werks No.1, a Belgian-style tripel that "was artfully soured for fifteen months in red-wine barrels and aged on plums," Great Divide says. "This rare spiced sour ale has notes of luscious stone fruit with a tart, dry finish and hint of French oak." The beer will be available at both Denver taprooms on tap and in twelve-ounce bottles.
Call to Arms Brewing hosts a 3 p.m. tapping and bottle release of Majestic Wolf Lamp, an oak-aged blended Belgian-style sour with black currants. "At 8 percent ABV, this complex, jammy blend offers notes of boysenberry and black currant with a pronounced yet balanced sour finish. Majestic Wolf Lamp is a beaming magenta-hued stunner and exudes pure farm-stand blackberry jam," the brewery says. There are only 125 bottles available — with a limit of two per person at $12 each. It will also be on tap.
Ace Eat Serve will help Longmont's Left Hand Brewing launch some of its new beers for 2018. Stop by from 5:30 p.m. on and try Left Hand IPA and Chai Milk Stout Nitro. Travelin' Light Kolsch will also be available.
The Children's Museum of Denver might seem like an unusual place for a beer festival, but the institution will host its inaugural — and adults-only — extravaganza, Ales, Apps & Barrels of Fun, from 7 to 10 p.m., when the over-21 crowd will get the chance to feel like a kid again. Guests can sample local beers (including those from Epic, Prost, Little Machine, Briar Common, Ratio, Wynkoop, Fate, Horse & Dragon, Declaration and more), snack on light bites and play in the museum’s exhibits. They can also make their own pretzel necklaces, enjoy child-inspired snacks like soft pretzels, handheld s’mores and other campfire classics, and spend the evening blowing bubbles, launching rockets and painting a vintage VW Bug. Tickets are $35 at mychildsmuseum.org, or $40 at the door. All proceeds support the museum’s educational programming and initiatives. SOLD OUT
Friday, February 2
Join Cerebral Brewing for the release of three beers, two of them in cans and one in bottles, at noon. Strange Claw is a 6.2 percent IPA brewed with wheat and hopped with a blend of Columbus and Citra. Tandem Jetpack is an 8.2 percent double IPA brewed with oats and hopped with loads of Vic Secret, Simcoe and El Dorado. Both are available in four-packs of cans. For the third beer, Pineapple-ing Through Dimensions, Cerebral took its Brettanomyces Saison, Ripping Through Dimensions, and added hundreds of pounds of pineapple purée. It will be sold in bottles. For prices and limits, go to the brewery's Facebook page. There will also be a limited amount of Citra Lupulin dry-hopped Pineapple-ing Through Dimensions on draft. The Adobo Food Truck will be out front.
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project releases its latest canned beer, Sour Rosé, a 4.5 percent ABV wild ale fermented in oak barrels on second-use raspberries and blueberries, in its taproom in The Source. Sour Rosé will be available in liquor stores in Colorado starting this month. "Primary-fermented with our mixed culture of wild yeast and bacteria, Sour Rosé undergoes fermentation in large oak foeders on second-use raspberries and blueberries," the brewery says. "Unfiltered and naturally wild, each can is packaged with a small amount of yeast to maintain maximum freshness."
Odyssey Beerwerks in Arvada taps Sucker Punch'd, "a hazy, juicy IPA with a sour twist," at 2 p.m. "We started with a base of two-row, unmalted wheat and oats to create a protein-forward gist with a full body," the brewery says. "The wort soured in the kettle to a pleasantly tart level of acidity. Dry-hopped multiple times with Mosaic, Cascade and Citra, then, boom, a bright, fruity twist on the hazy, juicy sour."
Cellar West Artisan Ales
As part of its Kickass ’80s Ski Party, Black Shirt Brewing will re-release its popular Electric Ladyland Raspberry Saison. Aged for eight months in an oak foeder and then conditioned on more than 500 pounds of raspberries, the beer has distinct raspberry flavors and aromas and subtle notes of classic saison spice character and hints of oak. For the party, dress in your warm and colorful '80s gear. In addition, Black Shirt has teamed up with Level 1, a Denver-based ski production company, to screen its latest release, Habit. "This event will be held in our outdoor beer garden, so dressing warm is the name of the game. Local ski and outdoor merchants SkiSac, Zeal Optics and Meier Skis will have gear demonstrations, and participants will have the opportunity to win free swag with entry into free raffles," Black Shirt says. The party starts at 6 p.m., with the screening at 8. Afterward, DJ Details will spin ’80s throwback music until midnight.
Alpine Dog will kick off Stout Month with the tapping of Blind Sherpa Stout with cinnamon and coffee. This limited-release beer will be on tap at noon.
Cellar West Artisan Ales in Boulder will release Skiwi, a collaboration with Cerebral Brewing. This saison was made with Belgian pilsner malt and oats from Colorado Malting, a dash of milk sugar, and Motueka and Wakatu hops from New Zealand. It was then fermented and aged in oak barrels for five months and bottle-conditioned. It has an "immense amount of floral Sauvignon Blanc wine elements with a touch of Brett funk, some nice minerality, a hint of acidity, and a slightly lime-like note in the finish," the brewery says. Bottles of Skiwi will be available for purchase (on-premise or to-go) for $10.50. It will also be on draft.
Monday, February 5
Resolute Brewing in Centennial taps Latte Milk Stout for its Stout Month series. The 6.8 percent ABV beer "is reminiscent of a fresh latte, served cold," the brewery says. "Milk sugar and flaked barley give this roasty beer a smooth, creamy mouthfeel, and its coffee aroma can be attributed to locally sourced coffee beans from Jubilee Roasting Company, based in Aurora."
Thursday, February 8
Comrade Brewing taps Mosaic Red IPA at noon. This 6.5 percent ABV beer was brewed with pilsner malt from Loveland's Root Shoot Malting, as well as crisp caramel malt, Weyermann Munich and a touch of honey malt. It was hopped and dry-hopped with Mosaic.
Friday, February 9
Ratio Beerworks kicks off three days of parties to celebrate its third anniversary. Tonight, there will be music and comedy. On Saturday, the brewery taps One Great City Belgian Quad at noon. It will also release 100 bottles of Rum Barrel-Aged One Great City Belgian Quad. Ratio also brings back Continuous Thunder Double IPA, this time featuring the use of Simcoe and Citra hops with a dry hop of Idaho 7 and Mosaic. There will be music all day and night. On Sunday, there will be a Hangover Brunch with the Denver Vintage Reggae Society.
It's Girl Scout Cookie time, and that means it's also time for Ursula Brewery's Merit Badge Imperial Porter, a beer that was inspired by the cookies and brewed with coconut and chocolate. This one only comes out once per year, so stock up: Ursula will be selling cans for the first time ever, in addition to pouring it on draft.
Saturday, February 10
Call to Arms Brewing is "blending tradition with innovation" for its Mardi Gras Rumpus, a festive soirée from noon to 9 p.m. offering special beers, New Orleans-style food from Rolling Smoke Food Truck, Mardi Gras-inspired sweets from Copia Confections and Good Sugar Baking. There will also be the World’s Tiniest Mardi Gras Parade down Tennyson Street; led by the Mile High Brass Band, the 4 p.m. parade features mini floats from Avery Brewing, Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Call to Arms, Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery, Station 26, Little Machine Beer, Beryl’s Brewing and Goldspot Brewing.
Fiction Beer brings back its cupcake and beer pairing with neighborhood bakery Cake Crumbs. "A selection of beers have been individually paired with amazing confections to bring something that together is better than the sum of the parts," the brewery says. Each pairing will be served with a full-sized cupcake and beer. We do this so that you have numerous bites in which to taste the flavor nuances. Cupcake, then beer; beer, then cupcake; cupcake and beer together. However you want to taste, you will be sure to enjoy every bite and sip." Pairings include Magic Wallet Passion Fruit Milkshake IPA with a raspberry cupcake with vanilla buttercream and toasted coconut; Damned Curious Business Sour IPA with an orange-vanilla buttercream; and Feely Effects Milk Chocolate Stout with a Matcha tea cupcake with amaretto buttercream topped with pistachios.
Alpine Dog Brewing continues its Stout Month by tapping a firkin of its Blind Sherpa Stout infused with loads of raspberries and chocolate. It goes on at noon.
Odd13 Brewing in Lafayette releases three beers in six-packs at the taproom only. The first is Coal Miner's Cuzzin, a 6 percent ABV stout brewed with flaked oats and a variety of English malts. The second is I-P-Aliens, an 8.5 percent double IPA brewed with space-themed hops: Galaxy, Comet and Apollo. The last one is I-P-Alien, the 7 percent regular IPA version, also made with the same spacey hops.
Sunday, February 11
Join the Colorado Haiti Project at Wynkoop Brewing to celebrate Moringa Lager, a collaboration project between the two organizations. Moringa Lager is a 4.7 percent ABV, 10 IBU "tropical-style pale lager brewed with toasted rice, flaked maize and moringa leaves," Wynkoop says. "Crisp, light and refreshing, this lager is an easy sipper. It’s also the world's first beer brewed with moringa leaves, which are native to Haiti and highly nutritious. The leaves can be used as a cooking herb as well as a base for making a flavorful and healthy tea. Rice and corn are two huge crops in Haiti, and the style of beer of this Lager is typical of the region as well." The beer will be on tap at the Wynkoop all month, and the brewery will donate $1 from every beer sold to the Colorado Haiti Project. "This is an organization that Wynkoop is passionate about supporting, especially after the President’s recent commentary about Haiti," the brewery adds.
Someplace Else Brewery in Arvada will host the first Brewery Bazaar (a reincarnation of the old Jonesy’s Art Bazaar). There will be local artisans and makers selling wares, along with beer and a food truck. Make sure you bring your quarters for the pinball and skeeball games as well. Entry is free.
Monday, February 12
Resolute Brewing in Centennial is honoring Mountain Sun's Stout Month by tapping a variety of its own stouts all during February. Today's beer is Chocolate Orange Stout. "Pale chocolate malt lends a mellow, sweet flavor backed by bright citrus from fresh oranges and hops," the brewery says.
Wednesday, February 14
?Strange Craft Beer Company will release its annual Valentine's Day beer, ?Belgian Chocolate Raspberry Love Stout, at 4 p.m. The 10.9 percent ABV beer combines massive amounts of cacao nibs and raspberries into a roasty barrel-aged imperial stout.," the brewery says. "?After the initial impact of roast, dark chocolate, and fruit, notes of vanilla, oak, coffee, appear in the background.? "
Friday, February 16
Landlocked Ales in Lakewood is celebrating Mardi Gras with beads, beers, music and a crawfish boil. Mile High Cajun will be boiling fresh crawfish straight from New Orleans. There will also be beer specials, king cakes by LeBlossoms and live New Orleans street music from 7 to 10 p.m. For all the details on prices, tickets and food, go to the brewery's Facebook page.
Saturday, February 17
Falling Rock Taphouse will tap Pliny the Younger, the once-a-year triple IPA from Russian River Brewing, at 1 p.m. To get some, you will need to follow the directions on Falling Rock's web site. The beer bar will also tap the beer on Sunday, February 18 at 1 p.m. and on Saturday, February 24 at 1 p.m.
