Airing of Grievances!
Well, it is the Festivus season. Yeah, I guess this could be a Christmas post, or, I guess this could be a Samhain post, but, given the fact that last time I celebrated Samhain I was called into the principal’s office (something about kids pretending to light themselves on fire to celebrating the coming dark times), I think I’ll stick to Festivus.
And what better way to celebrate Festivus than by attending the Denver Beer Festivus? The missus bought us VIP tickets for Christma…er, (the holidays?) and we spent a pleasant Saturday afternoon braving Über (pleasantly affordable! Let me know if you need a code!) to get there are back.
In all honesty, Festivus was pretty awesome, but in true Festivus form, here are my grievances:
- There was no Festivus pole at Festivus.
It’s like celebrating Hanukkah without a menorah. Like Christmas without a drunken uncle. Do better next time, people. Special props though for Mad Lib postcards. Uh, apologies in advance to my friends who might get a card in the mail. I wrote them towards the end of the evening, and they were only a dollar. - Politicians.
Can we not see past party lines for the greater good? Assholes. Seriously, I love how you continue to waste my money yet do nothing for me. That goes for both sides of the aisle. My anger is bipartisan, unlike the schmoes who vote down party lines regardless of the issues. Oh, and please stop trying to fix things like you “fixed” the US education system. #TheSystemHasFailed - Breweries not bringing their A game!
In fairness, 95% did, and they were awesome! But, it was kinda sad to see those who could have done better in Festivus bring their backup beers. (You know who you were. Yeah, you brought stuff that is available year round in all liquor stores. Shame on you. Especially as “bigger name” breweries.) To clarify: it wasn’t the little guys; they showcased their hearts out, and did an awesome job doing so. It was tough picking out the best of the evening, but in no particular order:
Former Future, TRVE brewing, Copper Kettle and Vine St. Pub for their Imperial Stouts. Wow. This is a great winter for imperial stouts. Suck it, everywhere but Denver!
StrangeCraft Beer Company’s Gingerbread Brown
Caution: Brewing’s Bourbon Barrel Toaster Bat
Prost Brewing’s Dopplebock (what do you mean there wasn’t any dopplebock being served?! Uhh…) - The douchebag who left this card instead of an actual tip (although I appreciate the humor):
- Awesome collaborations when I’m out of town!
To Fiction Beer Co: You should have checked with my schedule before releasing a Donut Bourbon Porter fermented with Maple Syrup. (Collaboration with Glazed and Confused.) I’m leaving on the 20th of December, and that’s when your collaboration takes place.What’s that? You open at noon? Hmm…I guess my bus doesn’t leave until 1, so maybe this has a happy ending after all. - The fact that my cat eats the dog food, then craps all over the place.
Seriously man. You’re old. You have old cat cat food. Eat that, not the dog food. And for THE LOVE OF GOD USE YOUR LITTER BOX! - Notre Dame football.
Get rid of Brian Kelly already. You can’t f*cking lose to Northwestern. Ever. Or L’ulville. Or Arizona State. Or Tulsa. Or Navy. Or USF. RUN THE DAMN BALL! - The fact that I can’t remember who brewed the Galaxy/El Dorado IPA. Damn, that was good, and I didn’t write it down. If you’re reading this, let me know. Then send me a sixtel. Please.
- The fact that autocorrect wants to autocorrect sixtel. Learn your units of beer measurement!
Happy Birthday Copper Kettle (Episode II)
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.
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)
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!
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.