Beer Sampling - Paradox Bandeau Artiste

I caught wind of this new brewery in Woodland Park while checking out what was on tap at the 2nd closest brewery to home, Pikes Peak Brewing. Paradox Beer Company apparently just opened up in Woodland Park. Their website is pretty scant, but some additional and worthwhile information about their beer and the brewery itself can be found on their Facebook page.

According to this post on the Focus on the Beer website, last Friday was Paradox's grand release party. I believe the party took place at Pike's. Perhaps needless to say, I opened up my Project Bandeau Artiste Trip on Friday night, albeit at home in the comfort of my office leather chair.

According to the brewery's website, the Artiste Trip is all of the following: a Belgian Style Golden Ale, a Peche Lambic, and a Farmhouse Style Saison. I stopped in at Monument's Cork and Bottle and picked up bottle # 622 of 720. Here are my tasting notes:

Paradox Bandeau Artiste Trip, #622 of 720

Paradox Bandeau Artiste Trip - American-Belgo Blond Ale; 7.9%abv; ale aged in wine barrles; bottle conditioned; golden in color; carbonation is active; very minimal heading; lacing that is light and subsides quickly; Belgian yeast all over the nose; fruity on the nose as well, with some malt-forward aroma; faint hints of peach or apple; taste-wise, the Belgian yeast shines through with additional hints of peach; a little champagne in the mouthfeel; perhaps Chardonnay barrels were used in the aging...overall, a pretty decent beer that begs additional investigation with new releases from the brewery.

Greenbush Brewing Company, Sawyer, MI

Greenbush Brewing Company, visited 10/9 (and 10/11 and 10/13!) (http://www.greenbushbrewing.com/)

I mentioned Greenbush back in my early September post about summer travels and brewery visits. We were back in MI for our honeymoon and Greenbush is about 10 miles from the lake house. Needless to say, we went to GB three times last week. They rock a killer pulled pork sammich with delicious sauces, really tasty pub cheese, and other good eats. They also rock outstanding beer, including seasonals and in-house specialties. Here are some tasting notes:

Unicorn Killer Pumpkin Ale - 7.4%abv; copper color; great frothy head; slightly sweet on the nose; consistent lacing down the glass; well-balanced up front; malt-forward; good, soft and subtle pumpkin flavor; sessionable fall beer; a little 'bitey' on the back end.

Unicorn Killer

P. Tenera Brown Ale - 7.6%abv; made with nori and shitake mushrooms; ordered up by a Japanese chef in Chicago; dark in color; very small head; minimal lacing; bitter brown in the nose; slightly sweet in the nose too; smooth, almost sweet in flavor...which is odd for a beer made with mushrooms; tastes like it'd go great with sushi actually...mild and complimenting.

P. Tenera Brown Ale

Felt Board Messiah Belgian Trippel - 9.9%abv; made with Vignole Grapes from Domaine Berrien Winery; golden in hue; real sweet in smell; described as a beer with Welches grape juice; tastes wine-sweet in flavor; well-defined sweet/grape up front; hidden ABV which makes this dangerously delicious and accessible to traditional wine-drinkers averse to beer.

Mr. Hyde Sumatran Coffee Cream Stout - 7.8%abv; light head; solid lacing; dark brown in color; coffee bitter on the nose; slightly caramel too; really solid coffee flavor; malty, bitter, all about the dark roast/Sumatran coffee blend flavorwise; I believe this is GB's answer to the ever-popular Founders Breakfast Stout, if only unintentionally.

WIPA - 7.8%abv; wheat IPA; light gold in color; frothy head; strong lacing; light, fruity hop nose;  hoppy wheat or wheaty IPA...can't say which trumps the other, but this fact at least makes it a well-balanced beer; tasty sessionable with a solid ABV punch. 

1825 Belgian Strong Ale - 9.3%abv; considered a Belgian golden ale; the beer is absolutely a nice golden hue; the lacing is solid, with a minor head; the beer smells fruity but still very strong and boozy; it's easy to taste the sugars in this beer; at 9.3%, it's serious business when it comes to consumption, and I think our waiter at the time (while totally overwhelmed w/ other patrons on a very busy Saturday) mistakenly poured me a pint of this when I had asked for a 4 ozer...no worries! This is a VERY strong offering in both flavor and alcohol.

I also picked up a four-pack of Brother Benjamin, GB's Imperial IPA. According to their site, here are the following specs. I tried one of these singularly at the house in MI and picked up a four-pack for home in CO:

Prepare to be Mystified

Be prepared, be prepared I say, to receive the mighty powerful taste of this truly heavenly Imperial India Pale Ale! It is a true force of nature my children! It's a mystification!

Grain: Maris Otter Pale, Belgian Munich, Belgian Aromatic, Caramel Malt 60, Honey Malt, Honey

Hops: Columbus and Cascade

Yeast: House yeast

Extras: Clover Honey and Beet Sugar

Specs:

114 ibu

alc. 10.1% by vol.

15º Lovibond

I ALSO grabbed a six-pack of Memento Mori, GB's Oktoberfest Ale, to share with friends and family. Here's the description, and I'll update the blog with tastings notes of both bottled beers in the coming weeks:

A perfect way to pass the time

Ahhh, Fall. Time for contemplation, time for relaxing, time for… a Greenbush Oktoberfest ale. German noble hops linger like summer days past before the end of yet another season. Enjoy one now before it's too late.

Grain:Maris Otter, Munich, Crystal 40L, Honey Malt, Chocolate Malt

Hops: Hallertau

Yeast: house yeast

Specs:

alc. 6.3% by vol.

27 ibu

Cheers! And thanks Greenbush for all the good food, great beer, and time well-spent in SW MI. We'll absolutely be back! 

Pikes Peak Brewing Co., Monument

Pikes Peak Brewing, visited on 3/2/12  (http://pikespeakbrewing.com/)

I pulled in to another non-descript commercial strip, but inside the feeling is anything but ordinary. As a now-steady snow flurry fell on a cloudy Friday afternoon, I half-expected the place to be dead, or at least a little slow. Instead, there wasn't a seat at the bar and most of the cozy spots near the fireplaces were taken by older men and younger gals. While a little tight, the joint is decidedly cozy, with a near full view of the brew tanks on display through the glass windows behind the bar. If I lived close, I'd live here.

Devil's Head Red - 7.1abv, 38 ibus; first of all, I love the name, after one of my favorite front range hiking spots, Devil's Head Firetower...about 5 miles from my front-door as a crow flies; there is a very minimal head; even less lacing; the beer is a dark red amber in color; it smells hoppy, with hints of chocolate and roasted malt on the nose; there's a crisp, almost dry hop flavor, although minimally bitter; the beer is well-balanced; it's similar to O'Dell's Red, although not as nuanced, and with a light malt aftertaste; mouthwise, this is pretty clean; I get more roasted malt the longer I keep the beer on my tongue.

Gold Rush Belgian Blonde - 7.4abv; 26ibus; half-inch head; nice golden color; head settles after first sip; great Belgian hop nose; very well balanced on the nose as well; totally Belgian forward; accessible; smooth flavor; again, balanced; overall light but fruit-flavored and well-hidden abv; almost Fruity Pebble cereal taste here; good beer.

There's a light menu of food; apps, cheese/meat plates; paninis; pulled pork; soup; enough of a menu you could hang here for hours. I love that it's in Monument as it requires no highway drive for me. Neat outdoor seating = summertime return. Good adult clientele and friendly barmaids. Overall, I was impressed with the inside atmosphere and the well-balanced and alcohol-serious beers! Great work Pikes Peak!

Fruity Pebbles in a glass? Pike's Gold Rush Belgian Blonde

Rockyard Brewing Company, Castle Rock

Rockyard Brewing Company, visited on 2/24/12  (http://www.rockyard.com/)

I've been to Rockyard copious amounts of times given that it's the closest brewery to my homestead. They've also got pretty good beer, and every Friday tend to tap a firkin or small-batch keg that in my experience has usually been quite good. The brewery is really a huge restaurant too...very family-friendly and usually pretty busy. I've been here in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday and it was slow, but otherwise, it's usually hoppin...clear signs that a one-horse brewery in any town can do well.

While discussing plans for an upcoming BIG event, Holly and I enjoyed the following:

Jellyman's Deviation - 6.1abv; a 'Belgian Hopyard IPA', or so I'm told; Jellyman is Rockyard's head brewer I believe (Kjell Wygant); the beer has a light head; little lacing; almost a light ale in color; subtle Belgian style iteration IPA; light grapefruit and citrus flavor; hop on the front, Belgian bitter towards the end.

Nitro Strike Stout - 6.2abv; Holly ordered this as we've come to acknowledge that she's the dark beer drinker in the 'family'; good half-inch head; light lacing; good roasted chocolate nose; really creamy because of the nitro; good stout flavor; balanced.

Old BroAle - 8.5abv; English style old ale; from the Brew Bros of Pikes Peak (I believe a collaboration with Rockyard); almost no head; very minimal lacing; immediately taste some sugary sweetness; similarly lightly sweet on the nose; good balance; kind of raisin-y; lightly malty; very good beer I enjoyed above all others here.

Rockyard has a full menu, a huge restaurant space, and is one of the better places to grab a decent beer in all of Douglas County. The food is usually pretty good, but I've never had anything spectacular. You don't usually come to breweries for the food though, do you? Except you wouldn't know if they are trying to be a really good brewery or a really good restaurant. I'm just happy I can do some good drinking and good eating so close to home. The Rockyard Knots, two giant jalapeno-cheese stuffed pretzels, are fantastic and great companions to beer drinking.

Avery Brewing Co., Boulder

Ellie's Brown Ale and duganA IPA

Avery Brewing Company, visited on 2/4/12  (http://www.averybrewing.com/)

I've long since loved Avery and count it among my top 3-4 breweries in the state. I realize these are blog-related pre-conceived notions. But their Maharaja is one of the better imperial IPAs I've ever tasted. Avery is popular and makes good beer. It's ok that I've enjoyed their offerings many times. It was finally time however to visit their brewery. And after a 2 day stretch of unending snow fall on the front range, Holly and I needed an 'outing'. We met some friends in Boulder for a show at the Fox Theatre, but not before we got our hands on some colddankbeers. Here's what we tried:

Ellie's Brown Ale - 5.6abv; I've enjoyed this beer in a bottle and a can, as far as I can remember, and know it's good; the beer is a moderate brown, good hue but not too dark; quarter inch head; a lot of lacing, particularly from a brown; light ale on the nose; delicious light chocolate flavor; small hints of brown sugar; really good sessionable brown ales; in fact, one of the best I can remember

duganA IPA - 8.5abv; solid golden hues; small head; good solid lacing; delicious pine smell; Holly thinks it was "made with giant grapefruits"; indeed, very noticeable grapefruit flavor; love and taste the 93 IBUs; subtle hop nuance that makes it accessible to non-hopheads; still big and danky; well-hidden ABV; lighter in 'hop-punch' than Avery's Maharaja; great balance here

Salvation Belgian Golden Ale - 9.0abv; half inch head; lacing stays, then magically disappears; taste and smell the Belgian style right away; very very light apricot and honey flavor; good bubbles!; overall, pretty good, but Holly says, "too plain!"

2011 Beast Grand Cru - 16.83abv; 68 IBUs; drinking from a 4-oz snifter; still, good head...half inch; still fizzing as it sits; dark cherry in color; says its made with 6 hops, 6 sugars, 6 malts; smells very malty, sweet; on a first sip, it's got serious punch; tastes ALOT like Samiclaus; very cherry sweet; has a bread flavor on the backend, oddly enough; I can't get over the malt taste in it; love the experimentation here, although there's a flavor profile that is a little bitter; this has to be the last beer I try here...it's a palate destroyer! Both Holly and a group of young men near us exclaimed at different times, "it tastes like cherry cough syrup!" It's def. better than that.

Avery's is a great little brewpub; the place was bumping on a Saturday afternoon; slight view of the flatirons...would be great to drink outside; tucked away in a commercial complex...what's up with that lately? Pretty hardy menu of grub; we ate stuffed jalapenos that were ok; good place to day drink.

Salvation Belgian Golden Ale...and a pretty background...