A baseball bat and two new brewery openings fill this week's beer calendar

Cucumber beers appear to be in style this spring, as at least five breweries around Colorado have mentioned the shiny green vegetable when talking about new beers. The only bottled one so far, however, is from Boulder's Twisted Pine Brewing, which released Cucumber Cream Ale last week. The second offering...

By Jonathan Shikes

May 22, 2013

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Cucumber beers appear to be in style this spring, as at least five breweries around Colorado have mentioned the shiny green vegetable when talking about new beers. The only bottled one so far, however, is from Boulder's Twisted Pine Brewing, which released Cucumber Cream Ale last week. The second offering from its "Farm to Foam" series, the beer was made with more than 300 pounds of fresh English cucumbers from 2 R's Farms in Platteville, along with malted barley and wheat from Colorado Malting Company in Alamosa, and Crystal hops from Misty Mountain Hop Farm in Olathe.

For this week's craft beer events, turn the page.

Wednesday, May 22

The Yak & Yeti will tap Big Hairy Feet today at 4 p.m. This English-style barleywine has "big biscuit and caramel notes with strong hints of alcohol and firm bitterness for those hopheads out there," the brewery says. Also on tap are Chai Milk Stout, Thin Air ESB.

It's Saison Cask Month at the Copper Kettle, and today the brewery is tapping Cabernet Sauvignon Saison. It's open from 3 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, May 23

Upslope Brewing is hosting a beer dinner at its original Lee Hill tap room tonight at 6:30 p.m., with presentations from Upslope's head brewer, Alex Violette, and the West End Tavern's chef and co-owner, Chris Blackwood. The dinner will take place in the barrel room and include five courses, with two different Upslope beers paired with each plate. "This will allow guests to enable their palates to roam freely with each dish, choosing the perfect combination of food and drink," the brewery says. Tickets are available at both Upslope locations and at The West End Tavern.

Friday, May 24

This event has been posptoned: Left Hand Brewing in Longmont is releasing Homefront IPA today at 5 p.m. in its tasting room. The collaborative beer was produced by nine U.S. breweries to raise money and awareness for Operation Homefront and will be sold nationally, with all proceeds going to the organization that provides emergency assistance to military families and wounded warriors. An American-style IPA, Homefront was brewed with orange zest and aged on maple Louisville Slugger bats. One of those bats will be auctioned off at Left Hand at 7 p.m. The other breweries involved are Cigar City, Perennial Artisan Ales, Sly Fox, St. Arnold's, 21st Amendment, the Phoenix Ale Brewery, Stone Brewing and Fremont Brewing. The beer will be produced at all nine breweries and sold in bottles.

Saturday, May 25

Two new breweries will hold grand openings today, one in Arvada and one in Golden.

Odyssey Beerwerks, which has been quietly operating for a couple of days, will celebrate with a party starting at 2 p.m. There will be live music from the Jenny Hope Band, food from the Ablaze food truck, door prizes and six beers on tap, including Brick Lane ESB (tapped Friday) and Psycho Penguin Porter, releasing day.

And Mountain Toad Brewing in Golden, which also opened quietly, will host a grand opening party from noon to 10 p.m. with four beers and food from Bistro Colorado.

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