Forgotten Craft Breweries
There are a few craft breweries that I always seem to forget about or walk past when I’m picking up new beer at the liquor store. Usually I think it’s just because they’ve gotten bit, they’re well known and I feel like I’ve tried all of their standard offerings, so without even thinking about it I don’t try their new and seasonal beers. It’s totally subconscious on my part, and when I do try a new beer from them, or read about things they’re doing, I realize how much I’m missing out on by ignoring them.
Two breweries I’ve ignored for too long are Sierra Nevada and New Belgium, two of the heavy weights of craft beer..
At the liquor store last week I noticed a lot of New Belgium beers I’d never tried before. Sure Fat Tire is everywhere, but just because I’ve had it a million times doesn’t mean they don’t have plenty of other good beers. In addition to their seven year round beers and four seasonal beers New Belgium has also started a new line of limited small production beers called the Lips of Faith series. They’re also doing a collaboration (called Collabeeration) with Elysian Brewing Co in Seattle. They’ll be limited batches, not sure if they’ll be bottled or just on draft.
Then there’s Sierra Nevada, pretty much the same story with them for me. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is everywhere, but they make a ton of other beers that are pretty awesome. Just this past week I was reading a story in the Rocky Mountain Brewing News about the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver setting a keg-draining record with Sierra Nevada’s Harvest Ale, pouring a full keg in about fifteen minutes. Harvest Ale is the owners favorite beer. At 15/min a keg I figured this was a beer I needed to check out. I picked up a bottle, it’s a ‘wet-hopped’ ale, meaning they use fresh hops instead of dried, picked the day before using them. It was good, more of a fresh taste than the drier taste of some IPA’s, it was still hoppy and bitter but not as dry.
Sierra Nevada has also recently announced a new year-round beer, Kellerweis Hefeweizen. I couldn’t find any info on their website but Beernews has the scoop. I’m excited to try this when the weather gets a little warmer.
