Beer calendar: Quads, sours and bocks are all a blessing

Odell Brewing takes pride moving slow, and in expanding at a reasonable, measured pace -- which is why the Fort Collins beer makers was so deliberate last week in announcing that it would enter the Texas market -- the company's first new state in two years. To help out, Odell produced the above online-only commercial that is pretty funny. Also pretty cool is the fact that Odell made a special beer with former top brewer, Joe Mohrfeld, who left a couple of years ago to open his own place, Pinthouse Pizza, in Austin. The beer, T.A.P. TX, is a session ale.

Turn the page for all of this week's craft beer events.

February is Decadent Chocolate Cask Month at the Copper Kettle, and today's beer is Strawberry Chocolate Blonde, a malt-oriented American craft beer brewed with fresh strawberries and cocoa. It goes on a 3 p.m. The Ckrepes food truck will be on hand at 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 27

The Denver Bicycle Cafe will hold an Employee Tap Takeover tonight at 5 p.m., in which the staff got to choose the brew. Here's what they picked: Peter's Tap - Sierra Nevada Torpedo; Billie's Tap - Goose Island Matilda; Beki's Tap - Boulder Beer Shake Chocolate Porter; Eric's Tap - Grimm Brothers The Griffin; Ryan's Tap - Avery Hog Heaven; and Jackie's Tap - Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.

Saturday, March 1

River North Brewery will introduce the first in a series of seasonal brews, Quad on Oak, today at 1 p.m. in its taproom. Bombers will cost $9 with no limit, and the beer will be on tap all day. As a spring seasonal, River North will continue to brew and pour Quad on Oak until late May. The brewery says it aged its Quad on toasted American oak. River North plans to introduce several new seasonal beers this year, including a Tripel in the summer and a Dubbel in the fall.

New Belgium will throw a party in Denver to celebrate its latest year-round offering, Snapshot Wheat, a tart, unfiltered wheat beer. The party, called #SnapshotDenver, will be co-hosted by Artifact Uprising at Galvanize from 7 to 11 p.m. For $10, guests get two free Snapshot beers, a photo booth, the Comida food truck, a chance to win prizes and live music from Ark Life and the Blue Rider. The event will also feature a gallery of fan-submitted original photography, displayed by Artifact Uprising. To be part of the gallery, share pics of your favorite Colorado scenes on Instagram and tag them with #snapshotdenver.

Tuesday, March 4

The Yak & Yeti will release is annual Fat Tuesday beer, (Yakety Yak) Don't Talk Bock at 4 p.m. today, followed by the Blessing of the Bock by an ordained minister at 5 p.m. Come early to get your glass filled in time for the blessing.

Odyssey Beerwerks and East Coast Joe's food truck will host a Crawfish and Shrimp Boil for Mardi Gras today starting at 6:30. Let the good times roll with crawfish, shrimp, corn, potatoes and dessert -- along with two pints of beer (one specially brewed just for the occasion) -- for $40. There will be music from Ryan Tipton and Friends. Get your tickets in the taproom or online.

For more events later in March, turn the page. Thursday, March 6

Ernie's Bar & Pizza and Oskar Blues Brewery will team up today on a fundraiser to benefit the brewery's CAN'd Aid Foundation, which was founded to help raise money for victims of last year's floods. Oskar Blues will take over a portion of Ernie's tap lines today from 5 to 8 p.m. and feature some of their best beers; a brewer will be on hand to talk about them as well. Fifty cents from every pint purchased will to CAN'd Aid; Ernie's will also donate 20 percent of the day's sales from lunch and dinner to the foundation.

West Flanders Brewing in Boulder will wallow in defeat today at 5 p.m. by tapping Boom! IPA, a beer brewed by by Kevin Watson of Seattle's Elysian Brewing and Brian Lutz of West Flanders as part of a Super Bowl bet between the two breweries. Since Denver lost, Watson got to take over the West Flanders equipment for a day. Boom! will have plenty of hoppy aroma and was made using Citra and Mosaic hops.

Saturday, March 8

Hops & Pie needs to empty its cellar, pronto. So the craft beer-centered pizza joint is holding an Everything Must Go party today from noon to close, and its closets are full of amazing stuff. Some of the beers on tap include: Bruery Bois; Prairie Bomb; Boulevard Rye on Rye; Oskar Blues barrel-aged Ten Fidy; Perennial Abraxas; Firestone Walker Parabola; New Belgium Biere de Peach Barrel; Ska Two Tone Montanya; Upslope Cabernet Barrel-Aged IPA; and Jackie O's Dark Appartition.

Although Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery opened last November, the spot will hold an official grand opening today. Details are TBA, but the brewery say it will be releasing three or four new beers at different times throughout the day (including two beers with experimental hops). There will also be food-beer pairings, and raffles of swag, brewery tours/tastings, and "the opportunity to call your shot with a future pilot system beer (you choose the style and get to pick the name)."

Saturday, March 15

Breckenridge Brewery will introduce a new beer, Barleywine Batch #1, today by selling 22-ounce, wax-topped bottles out of its Kalamath Street taproom. The beer debuted in January at the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival in Vail. Cold conditioned for three months and barrel-aged in fresh American Oak barrels for another six, this beer comes in at 10.1 percent ABV and is the brewery's first barleywine. "It has an aromatic complexity resembling that of molasses and ripened black cherries, and a robust profile that blends a spectrum of flavors including sweet malts, dark fruits, oak, and esters," Breckenridge says. Todd Usry, Breckenridge Brewery's Brewmaster and Director of Brewing Operations, will be at the Batch #1 Bottle Release to mingle with patrons and autograph bottles. American Craft Beer Radio will be broadcasting live as well. The brewery plans to release a limited run of its Barleywine every year. "Each batch, however, will incorporate a new imaginative twist on the recipe. It will be unveiled at Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines year after year, followed by a limited bottle release at the brewery with availability in select markets."