A look at Lone Tree Brewing's new bottled beers

Over the weekend we headed to Breckenridge and got some good time on the mountain before all the powder disappeared. We brought along Lone Tree Brewing's brand new bottled beers, Outta Range Pale Ale and the Acres O'Green Irish Red Ale. They've just started bottling now that they have a couple new fermenters the brewery. Both beers proved to have an extraordinary drinkability and are certainly worth mentioning here. Also worth mentioning is the beautiful artwork, by Jeff Bowles. I learned the aircraft on the Outta Range bottle has references to co-founder John Winter's flying career, with a Northern Exposure type of twist. Both label designs are a real visual treat.

The Outta Range Pale is a true light bodied pale ale with a good hop aroma. I really enjoyed the biscuit and bready malt overtones that were balanced nicely with some lemony citrus hops, some pine notes, and a mild bitterness. The beer was simple but very enjoyable in that simplicity, and at $5.99 a bottle, it's a really nice deal. Similarly the Acres O' Green Irish Red Ale is also incredibly easy-drinking. The aroma is of sweet malts, toffee with some nuttiness. The flavor is similar but has a tang to it that I often call a 'copper metal flavor' but not in a bad way. The beer is really smooth, really balanced but certainly malt forward. Some nice spice hops are sitting in there as well. If I remember correctly, when I first visited the brewery the Red Ale was just a seasonal but was met with so much demand that Lone Tree was practically forced to bring it back as a regular beer. I personally preferred the Pale Ale as it's a really great representation of one of my favorite styles.

Both of these beers were perfect for mellowing out after a long day on the mountain. They made for an easy transition from adventure to dinner. In the kitchen I worked on my deep dish cornmeal crust pizza while sipping away, any heavier beer would have created too much of a buzz for what I was trying to cook. I must admit I'm really happy to see both these beers in town and hope that they sell really well. Lone Tree Brewing is quietly nailing their beers up north and we all should pay a bit more attention to what they are doing.

If I can use this post to make a request - Lone Tree please also bottle your Double IPA! That's one of my favorite IPAs in the state!

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

Photos from the Lone Tree Meet the Brewer Night

Since we just today released information about the upcoming Meet the Brewer with Crabtree Brewing I thought I'd share a few photos from the last one with Lone Tree. Daniel snagged a few great photos that I just want to make sure everyone sees. The event ended up being a lot of fun and the beers that Lone Tree brought were awesome. They now plan to bring their beers down to COS here and there so if you see them on tap at Front Range BBQ, Brewer's Republic, Trinity, Another Pint or other places, you should seriously consider ordering a pint. You'll likely want another.

Meet the Brewer: Lone Tree Brewing

Meet the Brewer: Lone Tree Brewing
July 26th / 6:30pm / Pay Per Pint
At Front Range BBQ / 2330 W. Colorado Ave., Colorado Springs
Facebook Event Page

We're thrilled to announce the next brewer in the Meet the Brewer series will be Jason Wiedmaier of Lone Tree Brewing. We were first introduced to Lone Tree when we were seeking breweries for our Battle of the Brewers event. We visited the brewery and were thoroughly impressed with the quality and spot-on tastiness of Jason's beers. Throughout the competition Lone Tree continued to impress others, and they made it to the final round, ending up in second place. We decided right then that Colorado Springs should get to know Lone Tree a little better and we invited Jason to come and hang out with us. Join us on Thursday July 26th, at Front Range BBQ, and we will drink our fair share of Lone Tree beers, some from their mainstay lineup along with some seasonals. You also really need to check out Jason's beard in person, it's pretty impressive.

The Beers:
Acres O' Green Irish Red, Ariadne's Belgian Blonde, Puddle Jumper Pale Ale, Hoptree 2IPA, Toots' Oatmeal Stout, and Pilsner.

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

Shamrock - Winner of Battle of the Brewers!

The first go-around of Battle of the Brewers is officially over and our congratulations go out to Shamrock Brewing in Pueblo, the final winner! Shamrock made their way through three great rounds with beers made by Jason Beuhler. In the first round they were paired against Pikes Peak Brewing, in a close call match up using the random ingredients of Raspberry and Pumpkin. In round two, Shamrock defeated Rockyard Brewing using Ginger and Almonds. In the finals they met Lone Tree Brewing and came out on top. The final beer was made with a bottle of red wine per 5 gallons, and the use of some kind of wood (but not oak). In this round, Lone Tree put together a base beer that was a malty red ale with Spanish Tempranillo, hickory, and cherry wood. Shamrock's base beer was a strong Stout, used Merlot and aged with 35 year old cherry wood.

I would like to send my thanks to Jason Beuhler and Shamrock for really putting a lot of effort into this fun little event. I'd also like to thank all the other participating brewers including: Lone Tree Brewing, who also made it to the finals, Rockyard Brewing, Phantom Canyon Brewing, Kevin Beity Kraft Beer, Pikes Peak Brewing, Yak and Yeti, and Rock Bottom. This was a lot of fun and we're already planning the next battle.

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

Image Recap of all the crazy things we did last weekend

Last weekend was one of the busiest weekends in recent memory for craft beer in Colorado Springs. We've got some photos to guide you through some of the events. Included are Meet the Brewer with Doug Odell, our trip up north to pick up kegs for Battle of the Brewers, Battle of the Brewers, and Front Range's beer brunch. This is tough work sometimes!