The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [71]
PHILOSOPHY
With the exception of a big, Belgian-style ale brewed for the company’s twentieth anniversary with pilsner malt, Saaz hops, local honey, orange peel, and coriander (ask if they have any bottles left), the beer menu is made up of familiar styles (wheat, amber, winter). Beer geek culture isn’t the same up in the mountains; many higher altitude locals seem content with a 1980s-style lineup of brews, and beer snobbery of any kind is likely a form of cool-guy Kryptonite. But one guesses they could fire up the slightly soporific atmosphere with some more risk-taking beers, and likely will. If you brew it, they will come.
KEY BEER
Derail Ale, DBC’s 8.5% to 8.7% ABV ale, has varied over the years but hit high points in 2007 and 2008 with category wins at the Great American Beer Festival. It’s low in hop character for an American–style IPA, but high in alcohol for a standard English–style IPA. As such, it’s a bit of a hybrid with ample grain-given fruitiness.
CARVER
BREWING CO.
1022 Main St. • Durango, CO 81301
(970) 259-2545 • carverbrewing.com • Established: 1988
SCENE & STORY
The second oldest brewpub in the state (Wynkoop of Denver opened just slightly earlier), Carver Brewing opened up along Durango’s main drag downtown in the waning months of 1988, expanding a bakery operation that had begun as a small family business in Winter Park. The original brewing equipment has an unusual story: it came from a brewery in Milwaukee that had just burned down. “There was a paint store next door to this brewery called Century Hall, and the gentleman who owned the paint store was losing his shirt and decided to set the whole thing on fire,” says head brewer Erik Maxson. “It jumped the building, burned down Century Hall, and for whatever reason those folks decided not to rebuild or not to reopen.” The Carvers had found their gear, and brought it home to Colorado.
The brewpub became the first new brewery in the Four Corners region since Prohibition, and soon a treasured part of the downtown scene, unassuming and family friendly. Weather permitting, the patio out back is a great place to sip a brew. “This is the ‘Cheers’ of Durango,” Maxson told a reporter from the Durango Herald.
PHILOSOPHY
Named Durango’s “Green Business of the Year” in 2010, the company uses solar panels to help heat brewing water and the restaurant. Despite the advancements, there’s a certain humility about Carver’s that is refreshing. “We’re just [serving] good honest food made from scratch, and good honest beer without an overabundance of processing, and hopefully a comfortable place for people to hang out,” says Maxson. As for the beers, Carver’s approach is straightforward: “My philosophy is to utilize the four ingredients that make up beer, and have fun, and try not to get so twisted around things that aren’t our concern,” says Maxson.
KEY BEER
The Iron Horse Oatmeal Stout, an opaque, roasty sipper, is dependably good. Carver’s beers have gotten more adventurous over the years, incorporating cask conditioning and lesser-known styles (such as Baltic porter and braggot, a beer made with honey) so be sure to ask what’s on and try whatever’s freshest.
STEAMWORKS
BREWING CO.
801 E. 2nd Ave. • Durango, CO 81301 • (970) 259-9200
steamworksbrewing.com • Established: 1996
SCENE & STORY
Originally built in the 1920s, the home of Steamworks Brewing Company—Durango’s fourth brewery—had long been used as an auto dealership. There were cement floors, a large showroom, and a large, half-shell-like ceiling structure overhead. “There were literally GMCs and Cadillacs and Jeeps parked here,” says cofounder Chris Oyler of the space, which now sports rows of taps, tables, stools, and brewing tanks instead of cars. Oyler—and a cadre of some forty-seven initial investors—felt the building’s industrial look was a good one for craft