These are the glory days for craft brewing. Never before have there been this many beers from this many breweries. But the plethora of good beer also means that a trip to the liquor store can sometimes be daunting, especially when brewers are releasing new styles and designs all the time.
Don't let the choices overwhelm you. Here's a guide to twenty new canned beers (and, yes, canned beers are the majority of what's coming out in Colorado now) that were recently released or will be available soon. Most are summer seasonals, though a few may go year-round.
Part of a year-old trend in craft beer, Upslope's new sparkling rosé is a dry, highly carbonated take on the rosé style of wine — and at 7.1 percent ABV, it's got some punch, too. "Dry, effervescent and refreshing, Sparkling Rosé IPA represents a paradigm shift in the hoppy beer status quo," the brewery says. "Notes of peach skin, white grape and honeydew melon emanate from the glass."
Bonus beer: Upslope also released a summer seasonal called Tea Shandy; inspired by the lemon and tea flavors in an Arnold Palmer, the beer was brewed with whole-lemon purée and organic black tea.
Crisp, clean and sessionable, this beer is perfect for Telluride's relaxed outdoor lifestyle, the brewery says. A hybrid ale/lager, Telluride Mountain Beer uses German Magnum and Tettnanger hops to balance out the light malt body. "In doing so," the brewery re-creates a true-to-style Kölsch, evocative of the German lowlands.
As part of its series of barrel-aged beers packaged in sixteen-ounce cans, Avery has released Cucumber Hibiscus Sour, a tart beer made with, yes, cucumber and hibiscus.
Bonus beer: Avery has also released Pacer IPA, its entry into the burgeoning market for lower-calorie, lower-carb beers. Pacer comes in at 100 calories and three grams of carbs per serving.
For its summer seasonal, Dry Dock has released this tropical bomb, brewed with Mosaic and Citra hops, pineapple purée, lactose (milk sugar) and a dash of vanilla. "It carries a big nose of fresh pineapple, with citrus undertones and a subtle vanilla finish," the brewery says. Available in cans throughout the state.
Originally brewed as a collaboration with Old Chicago, Hazeberry was made with Belma hops, an unusual variety described as "having an ambrosial mix of orange, melon, strawberry and pineapple," the brewery says. The summer seasonal has a fruity nose and creamy strawberry flavor.
Brewed with real passion fruit juice "to give it both a sweet and sour" effect, this summer seasonal boasts strong passion fruit, moderate pineapple and tropical notes.
Although it was released several months ago, Señor Piña is a perfect summer beer. A blonde ale that was fermented with pineapples and dry-hopped with Mosaic, it has a smooth mouthfeel and low bitterness.
Bonus Beer: Cerveceria Colorado, an offshoot of Denver Beer Co., has also canned ¡Venga! Mexican Lager.
Colorado craft beer drinkers know that big imperial stouts can be just as enjoyable in the summer months, depending on the time and place, as they are in the winter. For its 25th anniversary (the party is this weekend), Great Divide is releasing Big Yeti, a 13.5 percent ABV behemoth that is very smooth and comes in an extra-large can.
Bonus beer: Great Divide is also releasing Double Hazy IPA in cans next week. It's a bigger version of its Hazy IPA, which has become enormously popular in Colorado.
Brut Rosé IPA
Station 26 Brewing
"Dry, sparkling, bubbly and brewed with raspberries and hibiscus," says Station 26 Brewing of its new 6.3 percent ABV rosé-style IPA. The brew has "a mild, fruity hop character" and is made for crushing in the sun.
River North Brewery has debuted a brand-new, year-round canned double IPA called Fifteener. "Hopped with stratospheric levels of Simcoe, Centennial and Falconer’s Flight," Fifteener, at 10 percent ABV, boasts "layers of pine and grapefruit, complemented by a sprinkling of floral mango. Packed together, these hop notes allow Fifteener to strike the perfect balance between a contemporary and traditional double IPA."
This is the second of three beers that will be part of the brewery's rotating Can-O-Bliss IPA series. At 7.2 percent ABV, Hazy was brewed with "an unprecedented combination of super-dank Strata, aromatic Cashmere, quirky Enigma, wine-like Hallertau Blanc and peachy-pine Eureka hops," Oskar Blues says. Can-O-Bliss Hazy IPA follows Can-O-Bliss Tropical IPA, which was released in late 2018 and precedes Can-O-Bliss Citrus IPA, which will debut this fall. The beers are available nationwide in cans.
Ska has brewed beers with, and in honor of, several bands over the years — which should be no surprise given the brewery's musical focus. This time, the beer, a 5 percent golden ale, was made with the band Rancid and is available throughout Ska's distribution area.
Infused with the juice of the prickly pear cactus, which imparts a light, tart flavor, this rosy-colored effervescent beer weighs in at 5.1 percent ABV. It's available now in six-packs cans wherever Boulder Beer is sold.
Building on the idea behind its Rupture IPA — to grind up fresh hops and add them to the brew kettles — Odell Brewing created the 8 percent ABV Hammer Chain, which it calls "a bigger, meaner, older brother." It was named after the blades of the hammer mill that pulverize each whole-flower hop, releasing the lupulin inside.
It's available on draft and in six-packs of cans across Odell's nineteen-state footprint.
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To honor its seventh anniversary in Poncha Springs, Elevation brewed this 7 percent ABV beer with Magnum, Citra, Mosaic and Galaxy hops. It is currently available in canned six-packs statewide.
As part of its recent growth — including a brewhouse production increase of 40 percent and a new can labeling machine — Lone Tree Brewing is adding several new beers to two new beer series. The latest is Centennial IPA, from the Hoppy Little Trees series. At 6.8 percent ABV, this is the sixth beer to come out of the fresh year-round rotating IPA series. Canned six-packs will be available this month statewide.
Bonus beer: Pineapple Sour, a 4.5 percent ABV blonde ale, is tart with a subtle pineapple finish.
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