Denver Microbrew Tour

This is a belated post, but that's what happens when school takes over your life.  For Christmas Kiki got us a trip to Denver and we stayed with our friend Blake.  Part of the idea was to visit New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO, but apparently you need reservations to tour their brewery and they were all booked up.  Blake had heard about this Denver Microbrew Tour so we decided to check it out.  Luckily even though it was January the weather was in the mid to high 40s so we couldn't have asked for better winter walking weather.

Great Divide Brewing Company

The tour met at Great Divide Brewing Company.  While we waited I tried the Hoss Rye Lager (its a marzen type beer and it was probably my favorite of the day) and Kiki tried the Wild Raspberry Ale.

After awhile the tasting finally began and they took us from the small taproom to the back where they store barrels and kegs.  The guide had everyone in the group go around and introduce themselves and say where they were from.  It was surprisingly a good mix of people from all over the country.  Everyone was given a card to rate the beers.

After the introduction and handing out of cards we tried four beers: Wild Raspberry Ale, Hoss Ryle Lager, Hercules Double IPA, and the Yeti Imperial Stout.  When we tried the first beer the guide gave everyone some instructions on beer tasting: looking at the color, smelling it, swirling it, smelling it more, tasting it and letting your taste-buds absorb the flavor.

 Blake (I believe that is the Raspberry Ale)

 Kiki

Then we got a tour of the brewery.

After Great Divide it was a short walk over to Breckenridge...

Breckenridge Brewery

Breckenridge originally bought this location just to have as a manufacturing location, but right after they bought it they found out that Coors Field was going to be built.  They lucked out, and now its a stop for many people going to Rockies games.  We tried the Vanilla Porter and the Agave Wheat.  The Vanilla Porter tasted great at first.  Lots of vanilla and a great flavor.  But the more I drank it the more I realized it really lacked body.  Someone at our table remarked, "Its dark beer for Coors Light drinkers" which I think is very appropriate.  The Agave Wheat was interesting.  The agave makes it sweet so its a very unusual beer, but it was pretty great tasting.

And we walked by...

 Blue Moon at Coors Field.

 I am told that Falling Rock is amazing and next time we're in Denver we need to go.

It was a bit of a walk to our next stop...

Wynkoop Brewing Company

The founder/owner of Wynkoop if the former mayor of Denver and just got elected governor of Colorado so his campaign sign was proudly displayed.

Wynkoop bills itself as "Denver's oldest brewpub" which isn't really that old because it was founded in 1988.  We only tried two beers at Wynkoop, but we just walked a mile while full of beer so everyone was ready to just sit for a while and take their time.  First, was the B3K Schwarzbier which is a dark lager, which was good but I was kind of ready to take a break before I even tried it.  Second, was Patty's Chile Beer, which is an English mild and really smells like chilies, as in the hot pepper.  I didn't even know they made beer with peppers.  It was OK tasting, nothing I'm going to want to drink all the time, but I do have to give Wynkoop props for being creative and original.

Rock Bottom Brewery (the original)

 

Denver is quite proud that this is the original Rock Bottom Brewery, and with 35 locations across the country I can't blame them.  It was a busy place.  Rock Bottom, however, does not have a very interesting history because it was started as a chain concept by CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Its the same company that owns Old Chicago and Gordon Biersch.  Anyway, we tried two beers here too.  First was the Red Rocks Red, which was a very well balanced red.  Then we had Molly's Titanic Brown Ale, which was a really dark brown.

Unfortunately the tour does not make a loop so we had a good couple miles to walk back to the car.  Oh well, it was a fun tour filled with beer, some history of Denver, and a good walk to see the downtown.

The Bruery Orchard White

Orchard White was my first glimpse into beer from The Bruery.  I picked it up at the new "The Bruery Provisions" at the circle in Orange and we had it for Valentines Day.

(Note the new glass Kiki got me for Valentine's Day, its an upside down bottle)

Patrick Rue started brewing while he was in law school while going to the same law school I'm wrapping up at.  I can appreciate the escapism of brewing while in law school because I started brewing myself just over a year ago in 2L year.  After Patrick decided he didn't want to be a lawyer he went full power with brewing and launched The Bruery in Placentia, CA.  They specialize in Belgian style beers and specialty beers.

Orchard White is a truly unique beer.  Apparently I'm behind the trend curve because this beer first caught public notice in 2008, but I can tell you its still in production because its a great beer.  Most notably is that it has flavors of citrus and lavender.  Lavender?  Really.  It smells like lavender and it tastes like lavender.  This spicy beer at 5.7% ABV was fun to drink because its so different.  In addition to being spicy (think baking spices not hot spices) it had a mixture of floral notes and a balance of sweetness.  This beer was $8 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Law: why do we have state and federal regulations over beer?

This is actually a comment I left on my previous post of Beer Law: Getting Growlers Filled in California but I thought it was interesting enough that it warrants its own blog post.  The comment Andreas left was regarding federal regulations regarding growlers that are different than California's law.

Here are my thoughts:

The federal government can certainly make laws under the commerce power, meaning goods that cross state lines (even components that make up those goods) can be regulated. Hypothetically you could have all the ingredients for the beer and the water from California, and the glass made out of sand from California, and all the brewing and manufacturing done in California, and the beer drank in California; then it could be argued that the federal laws do not apply, and only the California laws apply. It may seem like a silly hypothetical, but there is a case making its way to the United States Supreme Court about a gun made in Montana by Montana materials, and the argument is federal gun laws do not apply to this gun.

Another thing about federal regulations is that in the United States we have two sovereigns. We have a system of federalism.  One sovereign is the federal government, the other sovereign is the state government. Within the federal government we have checks and balances between the branches, but we have another type of balancing with "federalism" which is the balance of power between the federal government and the states. For example, there is no federal police power in the Constitution. We have ICE agents, but those aren't really part of the police power, they're part of the federal government's power to regulate immigration. I bring this up to make the point that any power that is not expressly delegated to the federal government in the constitution (i.e. the police power) is reserved for the states. Bringing this full circle, Congress can create national beer laws under its constitutional commerce power, but states can make their own beer laws because the power to regulate beer is not expressly delegated to the federal government.

That means we end up with two beer laws from our two sovereigns. When I quickly glanced at the federal regulations from the link I noticed that those regulations are careful to note that states can have their own laws. If California thinks its better for consumers to have safer growlers they can impose a stricter standard than the federal law.  Which law applies?  In short, they both do.  This happens all the time.  For instance, the EPA regulates air quality for car emissions, but California imposes its own emissions standards that are more strict.

I definitely would like to do some more research into what the federal government requires, but that is my quick response using some stuff I learned in my law school constitutional law class.


DISCLAIMER: This blog entry is not legal advice and I am not an attorney.  This is for informational purposes only.  If you are seeking legal advice for a particular situation you should consult with an attorney licensed in your state.

American Craft Beer Week

Brew Dog: Sink the Bismarck! (the world's strongest beer)

Last week I lucked out.  My fraternity big brother, Jared, brought a bottle to our Super Bowl party and he shared it with Warren and I.  Jared owns a production company that has a lot of clients who brew beer (he's done videos for Stone and Anchor Steam among others).  The guys at Brew Dog shoot footage and mail it to him, he edits it, and that's how they get their video content.  Brew Dog pays him, but they were kind enough to send him a complimentary bottle of Sink the Bismarck!  I had read about this beer, and knew it got a lot of coverage but never thought I would be drinking it.

Brew Dog is a brewery in Scotland, and they made a beer called Tactical Nuclear Penguin, which at 31% ABV was supposed to be the strongest beer in the world.  Then, Schorschbrau came out with a beer that was 40% ABV.  Brew Dog retaliated.  This beer is 41% ABV, making it stronger than any other beer in the world.  Actually, that makes it stronger than most hard liquor.  Brew Dog gets it that strong by lowering the temperature so ice crystals start to form and they can then remove the frozen water leaving the beer more concentrated.  Somehow they add hops to it four times (they call it "quadruple hopped") by kettle hopping it, dry hopping it, and freeze hopping it.  In terms of IBU's, this makes Stone's Ruination with 100+ IBUs taste like just a regular IPA.  This beer comes in 330 ml bottles which is about 11 ounces.  Just one bottle will set you back about $100.

Just smelling this beer is like no other beer, it smells hoppy but sweet.  Sipping it is like sipping hopped brandy.  Its smooth and the hops make it taste sweet and fruity.  The weird thing about it is that since it is so strong you don't feel it in your stomach and it feels like it goes straight to your head.  This is definitely a beer that you want to share with others both because of the price and the potency.  This beer is so rare that I recommend trying it if you're ever lucky enough to find it.

Cheers!

Beer Law: Getting Growlers Filled in California

A little over a year ago I went to Stone Brewing Co. for the first time.  They sell some quality beers, but are more on the expensive side; however, filling a growler there is an incredibly great value.  I bought a couple growlers, got them filled and have so far been able to go back to Stone and get them filled once since them.  In August we went up to Chico and took the Sierra Nevada brewery tour and I brought my Stone growlers hoping to get them filled in the tap room.  I was very disappointed when the bar tender told me that they're not allowed to do that.  When I asked why she said there was a law against it.  I wasn't sure if she was yanking my chain just to get me to buy a Sierra Nevada growler, but I didn't want to argue so I bought one anyway and then let my father-in-law keep it since he might find himself in Chico sooner than I will.

I told myself that I would do some research.  I found some interesting things, which I'll have to write about in another post.  But, here is what I found:

California Business and Professions Code § 25200.  Label; Contents.
All beer sold in this State shall have a label affixed to the package or container thereof, upon which shall appear the true and correct name and address of the manufacturer of the beer, and also the true and correct name of the bottler of the beer if other than the manufacturer. No manufacturer, importer, or wholesaler of beer shall use a container or carton as a package or container of a beer other than such beer as is manufactured by the manufacturer whose name or brand of beer appears upon the container or carton, or use as a package or container of a beer a container or carton which bears the name of a manufacturer of beer or the brand of any beer other than those of the manufacturer of the beer contained in the container or carton.

Yikes!  Have the people up in Sacramento ever heard of turning run on sentences into multiple sentences that actually make sense so you can derive the exact meaning from it?  What the hell does this word vomit mean in real English?

Here is my attempt at a translation:  
Beer sold in California needs a container with a label with the name and address of the maker of the beer, and also the name and address of the bottler of the beer if its someone different.  No one that makes beer shall use a container other than a container from the beer maker whose name is on the container.  And no one that makes beer shall use a container of beer with some other beer maker's name on the carton.


The growler from Sierra Nevada and the growler from Stone look almost identical.  I would not be surprised if they have the same glass manufacturer.  If one has a brand new growler why can't someone else fill it up?  Maybe this is the result of lobbyists.  Maybe its some kind of "safety" thing for liability purposes.  Maybe the government was just making a law so they could look busy.

In sum, I guess the policy at Sierra Nevada follows the law.  That would mean that any brewery that fills up a growler they didn't sell is breaking the law.  Seems kind of silly to have so many glass containers if you want to get growlers from different breweries.  Anyway, that's why some breweries are sticklers about making you buy their growler.



DISCLAIMER: This blog entry is not legal advice and I am not an attorney.  This is for informational purposes only.  If you are seeking legal advice for a particular situation you should consult with an attorney licensed in your state.