Denver, CO (03/07-03/10) (1)

Epic - Denver Brewery & Taproom

The branch of Epic Brewing Co from Salt Lake City, Utah in Denver. So far, I only knew the original brewery in Utah, which makes very good barrel-aged Imperial Stouts. Unfortunately, I could only try less good lagers and mediocre IPAs here. There were also beers from the Utah brewery, but I was more interested in the local varieties. The setup was interesting as the lamps are supposed to represent the cone of the cylindroconical fermentation/lagering tanks. Unfortunately, I missed the free tour.

Great Divide Brewing Co

Average craft brewery. I was able to take part in the free tour here (a total of 3 participants), which provided a deeper insight into the Newlands brewhouse, the pilot brewery, the fermentation/lagering cellar (outside), and the bottling line. Despite the small size of the brewery, they export to 30 different states.

Rock Bottom Brewery

A pub brewery chain with 28 locations throughout the USA. Very nicely set up and the brewery seems to only be for decoration in the restaurant. The only interesting beer here was a Pre-Prohibition Lager. This beer style (which I drank here for the first time!) is supposed to imitate the lagers before the Prohibition with a sweeter malt profile, a more hoppy taste (slightly oxidized), and a more pronounced lager yeast taste (warm fermentation?).

Renegade Brewing Co

Average craft brewery. Since they don't have their own kitchen, they have a food truck selling food in front of the brewery.

Cerebral Brewing

A hipster brewery completely packed on Saturday evening. Very good beers, especially:

Inhabited Foam (Hoppy Oat Lager with Galaxy and debittered Citra & Mosaic) 5.6%

Dark Galaxie (Oatmeal Milk Stout) 4.9%