Capt Keith's Beer Blog

Our top Beerknurds descend upon the mecca of all beer festivals again this year. This time of year, Denver is overflowing with great brews and special events. Robert Wynne – plate holder in every single Flying Saucer on the planet, pictured here with Frank “the Tank” Sullivan from San Antonio. Frank has THIRTY FRIKIN SEVEN in San Antonio – dude loves beer.LAKFS Brewdog Tactical Nuclear. Frank is on the left….

Finally heard back from the boys that went up to Denver for the fest and it sounds like they had a blast.  Sam put together quite a weekend for our beerknruds.  They all met up on Friday morning to head on out to Avery Brewing in Colorado.  Ted Whitney, Avery Sales Manager and friend of the Saucer, set us up with a party bus to get everyone to Boulder and back safely.  They call this mythical bus “Hop 1″.

Stretching their legs after climbing out of Hop 1

From there they began a VIP tour of the brewery that started things off in the Barrel Room where the wildest of Avery’s brews spend most of their time.  Whiskey, Wine and Rum barrels from all over the flock to this room and wait patiently to be filled with tasty beer.

Beautiful barrels

Augustus raises his glass...

Whats a barrel room without drinkable beer?

From there the tour proceeded to the rest of the brewery where the beer is actually made.  Avery is growing so fast they are about to bust out of their building.  Fermenters have taken up alot of the parking and more parking is going to be cannibalized soon to add even more.

Glycol jacketed fermenters

New canning line

They have started to can beers for Colorado, hopefully we will see them in our neck of the woods soon.

Tanks squeezed in everywhere there is a spot

Then on to the taproom tor drink more beer!  I’ve heard about lots of exciting brewpub-only releases, the highlights being Beast from the Wood (Oak Aged Beast), Missionary Man (Reverend Quadrupel with Guava Puree) and a Brettanomyces finished IPA.  There were lots of beers to choose from and some of the happiest bartenders alive.

Back on Hop 1 to get back to Denver for the fest.

Party on the bus!

All the cool kids sat in the back on the floor

After the day trip to Boulder it was time for the fest!

Austin, Charlotte, and Memphis/Cordova ready for the fest!

1oz Tasting glasses ready to be filled

People with beer as far as the eye can see

There were many beer celebrities pouring brews and taking pictures and Sam was lucky enough to snap some pics with some of my favorite beer folks.

Sam Wynne in the front and Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head) in the back

Steve Grossman (Sierra Nevada) and Matt from Raleigh

Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn) with the traveling beer bandit Augustus

Charlie Papazian, founder of GABF and American Homebrew Association

Matt with Kevin Brand, brewmaster of Austin's (512) Brewery

Cheers!

That's Amos in the middle, assistant brewmaster for Texas' only Gold Medal winning brewery in 2009, Uncle Billy's - Austin, TX

The bear left his wallet inside the fest

The next morning, still alive, the gang made its way to see  Todd Usry at Breckenridge by the ball park where he hosts his annual Saturday Brewers’ Breakfast.  Just great food made with Breckenridge beer, and best of all, free beer!

Saturday morning at Breckenridge Brewers Breakfast

Today GABF kicks off in Denver.  This fest has come along way since its inception in 1982 in Boulder with only 22 breweries representing a mere 40 beers.  (reminds me of our upcoming Austin Beer Festival 10/16) Ten years later 7,000 fans of craft beer descended upon the Denver Merchandise Mart with 150 breweries and 500 beers.  Over the next few days an expected 49,000 people will be able to sample from 455 breweries.

Look for this big blue bear peering into the window and you will know you’re there. Also look for Sam Wynne – he’s my Flying Saucer Ambassador. 

Look for Sam Wynne (photo taken in Bruges enjoying some Moule Frites & Westmalle Tripel)

This year Flying Saucer began a new reward program for our faithful BeerKnurds who make multiple trips around the Ring of Honor and we are sending 19 of them with 10 plates or more (and a friend) to Denver to choose from over 2,200 beers at the festival, the largest selection of American Craft Beer ever assembled.  Sam Wynne, my assistant Beer Guru and Certified Cicerone, will be traveling with BeerKnurds from Fort Worth, Raleigh, Memphis, Charlotte, Addison, Columbia and his home store Austin while they attend the king of beer festivals.

Not only can you visit massive beer festival, but Denver Beer Week has a host of special events that began September 10th and will continue to continue until Sunday the 19th. Why can’t all beer weeks last 10 days?  There is an open house at Great Divide and Sam also set up a brewery tour at the Avery Brewery in Boulder on Friday to warm up for the fest that night. On Saturday Breckenridge Brewery’s Blake Street location opens their doors for their famous Brewers Breakfast that is always a blast.  It will be a fun filled weekend for all 40 of these faithful BeerKnurds , and I look forward to hearing their stories. (SAM – take pictures!!)

I raise my glass to Charlie Papazian, creator of GABF,  and to all those who have paved the way for the advancement of craft beer. Every day, those of you who chose to drink better beer help us carry the torch for the craft beer movement and for that – I thank you.