Colorado Beer: What’s filled my glass lately

I’ve been able to discover a bunch of new brews lately. Some good. Some not so good. But you don’t really know until you try them. And reviews aren’t always spot on to your particular taste. I have done a lot of exploring with Colorado beer in the last few weeks. No not Coors. Or even New Belgium.

What I’ve really had the most of has been Oscar Blues Deviant Dale’s IPA. It is really somewhere between an IPA and a Double IPA. This is what a lot of the newer IPAs have been doing. Weighing in at 8% and 85 IBUs it needs the higher ABV to support all those hops. It’s really a great beer, which is funny since it was originally a mistake. I was lucky enough to have this on draft at home, but getting the 16oz tall boy cans is almost as pleasing. This might not be the best IPA on the market, but it’s really close.

A recent shipment was delivered that had a variety of Colorado beers. One of them really had balls too. I’m not kidding. Wynkoop Brewing Company has made a left turn on the idea of an Oyster Stout. Wynkoop has made a Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout from their Even Smaller Batch Series. The description on the can must be shared, as I can’t write it any better:

“A meaty foreign-style stout, Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout is made with Colorado base malts, roasted barley, seven specialty malts, Styrian Goldings hops, and 25 pounds of freshly sliced and roasted bull testicles. Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout is an assertive, viscous stout with a rich brown/black color, a luscious mouthfeel and deep flavors of chocolate, espresso and nuts. The beer sports a savory, umami-like note and a roasty dry finish. Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout is 7.5% ABV and 3 BPBs. (That’s balls per barrel.)”

That works out to about 0.1 ball per barrel. I have to say, it was quite an enjoyable beer. I don’t know if the bull testicles added anything in the taste department though. This has been Wynkoop’s most widely talked about beer, and it might even be their best. I also tried their Rail Yard Ale and Belgorado Belgian Style IPA. The Belgorado was yeasty with decent amount of fruit esters, but the hops weren’t indicative of an IPA.

If this was rebranded a Belgian Golden Ale it might be more well received. Part of the problem might be the Wet Hops. Fresh (wet) hops are great. But really they are a romantic concept. The idea of picking hops right off the vine and using them in a beer is a beautiful thought. But in practice, it’s, well, impractical. You need a lot more fresh hops to equal the same amount of bitterness as dried hops. As for the Rail Yard Ale, I would not get that again for sure. This is basically a German Marzen made with ale yeast. So it doesn’t come away with the clean crispness of a lager. It is kind of a boring mess of  sweet, bready, almost macro-brew flavor.

Next in my virtual tour of Colorado was Odell Brewing from Fort Collins, Colorado. I have heard a lot of good things about Odell for a long time. This usually means, when I finally get to have a beer, I expect too much and the beer in my hand fails to live up to expectations. This was not the case at all. First I had their Cutthroat Porter. Really nice. It had lots of rich, roasted malt flavors like coffee and chocolate. It had an incredible balance. A text book porter. Odell does something I have found I really love. In an age where everyone is trying to reinvent styles, they are just producing incredible beer completely indicative of the style. Their 5 Barrel Pale Ale was also made in this same manner. In fact, I told my wife after the first couple sips,

“This is the best pale ale, I’ve ever had.”

Very balanced and drinkable, with a prominent, yet not overwhelming hop presence. Wow.

Of course at this point I couldn’t wait to get my hands on another Odell brew. Luckily I had some more chilling, so I just had to wait until the next evening. First I poured Odell Brewing’s Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout. This beer is named after the local farmer who picks up spent grains from Odell to feed his cows. This beer definitely has the feel of a glass of rich chocolate milk. Maybe it’s just psychosomatic but I always feel that milk stouts have a certain coating mouthfeel like a glass of milk does. This flavor isn’t for everyone, and it wouldn’t be a regular drink for me, but it was a nice treat.

My last Odell was Myrcenary Double IPA. This beer’s name, like many others, is a fun play on words. As Myrcene is one of the four essential oils of the hop flower. And this DIPA is brewed with the hop varieties with the highest levels of Myrcene. I have found that I really like beer that is brewed with high Myrcene hops. They give IPAs that pungent perfume smell. There was some pleasant fruitiness in this, while I couldn’t find the exact hop bill, I did find that El Dorado does have a high Myrcene level, and it could be responsible for the fruit flavor. But I really couldn’t be sure.

So here is the bad news for those of you reading this in the Mid-Atlantic area. You can’t get these easily. Except for the Oscar Blues Deviant Dale’s. But here are a couple more that you can get in the Mid-Atlantic area.

Two excellent releases from Stone, Enjoy by 5.17.13 & Espresso Imperial Russian Stout. Enjoy By is a new double IPA that they have been rolling out regionally since last fall. Only a couple batches have made it to Maryland, and Enjoy By 5.17.13 is the only one still in its prime. For years Stone has put Enjoy By dates on its beers. Some are more important than others.

India Pale Ale’s, especially those high in hops, should be enjoyed fresh. As their hop flavors and aromas tend to fade as the beer ages. But in most cases the Enjoy By date is a small stamp printed on the label or bottle. Not this beer. The date is prominently emblazoned in paint on the glass as part of the beer’s name. Stone has also gone to great lengths to get this in stores as quickly as possible. And it is great. If you are in a store, buy it. Even if you don’t drink beer, buy it, and find someone to give it to. I’m not going to go into great lengths describing it, because it really only needs one word. Dank.

Stone’s Odd Year release of Imperial Russian Stout is brewed with Espresso this year. In my opinion a vast improvement over the 2011 Star Anise IRS release. This beer is also a must buy. Super rich, chocolaty, and roasty. There is a perceived sweetness, but that’s all it is, perceived. Because this really isn’t a sweet beer. Of course there are a lot of sugars that once lived in the vats at Stone’s brewery; otherwise it wouldn’t carry its 11% ABV. I picked up a bottle of this for about $7.50, which is a steal for how good it is.

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John Thompson

John Thompson is a beer enthusiast who began evangelizing craft beer a few years ago on his blog thehoplocal.com. John has been homebrewing sporadically for almost 20 years, and also is a Cicerone Certified Beer Server. When not enjoying a cold malty beverage you will find John spending time with his spouse and two young children or working his day job in Financial Services Technology. Make sure to find John on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter @TheHopLocal and Untapped. at : http://untappd.com/user/thehoplocal

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