Happy Birthday Copper Kettle (Episode IV)
The Ladies of the Denver Biscuit Bus “get ridiculous” while cooking up some serious eats for the masses. No lumpy oatmeal here, however.
Birthdays are great. People sing to you, and they wish you good health. Unfortunately, birthdays only come once a year, UNLESS YOU OWN A BREWERY! Then you can give yourself a four day birthday celebration!
Four days of music, four days of well-wishers, and four days of “special” beer. Today was the final day of CKBC’s big birthday beer bash, and they let it all hang out for the fans. (Figuratively. Nobody needs to go to jail.)
Pete grooves until his string breaks.
For today’s party, in addition to their usual offerings, they had:
- The Furious Five Beers
- A 2012 Barleywine
- A 2013 Barleywine
- Denver Biscuit Bus
- Pete Stein on Guitar
Twelve (yes, 12!) beers on tap.
Clearly you can’t sample them all…not at once, anyway. If you know me, however, you know that I had to go straight for the Barleywine(s). (Pictured below.)
First, however, I had to get a biscuit from the Denver Biscuit Bus. What goes well with a barleywine? A biscuit with sausage, eggs, and gravy. If lovin’ that was wrong, I don’t want to be right. (My diet detox starts tomorrow. I swear.)
Every Sunday should be Barleywine Sunday. Are you listening?
The Barleywine on the right is the 2012 version. It looks a little lighter in color than its 2013 counterpart, but only for reasons to be explained in the next sentence. It comes in at a robust 13% ABV, and, truthfully, you can’t really taste the alcohol. That’s a bad thing, right? After a year of aging, it’s incredibly smooth, and something that I hope will be bottled soon. (Hint!)
However, if they decide not to bottle the 2012 version, then the 2013 version would be OK by me as well. (Hint! Hint!)
As long as a Barleywine is bottled at some time in the future. The people want it! (By the people, I mean me. I’m being totally selfish here.)
Coming in at 10% ABV, the 2012 Barleywine is pretty much the same recipe, except (obviously) it is lower in alcohol. It’s a good move. It leaves the Barleywine a little chewier and fuller bodied.
After deciding that maybe 13% was a bit too high, “We wanted to make something where we didn’t have to cut people off at just one,” assistant brewer Gordon shared when talking about the beers. Ultimately, it was a good move.
We stuck around to enjoy some great music from Pete Stein, as well as a Lemongrass Ginger Wit, which was great for such a sunny Sunday.
So ends the four day celebration. It was cool to see so many people, multiple brewers from other places like Wit’s End, Caution Brewing, River North, all together having a good time. That’s what the local brewery is supposed to be about, right? Good, clean fun.
Well, it’s about to get messy next week, as I head to Munster, IN for Dark Lord Day.
Stay Tuned!
Happy Birthday Copper Kettle (Episode III)
A little bluegrass for your ears, provided by the Acoustic Mining Company
Welcome to day three of the Copper Kettle’s birthday beer bash!
Yesterday, there was a beer-off. Mystery brewers brewed five beers, and the public voted for the winner. Through some deductive reasoning, we were able to figure out the following:
- The Strawberry Rhubarb Saison was brewed by Paul. I voted for the Strawberry Rhubarb, but we’re not telling him, because it will only go to his head.
- The Pecan Wood Smoked Brown Ale was brewed by Gordon. My better half voted for this one.
- The Lemongrass Ginger Wit was authored by K2, but brewed by Gordon.
- The India Alt Ale (called so because of the extra hops in a regular Altbier) was brewed by Jeremy.
- The Dark Belgian (a close, close second, IMO) was brewed by K1.
The winner of the brew-off was Kristen (K1, if you will.) Congratulations! A cask of the Dark Belgian was available today (there might still be some if you RIGHT NOW!) Congratulations for everyone, though, because it was definitely a tough decision to decide amongst all of the beers.
Today a Bourbon Barrel Baltic Porter was released. If you know me, you know I like a good Bourbon Barreling. Today’s offering was no exception. As we were enjoying some food from the Eighty Ate food truck, (we love their sliders), the skies started to cloud up. Then it started to rain. The Acoustic Mining Company headed indoors, and the party kept on going.
Tomorrow is the last day of the party – definitely for the Barleywine lover! Everyone who like a good Barleywine will agree that Sundays are the best days for Barleywines. The Biscuit Bus will be there, and there will again be some good music.
Happy Birthday Copper Kettle (Episode II)
Who Made Who?
Here we are, it’s day 2, and it’s time for a beer-off!
5 different beers brewed mysteriously brewed by the CKBC family, and we vote for the best. The choices are:
Lemongrass Ginger Wit
Dark Belgian Strong Ale aged in port barrels (my choice prior to tasting)
Smoked Pecan Wood Brown Ale
India Alt Ale (my wife’s initial choice prior to tasting)
Strawberry Rhubarb Saison aged in a Port barrel
Who will win?
After careful tasting, I’m down to a choice between the Saison and the Dark Belgian. It’s purely coincidence that they are both aged in port barrels. I think the Lemongrass Ginger Wit gives good ginger on the nose. The missus is still deciding – she’s apparently a little more refined than I am. The Pecan Wood Smoked Brown is her choice, but it might change before the vote.
Final vote: Strawberry Rhubarb Saison for me, Pecan Wood Smoked Brown for her.
The Conquistadors of Nothing play while we were deciding.
Both Crazy Good Food AND Biker Jim’s delivered food to the masses.
Happy Birthday Copper Kettle! (Episode I)
As you may have guessed, we frequent quite a few breweries. What can we say? We like good, homegrown beer. And, as homebrewers, the creativity and effort put forth by others inspires us to do better with our own craft. Our favorite local hangout, however, is the Copper Kettle. We’re there quite a bit. It’s conveniently located to home, and we enjoy the feel of the place – everyone seems to know everyone else, the beer is mighty tasty, and their growler prices are the best in Denver. Hands down.
Now, most breweries have a one day blowout for their birthday. Some of the more adventurous ones maybe go for an extra day. Copper Kettle, however, decided to go even bigger. Way bigger. They decided to have a four day extravaganza! Much like when Gillette decided to go to five blades, (according to The Onion) The CKBC decided to go straight to four days. FOUR DAYS OF AWESOMENESS!
Four days of events which include:
- special casks
- music
- food trucks galore
- beer challenges
- vertical barleywine pourings (a personal favorite)
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- Nick Amodeo
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- Busy at work. Pour faster, Paul!
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- Pepperoni, sausage, and chicken glory.
All hands on deck! Everyone was busy taking orders and the mandolin was kickin’ some sweet grooves. Basic Kneads Pizza was in, and although they were out of gluten free crust (as we’re working on only drinking our grains), “The Meatza” satisfied our desires for gastronomic excellence.
Today, the Rauchbier was on cask. I say “was”, because it was pretty much out when we got there. We got the last few bits of Rauchy goodness…then it was on to the MCS!
Guess which one is the Double Mexican Chocolate Stout?
Now, the regular Mexican Chocolate Stout is among one of my favorite beers to drink. Who doesn’t want a spicy stout that logs in at about 7.0% ABV? It’s like they decided to make a beer out of Abuelita Chocolate, cinnamon, and peppers. Then, for today, the recipe was amped up to a robust 9.6% ABV. Technically not a double, which I suppose is a good thing, because nothing good will come out of a 14% ABV chocolate stout.
Hmm…
Tomorrow’s plan?
5 Beer Brew Challenge! Cover Band! TWO FOOD TRUCKS!
Stop on by and say hi. We’ll be there.
#1 Classic Metal Album Type Post
So, when I started this, it seemed like a good idea. You know, drink beer, listen to metal, and rank the top five albums of all time. Then it became kind of like when you’re walking by oh, I don’t know, Cluck U, and you see their wing challenge.
“No problem, I’ve got this.”
Yeah, they were hotter than they looked.
8 wings in, your stomach burns, your nostrils burn, and you’re worried about what the other end is going to feel like in the morning.Well, much like eating an insanely hot pile of chicken wings, and about halfway through you realize what a stupid idea it was, there I was with my metal list.
We all know a great top five. We all probably agree on a top five. We “know” what should be #1, so why make another list? Ah, but, I’ll be drinking beer! Meh. Everyone drinks beer, right? Good beer? Not so much, I suppose. Anyway, here’s a recacp:
#5 – Paranoid, Black Sabbath (Firestone Parabola)
#4 – Cowboys From Hell, Pantera (Avery, uh, everything)
#3 – The Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden (Avery Mephistopheles)
#2 – Rust in Peace, Megadeth (Dry Dock Bligh Barleywine 2011)
Pretty intense, right? So you’re thinking that Master of Puppets should be #1. Awfully predictable. Well, I’ll tell you why it won’t be #1. You’ll disagree, and you’ll be mad about it, and you’ll spend your night being angry about the fact that someone on the internet is wrong. Eat me.
I poured some for the missus, because sharing means caring.
But before I point out the number one classic metal album of all time, I’ll let you know about the #1 craft beer of all time. (Right now) What does one pair with such a masterpiece of an album? Well, if you live in the Midwest, I know what your answer would be…but I don’t live in the Midwest. Oh, wait, what’s this? That’s right. I’ve got one! (Multiple, actually.)
That’s right. Some Dark Lord Imperial Stout, from 3Floyds. Where did I get this? Dark Lord Day, of course! Why do I like Dark Lord Day? Well, I’ve always been a fan of Snape, but that’s beside the point. It’s a Midwest gathering of beer geeks and metal. That’s me! I’m a beer geek AND I like metal.
Why is Dark Lord so tasty? Well, if you like a bomber of viscous, sludgy beer, like listening to Baroness, then, my friend, this is the beer for you. If you like a full-bodied beer that masks its 15% abv well, then this is for you. If you’re a fan of silky smooth cherry sweetness, well…you get the idea. It’s about as well made as it can be.
Says the missus, “It’s like a strange, dark cocktail.”
But anyway, back to the album(s):
Yeah, it would have been easy to go with Master of Puppets. I mean, look at the album cover, for one. The contrasting colors, the message delivered by the field of white crosses, while And Justice for All sticks with the whole “Justice is Blind” theme. I posit that the cover hits at a deeper, more intellectual level. At least, that’s what I’m thinking about 1/3 of the way through the bottle of DL.
Hey, is that Jenna Louise-Coleman on TV? Wow. Huh. There might be another duel coming: JLC vs. Karen Gillan. (No contest for now, gingers trump all.) We can all agree that David Tennant was a better doctor than Matt Smith (right?), although the latter, like myself, has done a great job of bringing bow ties back. “Bow ties are cool.”
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Karen Gillan.
Gratuitous Karen Gillan shot.
No, wait, Metallica. And Justice For All
Here are the reasons why I think it’s better:
- It’s musically more complex
- Song length (yes. Admittedly, I am a prog fan, but you can’t shorten them without removing their essence.)
- Conceptual Uniformity
- One
Blackened starts out rather soothing, then slams into quick intensity. You’re on a ride the entire way through (as I listen to “Harvester of Sorrow”, I wonder if it is my favorite on this album? No, I think it’s “Frayed Ends of Sanity”…I think) until you hit “To Live Is To Die”, and well, you all know about that one, so I won’t go into it. “Dyers Eve” is a great finish to the album. Ignore the production, because this is the eponymous classic metal album. (Like that? I didn’t even use the thesaurus.) This is not a thrash album. No, you can argue that Master of Puppets was the quintessential thrash album, but, And Justice For All is the #1 classic metal album of all time.
Well, that’s all for this list. Will I make another list? I dunno, maybe someone can give me some inspiration. As for the future, there’s some blogging to be done about some brewery’s 2nd birthday, cooking ribs, and a black metal pig roast.
Stay tuned!
Hops Spring Eternal 
