River North Brewery, visited on 3/10/12 (
http://www.rivernorthbrewery.com/)
We had wanted to stop at River North Brewery a few weeks back when we hit up Strange and DBC, but that was their opening day and it was nuts to butts in there when we drove by. The location of River North Brewery is fantastic, and walkable to Great Divide and Breckenridge Brewery, as well as the Sandlot brewery attached to Coors Field. What I'm saying is that you can hit up 4-5 great places to pound dank beers within a 6-8 block radius downtown. If that doesn't cut it for you, Falling Rock Taphouse is right there too.
The little brewpub on Blake, aside from being a kick-ass location for this Saturday's St. Paddy's Day parade, is quaint and simple. If I lived across the street at Ballpark Lofts, I'd be here almost daily. The bar area is small with some tables spread about...enough room for 25-30 people comfortably. I was a little hazy at this point in our day, but it looks like the glass windows to the right of the bar display what appears to be a HUGE brewing space, with tanks and other production devices posted up in ample room and high ceilings. There is no food served here except bags of chips for .50 cents, but there was a little food vendor set up outside. I think they were serving burritos. Again, another great place to pre-game before Rox games. Here's what we got in to:
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RNB samplers...yum.
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Hypothesis Belgian Double IPA - 9.0%abv; 130ibus; after doing some very preliminary research, I knew this was the first and only pint I needed to order here...and yes, you read that right: 130 ibus!; I think this is the highest claimed amount of IBUs I've ever drank in a beer; some folks in our party say the beer has a distinct anise flavor...I say it smells like heaven; the color is bright and solid amber; no head and light non-consistent lacing; the nose is like a grapefruit slap in the face; amazingly, this beer doesn't taste as boozy as 9%abv; I'm a huge fan of this beer...kudos for aggressive experimentation.
We got the sampler (picture above), with the Hypothesis the one second from the back (not the light color #2, the opposite side in the row that is dark amber). My Hypothesis pint got finished before I would try anything else they made. The black IPA (foreground front) is almost everyone's favorite; the River North White is ok; Marie Saison is good with good alcohol content and a solid balance; the Belgian Style Red is also balanced and sessionable. Good beers that will certainly evolve over time. We dug the space and the beers were impressive given the brewery's short history. Good work River North!
