Turn the page to see all of this week's craft beer events.
Wednesday, June 19Denver Beer Co will host its third annual neighborhood Hop Swap today beginning at 4 p.m., during which it will hand out Cascade hop plants (until the run out) for Denver residents to grow in their back yards. The hop starters, which come from High Hops Farm in Windsor, are well suited to Colorado's climate. Once the cones mature, participants will harvest them and bring them back to the brewery where they will be used in a truly local pale ale. Denver Beer Co has approximately 300 plants.
June is Smoked Cask Month at the Copper Kettle, and the brewery will feature a firkin of a different smoked beer each Wednesday, along with food from the Texorado BBQ food truck. Today's beer is Smoked Imperial Coffee Stout.
Thursday, June 20
Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew will celebrate and conclude its first seasonal release of IPA2 by offering 200 hand-numbered 22-ounce bombers for sale beginning at 2 p.m. There will be a party starting at 7 p.m. with co-owner Andrew spinning records.
The Front Range has a rich entrepreneurial history, boasting start-ups that have gone on to bigger things in fields as disparate as software, renewable energy, specialized clothing and craft beer. But can these different scenes, in particular software and brewing, help or learn from one another? That's the question that will be posed today at Brews & Geeks: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurship Scenes, which will take takes place today from 5:15 to 7:15 p.m. at the University of Colorado Law School, Room 101 (tickets are $15 in advance; free to CU students and staff). The event will "compare and contrast norms and key ingredients of the software and craft brewing scenes in the Front Range today (e.g., What is the role of information sharing? How competitive are companies within the scene? Who are the leaders and what are their roles?). And finally, the event will compare and contrast what it takes to start and run a brewery versus what it takes to run a tech startup." Speakers include Jim Deters of Galvanize, Kirk Holland of Vista Ventures, Ingrid Alongi of Quick Left, Matt Cutter of Upslope Brewing, John Eckstein of Fairfield and Woods, and Julia Herz of the Brewers Association.
Friday, June 21
TRVE Brewing we will begin its two-day Anniversary Party today by tapping its first anniversary beer, TRVE Brewing Vol. 1, a 3.7 percent Session IPA that was brewed hops from all across the globe (Summit, Motueka, Nelson Sauvin, and Mosaic). There will also be a showing of artwork by Sam Turner, who did all the designs on TRVE's merchandise. As an added bonus, the brewery will be selling unrenewed seats in its CVLT growler club (TRVE won't be filling growlers today, however, because it expects big crowds).
Colorado Plus, a brewpub that opened in May with 56 Colorado beers on tap, will tap its own beers for the first time tonight (time is TBD). The beers are: Undead Red, a Belgian-style red ale; Bitter off Dead, a double IPA featuring more than a pound of dry-hopped Falconer's Flight hops added to each barel; Cinnamon Almond Ale, an original flavor combination; and Berliner Weiss, a low-alcohol soured wheat. The first two are from the brewery's planed Zombie collection. Brains.
Copper Kettle Brewing will finally be celebrating the release of its Mexican Chocolate Stout bombers today with a party that starts when the brewery opens at noon. Copper Kettle will be selling 22-ounce bottles of this GABF award-winning beer ($12 each) for you to take home. The beer will eventually be available in a few liquor stores later this summer. At 4 p.m., there will be grub from Crazy Good Food.
The three-day Colorado Brewers' Festival kicks off today for its 24th consecutive year in historic Downtown Fort Collins with more than eighty beers from forty Colorado breweries. The fest, which includes food and live music, is "made up solely of Colorado breweries, including host breweries from Fort Collins: Anheuser-Busch, Black Bottle Brewery, Big Horn Brewery/CB & Potts, Coopersmith's Pub & Brewing, the Fort Collins Brewery, Funkwerks, New Belgium Brewing Co., Odell Brewing Co., and Pateros Creek Brewing Co.," according to organizers. For information on hours, tickets and details, go to the Downtown Fort Collins web site.
Saturday, June 22
TRVE Brewing continues its birthday party today at the brewery from 2 to 7 p.m., and will then close the doors and move the festivities over to the hi-dive for its First Anniversary Bacchanal show. The bands Speedwolf, In the Company of Serpents, Primitive Man, Call of the Void and Belhor will all play. TRVE will also take over the taps at the hi-dive for the night.
Bootstrap Brewing in Niwot will also celebrate its first anniversary today with special brews on tap as well as their staples. There will be live music with Cat Jerky from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and BlueKrewe from 4:30 to 8 p.m. The Colorado Craft Beer Show will be broadcasting live from Bootstrap from noon to 2 p.m.
Denver Beer Co and Little Man Ice Cream will team up today from noon to 4 p.m. for an Adult Ice Cream Social in the Barrel Room next door to the brewery. The two local companies will have beer floats along with beer and ice cream pairings. Floats and pairings include: Graham Cracker Porter with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream; Kaffir Lime Wheat with Mint Mojito Sorbet; Barleywine with Honey Banana Ice Cream; Irish Stout with Bailey's Chocolate Ice Cream.
Turn the page for more beer events later in the month.
Wednesday, June 26
Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew will tap is summer seasonal, Larimer St. Lager, a 7 p.m. The California Common is "a light amber, medium bodied, warm fermented lager with a malty character," the brewery says. "Mildly fruity with an assertive hop bitterness."
June is Smoked Cask Month at the Copper Kettle, and the brewery will feature a firkin of a different smoked beer each Wednesday, along with food from the Texorado BBQ food truck. Today's beer is Smoked Juniper Golden Strong.
The Yak & Yeti will bring on Wheat Wednesdays beginning today, tapping a new wheat beer each Wednesday through the summer at 4 p.m. The lineup looks like this: June 26, Strawberry; July 3, Cherry; July 10, Clove; July 17, Blueberry; July 24, Ginger; July 31, Cantaloupe; August 7, Raspberry; August 14, Roasted Peppers.
Thursday, June 27
Judge Whoppner is back in session, "although 'session' is not quite the word we would use to describe a 9.7 percent beer," say Brian O'Connell of Renegade Brewing and Scott Witsoe of Wit's End. The two have teamed up again to brew Judge Whoppner, an imperial brown ale made with malted milk, this time at Wit's End, where the beer will be served at 6 p.m. The two first collaborated in February on the beer at Renegade.
Friday, June 28
The two-day Epic Beer Festival begins today at the Colorado Convention Center, featuring more than 300 beers from 120 breweries. The private company that puts on the festival also runs Epic events in Dallas and Philadelphia; this is its first year in Denver. Today's session runs from 7 to 10 p.m.; tickets are $40.
Saturday, June 29
Renegade Brewing will celebrate its second anniversary today with an all-day block party out front on West Ninth Avenue between Santa Fe Drive and Kalamath Street. The street will be closed to traffic from noon to 10 p.m. and filled with food trucks, live music and plenty of beer. In fact, Renegade has put together some small-batch brews that were made just for the party and will only be served today. There will be valet bike parking and Renegade encourages guests to use buses, light rail or B-cycle (there's a station out front).
The two-day Epic Beer Festival continues today at the Colorado Convention Center, featuring more than 300 beers from 120 breweries. The private company that puts on the festival also runs Epic events in Dallas and Philadelphia; this is its first year in Denver. There are two sessions today, one from 1 to 4 p.m. and one from 7 to 10 p.m.; tickets to each are $40.
The Lobby will host a Southern Style Seafood Boil today instead of its regular beer dinner, featuring brews from City Star Brewing in Berthoud, the Lobby's June brewery of the month. Tickets are $40 and include crawfish, clams, mussels, shrimp and fixings, plus four nine-ounce City Star beers. The event is capped at 45 people.
Monday, July 1
The Yak & Yeti will host a five-year anniversary party today with a truly massive new beer called Five-Year Anniversary Ale, a Triple IPA at 17 percent ABV and more than 200 calculated IBUs. The Yak will also host a name-the-fermenter challenge on Facebook in the week leading up to the party as it needs "beery-Nepali-Himalayan play-on-word names." Tomorrow, the Yak will also have its first-ever beer dinner from 6 to 8:30 p.m.: four courses and four beers for $35, limited to forty people.
Wednesday, July 3
The Rackhouse Pub has deemed all of July as Sour Month and will tap numerous sours every day at 5 p.m. from the likes of Avery, Crooked Stave, New Belgium, AC Golden, Elevation and more. Go to their website to see the list.
Friday, July 5
Hops & Pie will have a cask of Green Flash Brewing's West Coast IPA that has been double dry-hopped with Simcoe hops on tap tonight at 6 p.m. for its monthly First Firkin Friday program.
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