The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [58]
KEY BEER
This would be the place to sample the successful 10.5% ABV Ten FIDY, a roasty, fulsome Russian Imperial Stout, or better yet, the oak barrel-aged Ten Fidy, which is quite rare. The wood imparts rich notes of vanilla and caramel.
Lyons
OSKAR BLUES
GRILL & BREW
303 Main St. Lyons, CO 80540 • (303) 823-6685
oskarblues.com • Established: 1997
SCENE & STORY
The old mining town of Lyons, (population: 1,500), sits at the confluence of the St. Vrain North and St. Vrain South Creeks, just about twenty miles from Rocky Mountain National Park. Surrounded by reddish sandstone peaks, it’s an outdoor lover’s paradise, and it’s also known for an amazing music scene, with the annual Rockygrass Bluegrass Festival held every summer and regularly drawing such luminaries as David Grisman and Tony Rice. The Grill & Brew is the town’s social hub, with its Southern-themed, forty-five-tap bar, dining room, and outdoor patio overlooking the little brew house building and a barn that has been converted for special events and parties. On a good summery night the patio is the place to be, sipping some fresh craft beer in the breeze.
PHILOSOPHY
“We’re all hop heads,” says Eric Huber, head brewer at the Lyons location. “We do love classical styles, we do love a lot of what the other guys are doing, but it’s about what we want to drink ourselves. We’ve got a clientele who loves what we’ve been doing, and we’ve been training them to drink the hoppy beers we’ve been drinking for years. The best way to find out if it’s a great batch is put it on and see what the local boys think.”
KEY BEER
Dale’s Pale Ale, 6.5 % ABV. Initially laughed off, Katechis’s delicate craft beer packaged in aluminum cans was an unlikely success. For one, Katechis didn’t live in Portland or Seattle, where craft is king. He lived in the Deep South. “In 1989 or 1990, there were not too many home brewers in Auburn, Alabama,” he says. “Actually, I knew of one—and that was me.” He had developed a recipe for Dale’s Pale Ale, an extremely hoppy, astringent beer, almost IPA-like, outside of the style guideline of a pale ale, which evolved with his first hired brewers. And the rest, as they say, is history.
North Boulder
UPSLOPE
BREWING CO.
1501 Lee Hill Rd., No. 20 • Boulder, CO 80304
(720) 379-7528 • upslopebrewing.com • Established: 2008
SCENE & STORY
In a generic North Boulder strip mall, some enterprising, beer loving, home brewing friends have built a booming little business. The tiny taproom is decorated with photos of the brewery’s fans drinking Upslope brews in the wilds of Colorado and beyond. The founders themselves, a garrulous bunch, are quick to recount close scrapes from the early days, coping with limited space, little money, harsh winter temperatures, and other setbacks. But like the Flatiron Mountain images that decorate their cans, things are looking up for Upslope.
PHILOSOPHY
Upslope’s MO is simple. Great craft brews should be canned and ready to rock at a moment’s notice. “We’re all about drinking our beer, not just in a pub, but on the side of a mountain,” says assistant brewer Alex Violette. “It’s a completely different experience. Take it rafting with you. Get out there and have fun with it, you know?” Better yet, it’s easier to leave no trace with canned beer: crush up the cans and pack them out. The approach also makes sense from a business standpoint. The same amount of beer weighs about 40 percent less in the can than in a bottle, and stacks more efficiently in a truck, making it a more energy-efficient product going out of the brewery, as well.
KEY BEER
Upslope’s beers are firmly in the middle of the typical Colorado beer lover’s palate, with big, malty, hop-accented beers that finish clean. Their marquee beer is Upslope Pale Ale (5.8% ABV).