Ladies and gentlemen of Denver and beyond, we are here to report that the state of beer in Colorado is strong! In fact, there’s never been a better time to be a beer drinker in the Centennial State—and, if current trends hold, things are only going to get better for the hop heads and the malt mavens among us. (Think: better quality, more diversity, and continuing experimentation.) Consider the numbers: In metro Denver alone, there are more than 20 craft breweries and brewpubs. Add in craft-brewing hot spots like Fort Collins, Lyons, Longmont, Boulder, and Colorado Springs, and it’s clear the Front Range has become the Napa Valley of beer. (Portland, eat your heart out!) This month (the 16th–18th), the 29th Great American Beer Festival descends on our fair city and will offer amazing (and some not-so-amazing) brews from around the world to sample. We decided, a year ago, to do our part to highlight our great state’s contributions to the craft-beer movement and taste just about every commercially distributed beer in Colorado. Yes, we had some late nights and some rough mornings, and we endured the wrath of our jealous colleagues. In the end, we found the very best brews being made here right now—and feel fortunate to be part of this craft-brewing renaissance. Enjoy.

Ratings Key: On a scale of 1–10, we ranked the maltiness and hoppiness of each beer on this list (1 = mild; 10 = aggressive).

5280 September 2010
More From The Issue

The Glossary: A primer on beer terms.

  • ABV: Alcohol by volume. Beer sold in supermarkets in Colorado cannot have an ABV of more than 3.2 percent. A beer with a 10 percent ABV will knock you on your ass.
  • Barley: A cereal grain used to make malt.
  • Hops: The female flower of the hop plant (a close relative of cannabis), which is dried and used to provide bitterness in beer.
  • Malt: Barley that has been soaked in water to germinate and is then heated to quickly stop the process. Malt provides the backbone of flavor in most beers.
  • Yeast: A fungus that converts the sugar in malt into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Pilsner/Lager

Light in flavor and color; lagers are fermented at lower temperatures than ales, which creates a crisp, clean flavor.

  • 1. Alpine Glacier Lager
    Tommyknocker Brewery, Idaho Springs
    Malt: 2, Hops: 7 ABV 4.5 percent
    This beer is in the wrong weight class: Think of a middleweight who moves down to pummel a lightweight in a boxing ring. Although billed as an ultralean lager, this brew’s got more hops than some India pale ales. Bitter, and hoppy, hoppy, hoppy (did we mention hoppy?), Glacier is incredibly drinkable—even if it is cheating. www.tommyknocker.com
  • 2. Joe’s Premium American Pilsner
    Avery Brewing Company, Boulder
    Malt: 2 | Hops: 7 | ABV 4.7 percent
    Avery’s Joe’s Premium American Pilsner made its debut in June but is already one of our favorites: a bright, canned pils that’s perfect for camping, the park, or just drinking in the backyard. And, at an un-Avery-like 4.7 percent ABV, we can actually have a few without getting sloshed. www.averybrewing.com
  • 3. Del Norte Mañana
    Del Norte Brewing Company, Denver
    Malt: 5 | Hops: 4 | ABV 5.2 percent
    This tiny brewery focuses on Mexican-style beers, meaning that the staff will take a German-style lager and add a twist of Mile-High brewing (noticeable malt undertones) for a beer that is a bit of a mouthful but has a clean finish. Consider it Negra Modelo from the United States. www.delnortebrewing.com

Wheat

Made with malted wheat (or sometimes unmalted wheat), as well as malted barley.

  • 1. White Rascal
    Avery Brewing Company, Boulder
    Malt: 5 | Hops: 5 | ABV 5.6 percent
    Beer-drinking in Europe left us with a craving for Belgian-style wheat beers that are complex, crisp, and devastatingly delicious. We’re pleased to report that Avery’s homage to all-things-wheat gives us a fix. Weighing in at a doable 5.6 percent ABV—less than many Belgian brews—this beer has a medium intensity with a long aftertaste. (Oranges, anyone?) www.averybrewing.com
  • 2. Sweaty Betty Blonde
    Boulder Beer Company, Boulder
    Malt: 4 | Hops: 5 | ABV 5.9 percent
    Featuring a name so offensive that it’s not, this Bavarian-style wheat beer has a thin body that balances out its sweet aftertaste. An unfiltered (read: foggy), low-intensity brew, this is just the stuff we’d serve our “I-only-drink-light-beer” mother-in-law. www.boulderbeer.com
  • 3. Mothership Wit
    New Belgium Brewing Company, Fort Collins
    Malt: 5 | Hops: 4 | ABV 4.8 percent
    The love child of a Coors-like brew and a Belgian beer, this “white beer” tiptoes on the edge of being too sour, but lots of yeast and fruit balance it out. To boot: It’s organic, which makes eco-lovers (yes, they love beer too) rejoice. www.newbelgium.com

Survival Guide

With more than 450 breweries, 50,000 people, and 36,000 gallons of beer, the Great American Beer Festival can be intimidating. Here, expert tips for navigating the thirsty throngs.

DO

  • Be selective Your liver isn’t up to the challenge of sampling the more than 2,200 varieties in the hall. A little pre-show research goes a long way. Create a plan of attack by focusing on a region, but at a certain point, just give up and sample something new and surprising.
  • Nosh on a pretzel necklace Tackling the GABF on an empty stomach is a rookie mistake. Yes, you’ll look ridiculous with salty twists around your neck, but at least you won’t be heaving into a garbage bin at the end of the session.
  • Let good beer go to waste The one-ounce pours seem measly at first, but after 20 or so, the hall may start to spin. Don’t be a hero: Smell, sip, and savor, then pour the rest into the waste buckets at every booth.
  • Show up late Most folks will tell you to line up early so you have first dibs at the hot brewers. We take a different approach: Show up about 40 minutes late to a session to avoid wasting time wading through the entrance lines, which often circle the block but are mostly gone after 30 minutes.
  • Call ahead GABF lists the exhibiting brewers, but not the beers so as not to impact voting—this is a competition, after all. Call your favorite brewery ahead of time to see if it’ll spill about what it’s tapping in the hall.

DON’T

  • Hold it The absolute worst wait at the GABF isn’t at a brewer’s booth or entrance; it’s the line for the loo. Skip the overcrowded stalls in the front of the hall and veer to the back of the hall, which had nary a wait last year.
  • Forget agua You might not want to waste valuable stomach space on lowly water when there’s so much beer to quaff, but the water stations—located at every column in the hall—are vital. Stop there often. Trust us.
  • Ask for more You’ve just discovered your new favorite beer. Your brain tells you to beg for another pour. Wrong! Go to the back of the line. You’ve had your fair share—for now.
  • Wait around You can get a six-pack of Deschutes, Dogfish Head, or Avery anytime at your local liquor store, so make sure to veer off the beaten malt path to search out new or itsy-bitsy breweries. This is their chance to stand next to the big boys; help these artisans out.

Pale Ale

Uses pale malts and can be medium-bodied (Bass Pale Ale) to bold and hoppy (Dale’s Pale Ale).

  • 1. Dale’s Pale Ale
    Oskar Blues Brewing Company, Lyons
    Malt: 2 | Hops: 9 | ABV 6.5 percent
    Eight years after Lyons’ tiny Oskar Blues debuted Dale’s Pale Ale—kick-starting the canned craft-beer movement (see page 90)—the hoppy hype surrounding Dale’s refuses to die. National publications like Men’s Journal, the New York Times, and Details still give Dale’s regular love, and with good reason: Dale’s isn’t just the best pale ale in Colorado; it’s one of the best in the country. We tip our hat to you, Dale. www.oskarblues.com
  • 2. Red Rocket Pale Ale
    Bristol Brewing Company, Colorado Springs
    Malt: 3 | Hops: 7 | ABV 5.2 percent
    The crisp Red Rocket from Bristol is the type of pale ale you give to your friend who claims to hate hoppy beers: Sure, it’s a bit bitter, but it’s not overwhelming—it’s what a balanced and traditional pale ale should taste like. One tester described it as an “old friend,” which struck us as a dead-on description: an old friend with many promising years ahead. www.bristolbrewing.com
  • 3. (tie) Jackman’s American Pale Ale
    Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont
    Malt: 4 | Hops: 5 | ABV 5.8 percent
    We hate to sound like a commercial for an international brewing conglomerate, but Jackman’s is smooth and drinkable—your bottle will disappear before you blink. By not going overboard with hops, Left Hand wisely veered away from the rest of the craft-brewing pack. A very fine pale ale indeed. www.lefthandbrewing.com
  • 3. (tie) Hazed & Infused Dry-Hopped Ale
    Boulder Beer Company, Boulder
    Malt: 4 | Hops: 8 | ABV 4.9 percent
    Boulder Beer Company, Colorado’s first microbrewery, was started by two University of Colorado professors in 1979. Little surprise, then, that one of the brewery’s flagship beers is named Hazed & Infused, a homage to Boulder’s favorite cousin of the hop plant (that would be cannabis). This aromatic, resiny pale ale is the beer to crack open and sip in a lawn chair while watching the kids run themselves silly. www.boulderbeer.com

India Pale Ale

High ABV (6.5 percent or higher) and massive quantities of hops, which make it bitter.

  • 1. India Pale Ale
    1. Odell Brewing Company, Fort Collins
    Malt: 5 | Hops: 9 | ABV 7 percent
    Although the label depicts a bucking elephant, this brew is a surprisingly smooth ride. IPAs—first brewed in the 1700s with more hops and a higher alcohol content to survive the long boat trip to British soldiers in India—have a bad rap for being unbalanced behemoths. For any of those naysayers, we’d pour this beer, which is bold without being bombastic. www.odellbrewing.com
  • 2. (tie) India Pale Ale
    Avery Brewing Company, Boulder
    Malt: 5 | Hops: 10 | ABV 6.3 percent
    Avery has long been known as a brewer’s brewery—the kind of place that makes interesting, exciting beers just for the hell of it. Little surprise, then, that its IPA doesn’t pull any punches, opting for a mega-load of hoppy bitterness. And that’s what we like about it. www.averybrewing.com
  • 2. (tie) Titan IPA
    Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver
    Malt: 5 | Hops: 9 | ABV 7.1 percent
    A word of warning: Don’t treat this as a session beer. The 7.1 percent ABV hits hard—and fast. That said, we love it and keep coming back, regardless of too many morning-after headaches. It’s strong enough to stand up to a spicy meal—just remember to bring along aspirin. www.greatdivide.com
  • 3. Hoppy Boy IPA
    Twisted Pine Brewing Company, Boulder
    Malt: 5 | Hops: 9 | ABV 6.2 percent
    We like smelling this beer as much as we like drinking it: Notes of weed (er, hops) mix with citrus as this beer pours out a murky gold. Hoppy Boy is a tasty, complex IPA that won’t knock you over (for that, you’ll need to try its father, the Hoppy Man, a double IPA). www.twistedpinebrewing.com

The best bars for drinkin’ colorado brews

  • Cherry cricket
    Crowd Families and frat boys eating burgers and drinking good beer.
    Toast-worthy A pitcher of a Colorado microbrew is about the cheapest thing you’ll find in Cherry Creek North.
    Buzzkill The game might be over before a table opens up.
    We’re Drinking Great Divide Titan IPA.
    2641 E. Second Ave., www.cherrycricket.com
  • Falling Rock Taphouse
    Crowd Beer geeks and Rockies fans trying to escape the crowds of LoDo meatheads.
    Toast-worthy The overwhelming—in a good way—selection of more than 75 draft beers.
    Buzzkill Popular and unusual kegs go quickly; you might need to have a backup beer choice.
    We’re Drinking Whatever crazy Colorado seasonal beer we’ve never tried before.
    1919 Blake St., www.fallingrocktaphouse.com
  • Jonesy’s Eatbar
    Crowd Uptown hipsters unwinding after a workday, munching on fries and tossing back bottles of microbrews.
    Toast-worthy One of the best local-centric beer lists in town.
    Buzzkill Despite the killer beer list, most are served in bottles.
    We’re Drinking Odell Double Pilsner.
    400 E. 20th Ave., www.jeatbar.com

Red/Amber Ales

Ales, beers brewed with quick fermentation, whose names refer simply to the color of the beer.

  • 1. Red Ale
    Odell Brewing Company, Fort Collins
    Malt: 6 | Hops: 6 | ABV 6.5 percent
    We’ve never been huge fans of red ales, which are usually overloaded with malts, but Odell’s Red Ale is a revelation. Sure, it’s malty and just a tad sweet, but it’s balanced out with a dose of hops that makes this incredibly drinkable. Our only complaint: This red is a seasonal, available only between January and April. Odell: We beseech you, add this to the year-round lineup! www.odellbrewing.com
  • 2. Gordon
    Oskar Blues Brewing Company, Lyons
    Malt: 6 | Hops: 9 | ABV 8.7 percent
    The crazy guys up at Oskar Blues are hops junkies, so when they went to work on making an imperial red ale, they said, “Hell—let’s make it a double IPA as well.” The result: Gordon, a beer balancing on the knife-edge between too floral and too heavy. At 8.7 percent ABV, it’s a good thing that Gordon only comes in four-packs: Any more than two will knock you flat on your rear. www.oskarblues.com
  • 3. (tie) Legendary Red Ale
    Golden City Brewery, Golden
    Malt: 6 | Hops: 3 | ABV 5.4 percent
    Bottled beer from the “second largest brewery in Golden” isn’t easy to find—you can really only buy it at the brewery, Applejack Wine & Spirits, and Golden Town Liquor—but it’s worth the trip. Legendary Red Ale, an Altbier (or “old beer”), has a malty heft with a hint of hops and goes down easy. www.gcbrewery.com
  • 3. (tie) Levity Amber Ale
    Odell Brewing Company, Fort Collins
    Malt: 7 | Hops: 5 | ABV 5.1 percent
    Odell may have stretched when it named this amber “Levity,” which means excessive frivolity. Nonetheless, Levity is a wonderfully drinkable brew. The honey malts provide a bit of sweetness, and it’s nicely carbonated, making Odell’s tagline—a “lighter take on the amber ale”—feel just about right. www.odellbrewing.com

Scottish Ale

Light on hops, these ales are malty, often a little sweet, and sometimes have a smoky flavor.

  • 1. Old Chub Scotch Ale
    Oskar Blues Brewing Company, Lyons
    Malt: 9 | Hops: 4 | ABV 8 percent
    Pretty much nothing that Oskar Blues sells is subtle; Old Chub is no exception. At 8 percent ABV, Chub runs hot: It’s smoky on the nose, thanks to the beech wood–smoked malt; creamy; and rife with rich caramel, coffee, and chocolate notes. Oskar Blues has dubbed this Scottish ale “Rocky Mountain Mutha’s Milk,” but we say it’s a good winter sipper that pairs nicely with a slice of flourless chocolate cake. www.oskarblues.com
  • 2. Laughing Lab Scottish-Style Ale
    Bristol Brewing Company, Colorado Springs
    Malt: 8 | Hops: 2 | ABV 5.3 percent
    On the lighter side of the Scottish-style ale spectrum in flavor and booziness, Laughing Lab is a study in contradictions. Very drinkable at just (just!) 5.3 percent ABV, this shaggy dog has a silky texture and hints of coffee and bittersweet chocolate flavors. www.bristolbrewing.com
  • 3. Plaid Bastard
    The Grand Lake Brewing Company, Grand Lake
    Malt: 9 | Hops: 1 | ABV 8 percent
    From our friends at the highest packaging microbrewery in perhaps the world (yes, that would be Grand Lake Brewing at 8,369 feet), we get this monster malt bomb, which is made with peat-smoked malt from Scotland and English ale yeast. Very dark. Very smoky. Very strong. This is one crazy bastard indeed. Drink with care. www.grandlakebrewing.com

Brewery of the Year: Odell Brewing Company

Odell, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways. First, simple math: A stunning half of our six very favorite beers in “The 5280 Sixer” are brewed by Odell. Second, the diversity of the brewery’s portfolio: Four Odell beers made our list, including a hoppy-as-hell IPA, a creamy and silky porter, a full-bodied red ale, and a very fine amber.

Many breweries can put out one great beer; few breweries can handle four. And, finally, we simply love Odell’s laid-back, Fort Collins vibe: Sure, it’s nearly doubled the size of the plant in the last year, but it’s managed to increase quantity without letting quality go down the drain. We lift our pint glass to you, Odell. Cheers. Keep up the good work.

Brown Ale

A malty, chocolaty brew that was once extremely popular with working-class Brits.

  • 1. Ellie’s Brown Ale
    Avery Brewing Company, Boulder
    Malt: 8 | Hops: 3 | ABV 5.5 percent
    A little nutty, like its namesake (a chocolate Labrador retriever), Avery’s Ellie’s Brown is easy drinkin’, light, balanced, and clean. On tap or poured from a bottle into a glass, Ellie’s has a foamy head and, yes, some nutty (and chocolaty) notes. Pairs nicely with everything from cheese to grilled meats. www.averybrewing.com
  • 2. Flashback Anniversary Ale
    Boulder Beer Company, Boulder
    Malt: 6 | Hops: 7 | ABV 6.9 percent
    From the good folks at Boulder Beer comes this fun, creative, unique brew. (Is it a brown ale?! Is it an India pale ale?!) This beer will surprise you with its aggressive hops character, but the malt keeps Flashback balanced. One of the most interesting beers we tasted during our research—and that’s saying something. www.boulderbeer.com
  • 3. Wooly Booger Nut Brown Ale
    The Grand Lake Brewing Company, Grand Lake
    Malt: 7 | Hops: 2 | ABV 5 percent
    For the uninitiated, the wooly booger refers to a specific kind of lure used in fly-fishing, not a…well, never mind. In any event, this English-style brown tastes better than it sounds, with a medium body and a toffee-nut, slightly sweet taste. Maybe not our pick for a day of casting on the river, but we’d order a bottle at the pub any day of the week. www.grandlakebrewing.com

Porter

George Washington brewed this rich, dark ale himself—enough said.

  • 1. Cutthroat Porter
    Odell Brewing Company, Fort Collins
    Malt: 7 | Hops: 4 | ABV 5.1 percent
    Forget the cloyingly sweet porters you’ve tried in the past—Odell’s Cutthroat is a smooth, dark ale that you’ll return to again and again and again. You’re not going to be tossing back porters on a scorching hot day, but whenever the weather drops below 55—including on summer nights—we reach for the bottle opener and a Cutthroat. www.odellbrewing.com
  • 2. Black Jack Porter
    Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont
    Malt: 8 | Hops: 3 | ABV 6.8 percent
    If Count Chocula and the Dunkin’ Donuts guy got together to brew some beer, they’d end up with Black Jack: an English-style porter loaded with chocolate and roasted espresso flavors. This is the perfect beer to warm your belly and brain after trudging out to shovel your driveway at 11 p.m. www.lefthandbrewing.com
  • 3. Ten Pin Porter
    Ska Brewing Company, Durango
    Malt: 9 | Hops: 3 | ABV 5.5 percent
    A robust, dark porter from Ska Brewing in Durango, Ten Pin is worthy of being poured into a pint glass—the beer is jet-black and topped with a frothy, tan head. Don’t let the color fool you, though: The coffee-heavy Ten Pin is smooth and creamy and goes down easy. www.skabrewing.com

A Brief History of Craft Brewing in Colorado

  • 1979 Boulder Brewing Company opens and becomes Colorado’s first microbrewery.
  • 1982 First Great American Beer Festival in Boulder. Moves to Denver two years later.
  • 1989 Odell Brewing Company established.
  • 1990 Breckenridge Brewery & Pub established.
  • 1991 New Belgium Brewing Company established.
  • 1996 Avery Brewing Company (founded in ’93) becomes the first brewer to bottle an IPA in the state of Colorado.
  • 2002 Oskar Blues Brewing Company pioneers the craft-beer canning revolution by distributing their brews in aluminum cans.
  • 2008 Left Hand Brewing Company creates Ales 4 FemAles, a women-only club founded to teach women about craft brewing, and robs Longmont book clubs of their participants.
  • 2010 U.S. Representative Betsy Markey submits House Resolution 1297, which would champion American Craft Beer Week, to Congress.

Stout

Slightly more full-bodied than porter; Guinness is the world’s most famous stout.

  • 1. Milk Stout
    Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont
    Malt: 8 | Hops: 2 | ABV 6 percent
    We can’t say enough about this eminently drinkable stout. It’s full-flavored and full-bodied, yet completely smooth and balanced. Slightly sweet and milky on the nose, Milk Stout might just give Guinness a run as our session stout—and that’s about the best compliment we could give a beer. www.lefthandbrewing.com
  • 2. Yeti Imperial Stout
    Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver
    Malt: 10 | Hops: 7 | ABV 9.5 percent
    The folks at Great Divide aren’t kidding when they call Yeti “imposing” and “untamed.” Black and opaque in the glass, this imperial stout—a strong stout style first brewed in Russia in the 1800s—has both toasty malt flavors and a bold, strong hoppy character. Not for the faint of heart. www.greatdivide.com
  • 3. Chocolate Stout
    The Fort Collins Brewery, Fort Collins
    Malt: 8 | Hops: 4 | ABV 5.3 percent
    We’ll eat (or drink) just about anything that has “chocolate” in its name, but Fort Collins’ stout earns its place on our list of favorite chocolate treats. This brew won’t satisfy a sweet tooth, however—we’re talking dark chocolate here, with strong hints of coffee. With a sturdy malt backbone, this is a serious beer—with a surprisingly low ABV. www.fortcollinsbrewery.com

The Sixer

If we put together the perfect mix-six, here’s what it’d look like.

Over-Tapped

  1. Dale’s Pale Ale (Oskar Blues)
    Our go-to beer, no matter what the season or activity.
  2. Cutthroat Porter (Odell)
    Will make you rethink what you thought you knew about porters.
  3. India Pale Ale (Odell)
    A balanced IPA that even non-hop-enthusiasts will enjoy.
  4. White Rascal (Avery)
    A laid-back Belgian-style wheat beer; perfect for a warm afternoon.
  5. Milk Stout (Left Hand)
    A smooth, refined, and easy-drinkin’ stout.
  6. Red Ale (Odell)
    The beer that made us love red ales.
  7. Colorado’s craft breweries are furiously fermenting suds.When Oskar Blues ran out of beer this summer, it was a nightmare for hops lovers (the horror!), but the shortage actually signaled a positive trend: Consumers, it seems, just can’t get enough of Colorado brews. Thanks in part to the buy-local movement, drinkers are demanding so much Colorado craft beer that to keep up, local breweries are doubling their efforts. Recently, Oskar Blues added new fermenters to fill orders (whew, crisis averted), and during the past year Odell Brewing nearly doubled its plant in size to increase production and add office space. This summer, Great Divide expanded its brewing capacity by 50 percent—and that’s after a similar expansion last year. Even Denver newbie Strange Brewing Company, which opened up earlier this spring with a one-barrel system, is already planning to grow.

    It’s quite a success story, considering that three years ago Colorado craft breweries were in the middle of a perfect storm: Hops were scarce after farmers cashed in on ethanol incentives to plant corn instead of hops, and malt prices spiked 40 to 80 percent because of barley shortages and a weak U.S. dollar. But instead of getting competitive, craft breweries turned to each other for help. They traded ingredients, created new beers, and installed canning lines. Not only did they stay afloat, but sales also increased by 12 percent in 2007, an upward trend that continues to this day.

    Last year, things began to brighten even more as thousands of acres of newly planted hops were on the verge of blooming after three years of germination. This year, local craft-beer sales numbers are likely to be up again, and many breweries credit their continued growth to Colorado drinkers spending their beer dollars closer to home. We’ll drink to that—locally, of course. —Jennie Dorris

    What’s in a Name?

    Colorado’s top wild, wacky (and plain weird) beer monikers.

    • Gubna: Oskar Blues Brewing Company
    • Plaid Bastard: The Grand Lake Brewing Company
    • Pandora’s Bock: Breckenridge Brewery
    • Skinny Dip: New Belgium Brewing Company
    • Wooly Booger Nut Brown Ale: The Grand Lake Brewing Company
    • Ten Fidy: Oskar Blues Brewing Company
    • Hibernation Ale: Great Divide Brewing Company
    • Butt Head Bock: Tommyknocker Brewery
    • Mephistopheles’ Stout: Avery Brewing Company

    The Beer Can Revolution

    • 1959 Coors debuts the United States’ first all-aluminum can. Drinkers get one cent back per can returned to the brewery.
    • 2002 Oskar Blues hand-cans Dale’s Pale Ale one at a time, becoming the first U.S. craft brewer to do so.
    • 2008 New Belgium jumps on the bandwagon by canning Fat Tire and Sunshine Wheat.
    • 2009 Breckenridge Brewery releases its flagship brew, Avalanche, in cans.
    • 2010 The Golden Age of Canning: New Belgium starts canning Ranger IPA; Boulder Beer Company starts canning Hazed & Infused; and Avery introduces Joe’s Premium American Pilsner in cans, along with Avery IPA, White Rascal, and Ellie’s Brown Ale.
    • 2010 In June, Oskar Blues hosts the inaugural “Burning Can” festival, which celebrates canned beer.

    Golden Opportunity

    Coors’ craft-brewing operation uses Colorado as its testing ground.

    Launching a new beer is no joke for gigantic brewing conglomerates like Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors: A minimum of $18 million is lavished on each product launch for research, package design, advertising, sales, and the actual brewing. But that money often goes to waste—more than 90 percent of new beers introduced in the past few decades have failed.

    So, a few years ago, Pete Coors had a smart idea: He wanted to grow a beer’s popularity slowly and locally, like craft brewers do. In 2007, he launched AC Golden Brewing Company, named after his great-grandfather (Adolph Coors), with the hope that the company’s experimental, Colorado-only beers would become incubators for new brands. This is, after all, how Blue Moon became a national success: The Belgian-style witbier was born in the Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field in 1995 before exploding into a national brand.

    AC Golden has launched two beers since its founding: the flagship Colorado Native Lager, an amber lager brewed with all Colorado ingredients that tastes a bit like Sam Adams Boston Lager; and Herman Joseph’s Private Reserve, a sharp, drinkable pilsner. (They also took over the brewing of Winterfest, a seasonal Vienna lager, from MillerCoors.) All three are the kind of beers you’d expect to find at a small brewpub, not from a MillerCoors subsidiary. Even the beer junkies at BeerAdvocate.com—notorious big-brewery haters—have professed their admiration for the AC Golden brews. And at last year’s Great American Beer Festival, the outfit took bronze for a non-commercially released dunkel beer.

    Glenn Knippenberg, AC Golden’s president, brushes off the frequently leveled accusations that the company is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. “We invite those people to come see for themselves how small we are,” says Knippenberg, who points out that his four brewers not only brew beer but also clean bottles and package the suds. AC Golden will brew just 5,500 barrels this year, a drop in the beer keg for MillerCoors, which churns out more than 50 million barrels annually. “We out-craft most craft brewers,” Knippenberg boasts.