The Strong Survive

The fastest way to get stronger is to work out, and you’ll be able to do plenty of, uh, two-ounce curls at the ninth annual Boulder Strong Ale Festival today and tomorrow. Strong ales include everything from IPAs to stouts to Belgian-style beers, but they must be above 8 percent...

By Jonathan Shikes

February 17, 2011

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The fastest way to get stronger is to work out, and you’ll be able to do plenty of, uh, two-ounce curls at the ninth annual Boulder Strong Ale Festival today and tomorrow. Strong ales include everything from IPAs to stouts to Belgian-style beers, but they must be above 8 percent alcohol by volume. “We ask that everything be from the heart of the brewery, something that they are tremendously proud of,” says C.V. Howe, the spokesman for Boulder’s Avery Brewing Company, which is hosting the fest. “There is no uniform code of what breweries can do. The sky is the limit for them.”

Avery expects 85 beers from more than forty breweries, some that aren’t usually available in Colorado — like Allagash, Shorts, Founders and Cambridge, New Holland and Firestone Walker — as well as many of Colorado’s stalwarts.

Tickets to the fest, which runs today from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and tomorrow from noon to 5 p.m., are $35 and available at www.ticketalternative.com. For their money, attendees get sixteen tickets that are each good for a two-ounce pour, a commemorative glass and the chance to mingle with the brewers themselves.

The fest takes place at the Avery Tap Room & Barrel-Aging Cellars, 5763 Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder. For more information, go to www.averybrewing.com.
Fri., Feb. 18, 5-10 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 19, 12-5 p.m., 2011

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