Sneak a Peek at the Green Man This Weekend

Courtesy of Green Man Taproom

What Falling Rock is for Denver, or Mayor of Old Town is for Fort Collins, Green Man Taproom and Beer Garden is hoping to be for Colorado Springs. This city has been missing a spacious taproom with beer garden and an extensive beer list. Owners Scott and Petra Simmons are hoping to fill this void with Green Man. They have been visiting breweries and taprooms for years, taking pictures and notes of the good and the bad.

This weekend you can get a bit of a preview of Green Man Taproom, a tap house and potential beer garden (city approval for the latter is still pending) featuring 50+ taps, slated to open in February 2014.  They are holding a sneak peek beer festival this Saturday, November 9th from 2-6pm at 320 S. Weber Street.  The festival will feature beers from distributors and local brewers that the taproom will showcase.

Tickets are available for $35 each.  Your ticket buys you half-pint samples of numerous beers and food from Za Pizza. There are between 50 and 100 tickets available at the time of this post, so make sure to get yours now!

Announcing: Beers Made By Walking - October 8th in Denver!

Beers Made By Walking / Denver 2013

Tues. October 8th / 5-8pm 
Wynkoop Brewing / 1634 18th St. Denver

$30 for unlimited samples
Advance tickets available online

Facebook Event Page

 

As beer lovers from around the country gather in Denver to celebrate the Great American Beer Festival and the Denver Beer Fest, we thought we would give these beery visitors a taste of the great state of Colorado. Beers Made By Walking has invited seventeen breweries across the state to take a hike, literally, and then make specialty beers inspired by the edible and medicinal plants found along the trail. These seventeen beers, made specifically for this event, will be available for one night, Tuesday, October 8th, at Wynkoop in Denver.

Each beer in this series is innovative in that they are drinkable landscape portraits of areas throughout Colorado. You'll get to taste a portrait of Boulder’s historic Chautauqua Park, the Palmer Lake Reservoir Trail in Colorado Springs, a beer inspired by a neighborhood stroll in Denver, and many others.

We are very happy to announce that this year, a part of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Cottonwood Institute in Denver. The Cottonwood Institute is an award-winning 501(c)3 non-profit organization that inspires young people to initiate positive change by strengthening their civic engagement, environmental stewardship, and leadership skills.

The participating breweries are:
Boulder Beer, Crooked Stave, Elevation, Fate, Grimm Brothers, Mountain Sun Pub, New Belgium, Our Mutual Friend with Cerebral Brewing, Paradox, Phantom Canyon, Pikes Peak, Strange, Three Barrel, Twisted Pine, Wit's End, Wynkoop, and Yak & Yeti.

Ticket Info:
The beers will be available for one night only in Denver on October 8th, from 5-8pm, at Wynkoop Brewing (1634 18th St.) in their upstairs bar. Tickets will be available at Wynkoop on the night of the event or you can purchase them in advance here. Tickets cost $30 and give you access to unlimited samples of each specialty beer.

Beers Made By Walking is Sponsored by Westword
As part of its daily online coverage of Denver's dining and drinking scene, Westword closely follows the Colorado craft beer industry. Find their stories at cafesocietyblog.com and on Facebook.

- - -
Stay updated with our email updates and like us on Facebook. We're also on Twitter and Instagram at @focusonthebeer.

Recap of the inaugural Fermentation Fest

One can never have too many beer festivals, but why stop there?  Let’s celebrate all things fermented! This is what the inaugural Fermentation Festival and Market set out to do this past weekend in Denver. The event was organized by the same organization that created the South Denver Beer Festival a few months back. Represented at the Fermentation Festival were a handful of breweries and vendors who specialize in fermented food such as pickles and kimchi, as well as other fermented beverages.

This festival was small, but it really gave an opportunity to chat with the brewers and food artisans about their products casually and at some greater length than one would have at a more bustling festival. I am sure that this festival will expand in coming years and will be a real treat to attend again. There were additional seminars available throughout the day on topics ranging from kombucha, kefir and kimchi making, as well as beer and wine making. The most entertaining draw of the day was the pickle toss competition, which had two rounds and a championship, based on skillful pickle chip tossing.

Vail Big Beers Festival tickets are available soon!

Tickets for one of the best beer festivals you'll ever attend will go on sale on September 4th at 10am. If you've been a long time reader of this blog, the Vail Big Beers fest needs no introduction from us, we talk about it constantly. But, if you're new(ish) to the site, here the low down:

Rendezvous at the Rock boasts a pretty impressive brewery list!

This weekend Rockyard Brewing in Castle Rock will host a pretty impressive sounding beer festival. The event, which is a benefit for the Colorado Brewers Guild is one of the first large-scale beer events that I know of. What's super exciting is that there will be a number of new, newish and small breweries in attendance (in addition to some of the Colorado Classics as well) that perhaps you've not been able to try yet, or maybe you've never even heard of some of these breweries before. After all, it's getting more and more difficult to keep track of the hundreds of breweries in planning. This is a great opportunity to try a number of beers from the new boom of CO breweries. Check out the impressive list:

Craft Lager Fest Rescheduled

From the Craft Lager Fest, which was postponed because of the flood in Manitou:

STORM UPDATE: 8/10/2013 - 11:29AM

The festival is rescheduled for August 17th at the Norris-Penrose Event Center from 11am-3pm & 4pm-8pm

The festival will be rescheduled for Saturday August 17th at the Norris-Penrose Event Center from 11AM-3PM & 4PM-8PM.   The festival will now be a benefit to help support Manitou Springs.    There will be additional events that may include a possible beer cocktail event, silent auction to help raise money for their need.  Please see the website www.craftlagerfestival.com or our facebook page www.facebook.com/craftlagerfestival  for details that will be forthcoming in the next few days.

Park Clean up

We are also planning on cleaning up the park at 1PM today.  If you would like to help, please bring “mud boots” as it is quite muddy.   Shovels or brooms would help clean the sidewalks and roads.   Please know that the mud may be contaminated so you are cleaning up at your own risk.

Ticket Holders 

All persons holding a ticket will be issued a pass to the new event, we are not currently planning to give refunds, however those ticket holders who cannot make next week will be given a pass good for the 2014 festival or the other events we are hosting this year: details to come.   A registration process for this pass & information will be announced later today or tomorrow.   Consideration may be given for special situation on a case by case basis.  Please note that we will not be able to respond immediately to all requests, we ask for your patience.- - -
Stay updated with our email updates and like us on Facebook. We're also on Twitter and Instagram at @focusonthebeer.

Craft Lager Fest postponed due to the flood

This evening we received an email with some very unfortunate news regarding the Craft Lager Festival. Due to the flood in Manitou, the festival's equipment was at a complete loss and the festival will not be held this Saturday. Organizers are looking into options, and may be able to have something for Sunday in another location. If not, please stay tuned for word on a new date. Check out the Craft Lager Fest on FB. We send our thoughts to the organizers and to anyone in Manitou who may have been impacted by this flood.

Here is the press release from the Craft Lager Fest:

Brewer's Rendezvous in Salida this weekend!

One of the most acclaimed and exciting festivals of the year is already upon us! This year we'll see a whopping 73 Breweries featuring all their very best beer offerings. The breweries are all from Colorado and the event is organized by the Colorado Brewer's Guild. It takes place in the beautiful town of Salida with a backdrop of the mountains. For many people, the festival is a strong contender for best CO beer fest, alongside Vail Big Beers and GABF, so this is one that shouldn't be missed. There's a good amount of food for sale from local vendors, and music at the ampitheater and a lot of the beer industry people gather to hang out, answer questions, and party hard.

July 13, 1-5pm
$35 at the entrance
Riverside Park in Salida
More information can be found here.

Brought to you by the Colorado Brewers Guild and the Salida Chamber of Commerce.
- - -
Stay updated with our email updates and like us on Facebook. We're also on Twitter and Instagram at @focusonthebeer.

Your Photos, Our Photos, All Our Photos from Saison Fest

Another fantastic Saison Festival has come and gone. As the weather starts to get increasingly warm we look forward to the annual festival as it promises to have an assortment of beers that are refreshing, citrusy, and funky. This year Trinity hosted the event in their new barrel room, which is still under construction, but gave us all a good idea as to how large and how cool that space will be. The beer list was twice as long as last year and there were a number of new breweries participating. Trinity sold more tickets than last year and they sold out within about 45 minutes. In the new space there's plenty of room so it didn't feel as packed as it had in previous years.

For fun we decided to pass out a couple disposable cameras so we could feature some images that you took of yourselves and of your friend groups. The pictures turned out really well and perhaps tell a more complete story of the festival than we could capture with our one camera. We've included all the disposable camera photos that turned out, and we've mixed them in here with our photos.

2013 Saison Festival is coming up!

One of my favorite beer festivals in Colorado is coming up and tickets will go on sale next week. The Saison Festvial showcases all things Saison, Farmhouse, and experimental Belgian-inspired beers. The two years that I've attended the timing has been perfect, the weather is really getting warm and the highly carbonated, often refreshing beers, seriously hit the spot.

Photo Recap: Vail Big Beers Fest 2013

Yesterday we suggested that the commercial tasting a is just one of many 'main events' of the Vail Big Beers Festival. We presented some of the educational seminars, which for me, are some of my favorite moments of the fest because I like to geek out on all things beer, and it's especially exciting to have many experts in the field lead the workshops. I'm not downplaying the commercial tasting at all though, it is indeed the culmination of the best beer festival I've ever been to. The beers that are available are top notch, very impressive, and many of the actual brewers are there to pour the beers for you. Today we'd like to give you a photo recap of the tasting portion of the festival and a few other special moments we had at other moments with friends. I'll let the photos do most of the talking here.

Vail Big Beers and the Various "Main Events" of the Festival

The Vail Big Beers Festival is like an extension of the holiday season. The holidays are always a beautiful time of the year, I look forward to them, I love traveling to see my family, I love the food, the smell of the Christmas tree, I love partying with friends on New Year's Eve, and I love that in my life time seems to slow down a bit. Luckily, when it's all over you still have this festival to look forward to, as it usually takes place within two weeks of the new year. I've attended the festival for three years in a row now, I've proclaimed loudly that it is my favorite festival, and each year I look back and cherish the two-three days I spent in Vail.

Many people call the "Commercial Tasting" the main event of the festival. This is much like other festivals where breweries set up their booths and pour small samples of beer. At this festival all the beer is over 8% and a lot of it is really specialty and hard to get stuff. But for me, this commercial tasting is not the sole reason I attend, nor is it the main event in my mind. Instead there is a diffusion of main events, multiple educational seminars, outstanding beer dinners, a gigantic mountain for skiing, and a good chance to catch up with friends from other places. These are all the "main events" of Vail Big Beers.

Beer and Food Pairing at Chef N Brew

About a week ago I was at Wynkoop pouring beer and I struck up conversation with a guy named Mike who had a lot of the same interests as me - geography, plants, the outdoors. I soon realized that he's the person responsible for the Chef N Brew festival in Denver this week, a festival pushing the territory of beer and food pairing, so I thought that I would point it out to you all and encourage you all to go because this looks like one of the coolest events in a while.

The Party At and Around GABF

Everyone knows that the Great American Beer Festival is a giant beer party. Hundreds of breweries around the country bring in their mainline beers and some of their best offerings for the big show. The event is amazing, you enter the convention center with tens of thousands of people as bagpipes overwhelm you with a wall of sound. People rush to the booths where the rarest beers will disappear quickly and then they set off to try beers that they can only get while at GABF. The brewers too come with excitement as they hope to snag a coveted GABF award (Huge congrats to Trinity for their Bronze in the American Brett Ale category!). While most don't win anything, I imagine no one goes home truly upset, it's practically impossible to leave GABF without a sense that you've just had the best few days of your life. Plus your liver is hurting and you spend one day recuperating, and that's also one of the best days ever.

But there's much more to GABF than meets the eye. There are literally a hundred-plus events happening around Denver that supplement the festivities. Some of them are rare beer tappings, or beers that aren't normally available to Colorado and other markets. Some are fundraisers, some are big cook-outs, some you can meet the brewers, etc. etc. etc. We went to a number of these events. In many ways we enjoyed these as much as the big event itself because they were slightly quieter and slower and that's just what we needed. So this post really is a look at the party Around GABF rather than a look At GABF.

Vail Big Beer Tickets go on sale this Saturday!

One of the best beer festivals anywhere-ever is just around the bend and tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10am. If you don't want to take my word here's what Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head, says: “The Big Beers Fest in Vail is always one of my favorite events of the year. It sells out quick and it rules.” I've talked to so many people about their favorite festivals and a lot of people agree that the Vail Big Beers Fest is top notch. Also, a lot of people have said that they haven't attended it yet but it's on their list. Well, now is your chance! Get your tickets starting this Saturday, the event is far enough advance notice that you can rearrange your work schedule. January 10-12, 2013. It's going to be awesome.

Check out our photo recaps: Sam Calagione pairs beer and music, the Big Beers tasting.

Here's Ticket Info

January 10-12, 2013. 
Vail Cascade Resort & Spa
The cheapest package is the $55 and includes entry to the commercial tasting (festival) as well as all the seminars that take place that day and the night before. There's are other events, such as the beer dinners, that can be bought individually or in packages.
Check out all the ticket packages and prices here.

2012 Colorado State Fair Beer Judging and Foamfest: A Photo Recap

I had the opportunity to judge beer for the Colorado State Fair this last weekend. This year there were 485 homebrew entries and 183 craft entries from Colorado breweries for judging. It took about 35 judges two full days to get through the beers and declare the winners. On Saturday night, Foamfest was held at the state fair where 20 breweries came to pour their beers, and the winners were announced. I met a lot of great people, drank some amazing beers, and saw some incredible sites at the state fair. A special shout out to Jesisca Wilcox, organizer of the beer judging competition, and Kristin Taylor, orgainizer of Foamfest, for an incredible experience! You can check out the homebrew competition results here (a good amount from Colorado Springs and Manitou!) and the craft beer results here.

Welcome to the Colorado State Fair

Each bottle was meticulously numbered and labelled

Springs Beer Fest this Weekend

If you're fresh off the Manitou Lager Fest and you're ready for another festival, you'll want to check out the Springs Beer Fest this weekend. There will be 50+ craft breweries showcasing their beer. The fest is priced nicely at $20 (advance)/ $25 (at the door) and the funds go to two local non-profit groups - Friends of Cheyenne Cañon and our pals UpaDowna.

Springs Beer Fest
Sat. Aug 11 / 12-5pm
31 West Pikes Peak Ave. & Sierra Madrone
West of Hilton Antlers

- - -
Stay up to date with Focus on the Beer. You can receive email updates and join us on our Facebook page.

Great American Beer Fest 2012 Tickets on Sale Soon!

Tickets for the Great American Beer Festival will go on sale soon. If you've never been and always wanted to go, now is your chance. You have to ask fast though. Literally tens of thousands of tickets will disappear within less than a week, starting on Aug. 2nd. The event costs $65 and is absolutely worth every penny. It is the biggest, craziest, and one of the funnest of beer events ever. Here's what the Brewer's Association says:

Presented by the Brewers Association, GABF is the premier U.S. beer festival and competition. Each year, GABF represents the largest collection of U.S. beer ever served, bringing together the brewers and beers that make the U.S. the world’s greatest brewing nation. Over the course of three days, more than 49,000 attendees will have the opportunity to meet hundreds brewers and sample a variety of diverse beers from today’s large and small U.S. breweries.

Additionally, the GABF competition awards gold, silver and bronze medals for excellence in 84 beer style categories. The awards are recognized around the world as symbols of brewing excellence and are among the most coveted in the industry.

Go here to get your tickets

Photo Review of Brewers Rendezvous in Salida, CO

Hopefully many of you headed out to Salida for the Brewer's Rendezvous. Here's a photo recap of the event.

Jason Yester from Trinity Brewing being Jason Yester. Nice shirt.

Brewer's Rendezvous Beer Festival Coming Up

Many people speak very highly of the Brewer's Rendezvous and unfortunately I'm out of town every year at this time so I'm never able to make it. Here is information for this awesome Salida beer festival:

The 16th Annual Colorado Brewer’s Rendezvous (CBR16) is set to host a record 62 Colorado breweries in beautiful Riverside Park, downtown Salida. The July 14th event is one of the most anticipated beer events for both brewers and Colorado beer lovers. This family-friendly event attracts people from around the country to the heart of Colorado to sample beers from the states leading breweries.

Breweries must be members of the Colorado Brewers Guild to pour their beers at CBR16. “As CBG grows, so does the Rendezvous.” Explains John Carlson, Executive Director of the Colorado Brewers Guild, “The Rendezvous has a build a stellar reputation over the last 16 years for beer lover. Plus, CBG brewers love coming to Salida.” CBG has over 90 member breweries and is signing new breweries every month.

CBR16 will have almost 200 different beers, music, local food vendors, and root beer for the kids and designated drivers. The Colorado Brewers Rendezvous occurs on the second Saturday of July and is a fundraiser for the Colorado Brewers Guild and the Salida Chamber of Commerce.

Info:
July 14, 1-5pm / Riverside Park, Salida / $35 at door

###
The Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG) is a non-profit trade association promoting the Colorado craft brewing industry. With 142 Colorado craft breweries and counting, CBG provides information for Colorado beer lovers, and promotes Colorado craft breweries by advancing positive public policy for Colorado craft beer. For more information, visit the website.

- - -
Stay up to date with Focus on the Beer. You can receive email updates and join us on our Facebook page.