Beer Calendar: Tweak, Wavering Radiant and a Ho, Ho, Ho Slapdown

Dive Bar Beer will take a bit part in a new TV comedy series from writer-director Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary) and Emmy-winning writer Bobby Mort (The Colbert Report). The show, Loudermilk, which airs on the Audience Network, stars Ron Livingston as Sam Loudermilk, a recovering alcoholic and substance-abuse counselor with an extremely bad attitude. One of the recovering addicts in Loudermilk's counseling class works at a fictitious ad agency that has many clients, including Dive Bar Beer (for the purposes of the show). So various mock-ups of the logo and label appear in numerous episodes.

"The obvious irony is focused on the character, a client of Loudermilk's alcohol-abuse classes, working on marketing a beer product," says the real Dive Bar Beer's Mark Douglas. "A bit of a dark-comedy story line, but well within the humor of the Dive Bar Beer brand." Dive Bar Beer was founded earlier this year by Douglas, Tom Flanagan, Jeff Martin and Adam Hunt; the company makes one beer, Nice Dart American Lager, with the goal of bringing back the easy-drinking, lawn-mowing lagers that your dad drank. Dive Bar doesn't have a taproom or a brewery, choosing instead to contract-brew its beer at Crazy Mountain Brewing in Denver.

Keep reading for all of the craft-beer events in the area through early December.

Thursday, November 30
Finn's Manor will be hanging out with friends from TRVE Brewing and Call to Arms Brewing starting at 5 p.m., and celebrating the release of a cool collaboration beer, Mixed Culture Kuit Beer, brewed with bay leaves, rosemary and yarrow. The bar will also tap Oats & Hose Porter from Call to Arms and two mixed-culture saisons from TRVE.

Jester King Brewery of Austin, Texas, will take over the taps at Fire on the Mountain, 3801 West 32nd Avenue. The wings joint will offer eight Jester King beers, a rare treat for Denver: Wytchmaker, RU-55, Demi-Tone, Ol' Oi, Omniscience & Proselytism, Beachtimez Sportzketball, Hibernal Dichotomous and Autumnal Dichotomous.

Join 4 Noses Brewing in Broomfield for the release of Kilroy New England Style Double IPA in four-packs of cans. "This brew has a massive aroma of tropical fruits, orange peel and ripe peaches," the brewery says, adding that the beer has "a velvety mouthfeel and huge dry-hop addition of Motueka, Citra and Mosaic hops."

Friday, December 1
"When one door closes, another one opens. To celebrate the new co-taproom, Strange Craft Beer Company and Wit’s End Brewing bring to you Moving Day," an Imperial Session Belgian Pale brewed with oats, wheat and honey, married with Hallertauer Herbrucker and Denali hops, and fermented with Wit’s End and Strange Craft's Belgian yeast strains, the breweries say. "This big move includes quality handcrafted ale you’ve come to expect from two of Denver’s oldest small breweries. Ringing in at 5.5 percent...this beer will most certainly ease the exertion of moving." The bittersweet celebration honors Wit's End, which closed the doors to its taproom late last month but will live on inside Strange. "For every Wit’s End, there is a Strange new beginning."

Spangalang Brewery is tapping three special beers. The first is El-Mo, which the brewery describes as "our new super juicy IPA that was dry hopped with a hefty dose of El Dorado and Mosaic hops." The others are: Beatrice, a citrusy dry-hopped saison; and Grapefruit D-Train IPA, of which there is only a small amount. Crowlers of all three of these beers will be the same price as a pint through the weekend.

"He's not St. Nicholas. He's not Krampus. And he definitely isn't Santa Claus! He's Belsnickel! Why Belsnickel? Stop asking so many questions and come get a bottle." That's the word from Aurora's Ursula Brewery, which will tap this Belgian-style dubbel with plums at noon and sell bottles as well.

Odell Brewing in Fort Collins releases Fee Fi Fo Fum, a huge triple IPA from its Cellar Series. "This brew will club your tastebuds with notes of sticky pine, tropical fruit and citrus, all packed into a resinous hop punch," the brewery says. The beer is available on tap and in twelve-ounce bottles — limit of two per person.

Saturday, December 2
TRVE Brewing will release its first spontaneously fermented beer, Wavering Radiant, at noon — and this one is a big deal for the brewery, says head brewer Zach Coleman. The beer was 100 percent fermented (and then re-fermented in the bottle) with microflora caught in TRVE's coolship, an open fermentation vessel. “This beer was made with processes slightly different from our more traditional batches of spontaneous beer, which are still aging/fermenting in wood, and is meant to be a window into what we have coming down the line," he says. TRVE will have about 1,000 500-ml bottles for sale. There is a limit of four per person.

Join avid bourbon barrel-aged beer lover Brendan Keeley for Brendan's Bourbon Barrel Beer Bonanza Birthday Benefit, from 6 to 9 p.m. at RISE Westwood, 3738 Morrison Road. The event raises money for Re: Vision, a nonprofit working to improve access to healthy food in Denver’s Westwood neighborhood. Keeley started the party five years ago as a private event, but decided to make it public this time around. Featured Breweries include Crazy Mountain, Beryl's Beer Co., Alpine Dog, Upslope and Spangalang. Tickets, $40, are available at eventbrite.com. There will also be a mystery beer wall raffle and and giveaways.

Loveland's Verboten Brewing will release this year's version of Mountain Man during a breakfast event from 9 to 11 a.m. Tickets are $36 each — there are only sixty available — and include a buffet breakfast, a commemorative Mountain Man mug, an eight-ounce pour of Mountain Man and a beer mimosa or beer Bloody Mary, as well as the first chance to buy twelve-ounce bottles of regular Bourbon Barrel Mountain Man and Coconut Rum Barrel Mountain Man (the first time the brewery has made this version).

Avery Brewing in Boulder will shake you out of bed with the annual release of Tweak, its 16 percent ABV barrel-aged coffee stout. There will also be a Tweak-inspired menu at the restaurant, including smoked duck leg, jalapeño corn waffles, cherry mojo and tweak red-eye gravy.

Sunday, December 3
Six brewers will descend on Bierstadt Lagerhaus and the Rackhouse Pub at 1 p.m. to compete for "one of
the most prestigious and ugliest trophys in all of brewing," the brewery says, "at the Second Annual Ho Ho Ho Slapdown. The competitors — Greg Moore of Barrels & Bottles, Jake Gardner of Hogshead, Jon Cross of Call to Arms, Marks Lanham of Comrade, Brett Williams of Little Machine, and Ashleigh Carter of Bierstadt — will square off by tapping one winter brew each. "Shenanigans and smack talk are not only encouraged, but mandated," and each brewer will give a stump speech to garner fans. A popular vote will decide the winner. Tickets, $25, are available at nightout.com or at the brewery and include five-ounce pours of all six beers. The smack talk takes place at 4 p.m., and the final votes will be tallied at 4:45 p.m.


Tuesday, December 5
SOLD OUT: The annual Bull & Bush Brewery Christmas Beer Tasting runs from 5 to 10 p.m. and will include the usual insanity. This year, there will be two ticketed sessions, one from 5 to 7 p.m. and one from 8 to 10 p.m. The brewpub will reach into its cellar and pull out more than 150 beers, which will be dispensed from bottles and kegs. Many are very rare and in very small quantities. When they're gone, they're gone. The brewery will also have some of its cold-weather specialties and rarities available.

Ratio Beerworks taps ?Silhouettes? ?Raspberry? ?Belgian? ?Dubbel? ?at noon. The beer was made with 425 pounds of raspberries per batch, "to help accentuate the naturally occurring fruity malt forward sweetness found in traditional Belgian Dubbels," Ratio says. It showcases "prominent raspberry cocoa flavors."

Friday, December 8
Bruz Beers brings back one of its best offerings at 3 p.m.: Brut La Grande (Champagne beer) "resembles a fine Champagne, although many critics consider Biere Brut to be far more interesting," the brewery says. "Brut La Grande is a pale straw color with a dense moussey white head that leaves layers of Belgian lace” on the glass. Its perfumey aroma yields notes of apricots, allspice, black pepper and a touch of lemon. Its complex flavor profile hints at apples, peaches, vanilla, ginger and exotic spices. Brut La Grande is light and airy, with a silky mouthfeel, creamy pinpoint carbonation and a complex, spicy, bone-dry finish. Every sip is a celebration! Each glass of this 10.6 percent ABV beer will be served today with a Belgian chocolate. It will be available on tap and in bottles (limit of two per person).

Cerebral Brewing will release two different canned beers and one in bottles. Destruct Sequence is a 6.4 percent ABV IPA brewed with wheat and oats, then "hopped aggressively" with a blend of Vic Secret, Idaho 7 and Cashmere; it will be available in cans for $16 per four-pack. Rare Trait, also in cans at 6.4 percent, is Cerebral's house IPA, "featuring powerful notes of tangerine, mango, and candied peach, with restrained bitterness." Safe Word, at 10.5 percent, is an "imperial pastry stout conditioned on Belizean cacao nibs from Cultura Craft Chocolate along with cassia bark and coconut." It runs $14 per bottle. Doors open at noon, and there will be a line. All three beers will also be on tap, and the Adobo Food Truck will be out front slinging food at 4 p.m.

Saturday, December 9
Ratio Beerworks hosts "an intimate beer release experience" from 5 to 8 p.m., celebrating the return of its Bourbon Barrel-Aged Genius Wizard Russian Imperial Stout. "This unique ticketed event will transport attendees to a mystical new dimension, as Ratio's back brewhouse will be transformed into an ethereal, illuminating experience designed by Denver artists Knomad.Colab," the brewery says. Tickets, $40, are very limited and available at nightout.com. They include three four-ounce vintages of Genius Wizard; three four-ounce variants of Genius Wizard (variants still to be announced); one full pour of 2017 Genius Wizard or any non-barrel-aged Ratio beer; one bottle of 2017 Bourbon Barrel-Aged Genius Wizard; a commemorative tasting glass and a chance to win a 1.5 liter magnum bottle of Genius Wizard. In addition, guests can sample food from the vendors who will be part of the soon-to-open Zeppelin Station in River North.

River North Brewery has aged its Mr. Sandman Imperial Stout for a year in a combination of whiskey barrels to give you Barrel Aged Mr. Sandman, the first cask-aged version of Sandman outside of the brewery's Single Cask Series. Both the standard and barrel-aged versions will be on tap and in bottles to go.

Our Mutual Friend Brewing will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a party highlighting several special beers. They include Year Five Golden Sour (Cuvée of one- to five-year barrels); 2017 Laws Rye Barrel Aged Fixed Blade Barleywine; Saison Trystero Batch 2; and Those Who Believe in Telekinesis, Raise My Hand Winter Solstice Mixed-Culture Golden Sour (a collaboration with Baere Brewing). The first 150 people in the door get a free fifth-anniversary glass with purchase of a pour.

Station 26 Brewing marks its fourth birthday with a party featuring live music from Chris Dismuke Music and special tappings, including its Fourth Birthday Beer, a Port Barrel Aged Belgian Quad with Plums.

The opening of a new brewery in Denver is always cause for celebrating, and Alternation Brewing. 1539 South Broadway, will be doing just that when it opens its doors for the first time at noon. "In a world filled with conglomerates, marketing campaigns and industry-shifting behemoths, the humble, quaint and well-crafted shall rise above," the owners say. "We welcome everyone to enjoy the taproom on this day, as six of our twelve taps will be filled with a wintery variety of artisan ales. Tap list to be announced as we draw closer to opening." Going forward, the taproom will be open on a limited schedule (Thursday and Friday from 4 to 10 p.m.; Saturday from noon to 10 p.m.; and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.). Alternation will ramp up production in the coming months.

Lone Tree Brewing in Lone Tree marks its sixth anniversary with a variety of beer releases starting at 11 a.m. They include Russian Imperial Stout, Wee Heavy, Dill Rye IPA and two surprises at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. In addition, there will be a Wee Heavy vertical tasting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mama Said Eat will be on hand all day. There will be music from 6 to 9 p.m., cake and a photo booth.

Ursula Brewery in Aurora will begin canning for the first time this time, using the know-how at Sleeping Giant, a contract brewery in Denver. To celebrate, the brewery will host a can release party where it will be selling three kinds of beer. Via Chicago, Ursula's flagship pale ale, will be available in six-packs of sixteen-ounce cans for $12. Lazy Brewer, a much-loved New England-style IPA, will be sold in four-packs of sixteen-ounce cans for $14. And Ultimate Clarity, another New England-style IPA but with a lower ABV, is $12 for four-pack. "We are still a very small brewery so these cans will be very limited," Ursula says. "What ever doesn't sell out of the taproom will hit distribution... isolated to a few shops that move a lot of our beer."

Oskar Blues Brewing in Longmont hosts a one-day-only release of Rum Barrel Death By Coconut starting at 9:30 a.m. (although the line will form much earlier). That's when Oskar Blues will starting handing out wrist bands; these will allow you to walk around and not worry about losing your place in line, the brewery says. "To ease the pain of the wee hours we’ll have Oskar Blues Fooderies slingin’ breakfast foods and Hotbox Roasters on scene to satisfy your addiction long before the sales begin at 10 a.m." The beer itself, sold in 19.2-ounce cans, is Oskar Blues's Death By Coconut aged for nine months in rum barrels "until it has the right amount of rum-soaked oak, molasses, vanilla, coconut, and chocolate goodness derived from the wood. Then, it is racked and swirled together with desiccated coconut, coconut cream, and pure liquid cacao from Cholaca to create a beer so layered and complex that you’ll feel brainwashed." Find more details on OB's Facebook page.

Beyond the Mountain Brewery, a brand-new beer maker in Boulder, opens for the first time at noon at 6035 Longbow Drive. "Stop by anytime Saturday to experience our first offerings of 'improvisational ales,'" the brewery says. Timber will be playing from 4 to 7 p.m. The Burger Bus will be parked outside.

Saturday, December 16
Wit's End Brewing loves Star Wars, so the brewery — now located inside Strange Craft Beer Company — will tap three Star Wars-themed bees to coincide with the release of the latest movie. Here they along with their awesome descriptions. 1) The Last Jed-IPA. "Breathe. Just breathe. Now, reach out. What do you see? As always, we see beer! We took a clean American-style IPA malt base, and blasted it with hops from around the galaxy, like Nugget, Chinook, Centennial, Mosaic, Citra, and Denali. Will there be another Jedi IPA pun-themed beer in the future? Who knows, we have to wait for the next title to come out. What we do know is that this beer possesses just the right amount of bitterness, and some amazingly complex spicy notes, with a cornucopia of citrus and tropical fruit flavors that would satisfy even the most critical fanboy or fangirl." 2) Stay On Target Southern English Brown Ale. "If Gold 5 tells you this, you might get shot down by Darth Vader, but when we say it, rest assured, we’re just talking about one of our latest beers that celebrates the space opera that has guided our lives. A nod both to the tradition southern England style brown ale (a certain movie studio is also in southern England), as well as the Target hop. Malty sweetness gives way to a slight peppery spicy character with just a touch of citrus. So whether you are descending on the Death Star, or sitting on your catch watching A New Hope for the 1000th time, grab a pint of Stay on Target, and, stay, er, never mind, we won’t say it." 3) Kyber Kristallweizen Pale Kristall Weizenbock. "Well, since we could not make a lightsaber after discovering kyber crystals were not real, we did the next best thing, named a beer after it! Much like the heart of a star where this mythic crystal comes from, we harnessed the power malted wheat and created an elegant bright pale weizenbock for a more civilized age. Clean cotton candy like sweetness from the malt, and lots of fruity and spicy character from the yeast. These beers are filtered or fined in order to clean up flavors, and in the bock version, it has a welcomed warming alcohol quality that balances it out. Sure Samuel L. Jackson got a purple blade, but ours is gold and won’t block lasers…at least we don’t think so?"

Mockery Brewing is excited to announce the return of its very first bottle release, Schizophrenic Narcoleptic, which it describes as "a bigger, badder version of our Export Coffee Stout aged twice as long in Artisanal vanilla extract barrels that resulted in a harmonic melding of roasted grains, smooth cold brewed coffee and a semisweet dessert-like finish." The beer goes on sale at 2 p.m.

Bruz Beers will tap its Gingerbread Dubbel at 3 p.m. The seasonal release is brewed with Belgian yeasts, and it won't last long.

Tuesday, December 19
Briar Common Brewery + Eatery taps a new beer at 4 p.m. Sour Seoul is a kettle sour beer with a spicy kick. "We like to call it a 'kim chi ale,'" the brewery says. "Tasting notes of bright Asian pear with just enough heat to create an addiction, we are super excited about this one! A 32-ounce Crowler and a limited edition Sour Seoul baseball tee will be available together for $30 this night only."

Thursday, December 21
Do you like Black Shirt Brewing's Frontman IPA? Then you'll love Frontmaniac Double Dry Hopped IPA, an amped up version of the brewery's flagship hoppy beer. Not only that, but Black Shirt is releasing it in four-packs (limit of one case per person). "Frontmaniac is brewed with oats, wheat and a blend of yeasts for a fuller and softer texture on the palate," the brewery says. "Bursting with tropical fruit notes, bright citrus characters and dark field grass, the palate is rich with these same hop characters and a rounded but firm bitterness."