Beer Calendar: Toasting Milestones at River North, Hops & Pie, Black Shirt Brewing

You've had beer ice cream (and if you haven't, you should try it), but now it's time for ice cream beer. New Belgium Brewing, in conjunction with Ben & Jerry's, will release Salted Caramel Brownie Ale this month — and mouths are likely watering. The brown ale was brewed for two reasons: to raise awareness of climate change and to honor both company's designation as B Corporations, which means they are "held to performance standards that are comprehensive and transparent, measuring a company’s impact on workers, suppliers, communities and the environment," New Belgium says. The beer will appear first in mixed Folly packs and then in six-packs.

Wednesday, October 7
Copper Kettle Brewing will put the pumpkin on a pedestal this month, tapping a different pumpkin beer firkin each Wednesday. Today's is Ginger Pumpkin Red Rye. The Farm to Truck food truck will be there.

Thursday, October 8
Odell Brewing will partner with The Farmhouse at Jessup Farm to host a vertical tasting and beer-pairing dinner tonight at 6 p.m. Doug Odell and chef Joel Navejas will guide guests through eight carefully selected courses paired with all eight of Odell's Woodcut releases. Tickets to the event, which takes place at Odell in Fort Collins, can be purchased for $100. Only 75 are available.

Factotum Brewhouse will tap Rye Guy today at 6 p.m., when you can also meet the home brewers who conceived of the rye pale ale, Justin Theodorakos and his friend Rachel. You can meet the brewers and listen to live music.

Friday, October 9
The Brewtography Project will continue its series of events tied to its Kickstarter campaign today at Crooked Stave at 4 p.m. The campaign is trying to raise money for the publication of Dustin Hall's coffee table photography book, Discovering Colorado Breweries. You can chat with Hall, drink some beer and check out his work.

Saturday, October 10
Black Shirt Brewing will celebrate its third birthday today from 2 to 10 p.m. with a big party. It will tap a wide variety of beers, and there will be food from the Barbed Wire Reef food truck. There will also be live music and an art show. 

Hops & Pie will celebrate its fifth anniversary today by tapping several great beers, including a fifth anniversary beer called Tropical Oh Yeah, a West Coast-style IPA that the pizza joint collaborated on with Call to Arms Brewing, which is also on Tennyson Street. They will also tap Russian River Pliny the Elder, Societe The Pupil, Creature Comforts Reclaimed Rye, Sweetwater Hop Hash, Evil Twin Cafe Jesus, Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Black Kiln, Fremont Brew 1000, and another collaboration beer, Hops & Lambic, which Hop & Pie did with Black Bottle Brewery in Fort Collins. And finally, the first 100 folks in the door will get a beer and pint glass for free. Hops & Pie opens at noon and will tap other cellar treasures and host a raffle at 3 p.m. 

Denver Beer Co will celebrate the harvest season from 2 to 6 p.m. today with its second annual Harvest Party at its Canworks location in the Sunnyside neighborhood. They will have a full lineup of beers, including fall seasonals and a special tapping of King Ink, the brewery's GABF-award-winning Indian Black Ale. There will also be food trucks, Canworks tours, a farmer's market and live Bluegrass music from Kinky Fingers at 2 p.m. and Tallgrass at 4 p.m. Event Entrance is free, but you can buy all-you-can-drink beer tickets at nightout.com.

River North Brewery has to bid farewell to its original location on October 24 — the building's owners are scraping it in order to make way for an apartment complex — but not before the brewery says, "Funk You," to the man. For the remainder of its tenure there, River North will host a series of events and Brett Saison bottle releases called Funk The Man, which pay tongue-in-cheek tribute to "cash over community," the brewery says. The first event is today when River North releases Funk the Man #1, aged in Cabernet barrels, which will be sold on tap and in 375-ml bottles. Funk the Man #2, featuring hibiscus, debuts on October 17, while Funk the Man #3, with black currant, will close things down on October 23 and 24. River North’s is moving to a new location, at 6021 Washington Street, where it will begin producing beer in late fall or early winter. There may be a small taproom there as well. 

Sunday, October 11
Factotum Brewhouse will tap Winter Warmer today at 2 p.m. The beer, a big barleywine, was conceived by home brewers Kurt Streeb and Brian Sellers. It was made with grains of paradise, bitter orange peel, cinnamon and clove.

Station 26 hosts its monthly Bluegrass Brunch today starting at 11 a.m. There will be beer, live music from Lonesome Days, donuts from Glazed and Confuzed Doughnuts, and barbecue from Rolling Smoke BBQ. Free admission.

Monday, October 12
Avery Brewing will release its winter seasonal. Old Jubilation, today at the brewery — and at least Avery has a sense of humor, saying, "It's officially autumn! So, in the craft beer world, it's officially winter!" Indeed. The 8.3 percent winter strong ale "has a gorgeous mahogany hue, a hint of hazelnuts, and a finish reminiscent of mocha and toffee. No spices, just a perfect blend of five specialty malts." Show up today at the brewery wearing your best/worst sweater and get a pint for free. Old Jubilation will hit shelves soon as well.

Wednesday, October 14
Copper Kettle Brewing will put the pumpkin on a pedestal this month, tapping a different pumpkin beer firkin each Wednesday. Today's is Peanut Butter Pumpkin Brown Ale. Pavy's Food Truck will be on hand with gourmet sandwiches.

Saturday, October 17
Copper Kettle Brewing will release its seasonal, Well Bred, today. The English barleywine on tap and in 22-ounce bomber bottles to go. It has "lots of malt, caramel undertones, and hints of vanilla come out in this year's version, aged in bourbon barrels from Versailles, Kentucky," the brewery says. The Wing Wagon Grill will be out for the occasion serving wings, ribs and burgers.

Deschutes Brewery, from Bend, Oregon, is bringing its traveling pop-up pub to Denver today from 2 to 10 p.m., where it will set up a 402-foot custom bar on 21st Street between Blake and Larimer. Deschutes will be pouring and selling beers from forty taps and donating 100 percent of the proceeds to Bicycle Colorado. In addition to many of the brewery's well-known beers, the Deschutes Street Pub will be selling food. The brewery's chef, Jeff Usinowicz, along with Jake Grant of Euclid Hall and Carrie Baird of Brazen, will create dishes that complement the beers being served. There will also be live music and kids' activities. 

Do you like chile? How about chile beers? Then head to the 17th Annual Golden City Brewery Chile Fest today in Golden, where fifteen local chile cooks will enter their finest creations into a competition (and offer more for guests to sample). In addition, GCB will be pouring its legendary Hatch green-chile beer alongside three other breweries, who will also bring chile beers. Attendees can vote for their favorite. It's free to sample chile, although GCB is requesting a $10 donation to support the Christian Action Guild Food Bank. In return for the donation, you'll get a sixteen-ounce commemorative beer glass and one free pint of beer or soda. The fest starts at noon.

Wednesday, October 21
Big Choice Brewing will release a beer today at 4:29 p.m. that brewmaster Nathaniel Miller has been working on for six months. OBEAH is a Caribbean-inspired imperial stout, at 10 percent ABV, that was brewed with Caribbean jerk spices and aged in rum barrels. It will be sold in 19.2-ounce cans at the brewery while supplies last, and may hit a few liquors stores. In addition, the cans, made by Germany's XOLUTION, are resealable, meaning you should be able to drink some of the beer and save the rest for later. 

Saturday, October 24
Dry Dock Brewing is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a party from 2 to 6 p.m. at its North Dock location at 2801 Tower Road in Aurora. The party will feature live music, food from Big Kiwi Eats and a big list of beers, including beers poured from the barrel and the debut of Dry Dock 10th Anniversary Quad. "When we launched a craft brewery in the back of our homebrew shop The Brew Hut ten years ago, we never expected to grow like we did," says the brewery. "From expanding into the tap room off of Hampden to our first barrel-aged beer, and now to canning at our production facility, this city has always been our home. The community and the people who live here are the reason we love doing what we do." Tickets for the event can be purchased on Dry Dock's Imbibe webpage.