Hearing that the National Homebrewers Conference was to be in Denver this year made it just too difficult to resist. Colorado has more microbreweries per head of population than any State in the USA. The US Brewers Association who puts on these bashes is based in Boulder, just outside Denver so they were sure to put on a great show and draw some great presenters.

I had been to the Conference two years ago in Baltimore so knew what to expect. Even more fun, lots of great beer and colour and movement.

As a sedate family man I must admit I was a bit unsure as to whether I could take the pace of five days of solid beer research. It’s mid summer in Colorado and temperatures are in the mid 30’s. And added to that is the warning that Denver is the mile high city and that it’s important to drink a glass of water for every beer.

Day 1

I arrived in town a couple of days early in order to do a brewery tour and join a few pre Conference events. Jon Graber is marketing manager for Wyeast liquid yeast cultures and he was my guide on the first day of tripping around the breweries of Boulder and Fort Collins. Jon put in 10 years as Brewmaster at the Mt Hood Brewing Co. http://www.iceaxegrill.com/mthoodbrewco.php.
His wife Teri Fahrendorf is well known to the Australian brewing industry as the two time head judge of the Australian International Beers Awards and was Brewmaster at the Steelhead Brewing Co for 17 years and is now in the middle of a 5-month road trip of brewing adventure and beer exploration (in pink gumboots) which can be followed

at http://roadbrewer.blogspot.com/ and she was planning to make the last day of the Conference.

After dropping at the Brewers Association, our first stop was at the BJ’s in the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. Boulder is a beautiful, affluent University town set in the foothills of the Rockies. BJ’s is a chain of pub breweries and some of these become a bit McDonaldized but the Boulder version has a great atmosphere and the brewer Mark is a great guy brewing some really good beer.  I sussed out which beers Mark would have at the Pro Brewers Night at the conference three nights later and tried a couple

Mark. That is a pizza tray on the right

that wouldn’t be on. The Brewhouse blonde hit the spot – a Kolsch with a bit more Wheat and Vienna than usual – very refreshing for 9.30am after a 24 hour flight. A seasonal American Brown was the first of many great examples of this classic modern US style I tried. Clean, a little caramel & chocolate and a liberal sprinkling of citrus hop flavour.

Pearl St mall in Boulder

If you’re ever in Boulder you may like to try the Mountain Sun Brewpub which has a great reputation but opened a bit late for us that day.  Boulder Beer is one of the oldest brewpubs in the US.

Avery is one of the most professional and progressive breweries in the US brewing a wide range of beers but specializing in US and Belgian style high gravity ales. Steve Breezley gave Jon and I a tour of the rapidly expanding brewery and a great tour through their beers.

Have a look at their beers at www.averybeer.com but some of those I tried were: Karma – a De Konnink style estery Belgian ale; Salvation – a Strong Golden Ale with peachy esters; 14’er ESB (named after the 54 mountains in Colorado over 14,000 feet) a British bitter which proves they can make great standard ales; Maharaja, and Imperial India Pale Ale – what more can I say.

We had outstayed our scheduled time at Avery (with no regrets) and had to miss lunch and head to New Belgium for a VIP tour with Assistant Brewmaster Grady Hull. New Belgium is a phenomenon. One of the most successful and innovative craft breweries in the US with a real Belgian brewmaster with a pedigree that includes 10 years at Rodenbach. The brewery is a blend of innovation and professionalism, a passion for doing things in a sustainable way and a serious glance across the Atlantic to Belgium. A look at their website for a description of the process is well worth the time spent. 
The following is a description of their boiling process: “After lautering, the wort is transferred to the Merlin. Maybe it’s too straightforward- or maybe the ghost is intimidated. We don’t have problems with the boil. The Merlin is a very special, highly efficient and energy conserving kettle.  Two round vessels are stacked on top of each other; the top vessel contains a cone shaped like a giant sorcerer's hat with an internal steam-jacket, and the bottom vessel is round.  The wort spins around in the bottom vessel and then is pumped up and over the top of the witch’s hat.  The witch is rather hotheaded, so the wort boils immediately, releasing unwanted aromas, thoroughly dissolving hop oils, and fusing protein particles.  These particles are then forced into the middle of the whirlpool, where they fall out of solution, and are removed from the wort.  This whole process takes about half the time as a traditional kettle.” For the occasional craft brewery tourist it makes the eyes boggle and the head spin just a little and this is just an example of their innovation.

On the sustainability front, much of the breweries power is supplied by wind, there is a great water “recapture and reuse” program and employees are given a bicycle after 1 year working for the brewery.

 
Jon Graber (left)giving some idea of scale. That’s quite a bit of sour beer. And quite a bit of Fat Tire (right)

Notes on a sour beer barrel. Yep, that's a rock climbing wall(right).

The original New Belgium brewhouse! The newer version on the right.

Ceramic detail from around the kettle. That’s some heat exchanger

Details above from New Belgium’s computerized brewing system

More details about the brewing system. Notes in chalk on the side of a New Belgium oak barrel

While all of the beers produced are not uniformly loved in the home brewing community (their biggest seller Fat Tire in particular is not popular) there is no doubt that their sour beer, La Folie is very highly thought of. Looked after by Lauren and Eric Salazar and Mike Peters and overseen by Peter Boukaert it is a great experience for a lover of sour beers.
No better evidence of their professionalism is that they maintain 4 quality control labs overseeing various areas, including the micro lab overseeing yeast. The sensory perception lab run by Lauren Salazar oversees a panel of 24 tasters each of whom undergo perception testing on a weekly basis ie. To ascertain the degree to which they can perceive flavours such as diacetyl and acetaldehyde.
At 3.30 pm we left in search of lunch and found our way to Coopersmith pub brewery (www.coopersmithspub.com) in the heart of Fort Collins. I enjoyed a Mountain Avenue Wheat (Hefe Weizen) – very well made and a Sigda’s Green Chilli beer. Not being a fan of Chili beers, I was hesitant but was pleasantly surprised – not too hot but a very strong flavour and aroma of green chili – a nice accompaniment to the Turkey Burger.
After a brief brewery tour we headed back to Denver for the first official event of the Conference – a dinner at the Cheshire Cat brewpub. Jon and I joined about 25 Conference goers with Charlie Sturdevant – the genial host and multi brewpub owning brewer. Charlie is a working Geologist by trade, but this is his third brewery venture put together over the past fifteen years - he is a part of the ownership of all and they are still all operating successfully.

The menu was as follows:
Pancetta-wrapped, brown-ale-marinated shrimp with basil paired with pilsner;
Irish cheddar beer soup with garlic croutons paired with stout;
Tomato stuffed with smoked salmon salad, served with beer bread and paired with rauchbier;
Choice of herb-crusted chicken breast or pork loin with doppelbock sauce, rice pilaf, and buttered carrots served with IPA;                                          
Grapefruit sorbet and sticky toffee pudding served with barleywine.

Here I met for the first time a number of the enthusiasts I would see a lot of over the coming days: Tom and Kathryn from Nashville, Dotty Klemp from Denver, Jeff from Cincinatti and Brian Mertz from Wyoming – the Judge Coordinator of the National Homebrewers Competition. All in all a very warm and cosy evening.

Day 2

The pre Conference events are a great chance to meet fellow brewers as well as to catch up on the great beer culture of the conference city. As I’ve said, there could hardly be a better City by reputation than Denver and today was the day to put it to the test.

I met the group for the tour downstairs at the hotel and about 20 of us headed by light rail into town to the gentrified LODO (lower downtown) area. On the edge of the City this is a former warehouse district now populated with restaurants, apartments in warehouse conversions all centered around Coors field, the magnificent baseball stadium with – you guessed it – a brewpub right in it.

We started at the Wynkoop Brewpub, www.wynkoop.com the one that started it all. This was the first brewery in the area, in 1988 when Denver’s now long serving mayor, John Hinkenlooper put it into the rundown suburb. In some ways this pub is the least exciting of those in the area now as it has developed. It is a big noisy place even at 11am. Like lots of brewpubs, they serve sample size 100ml glasses for $1. So I started with an Eli’s Cream Ale – not a style we’re used to here and sneered at by many. Well probably not my style either but a gentle introduction – just a bit flavourless.  The St Charles ESB, cask conditioned, definitely from the US end of the hop range, but with plenty of crystal malt for a great rich caramel effect in the Fullers manner was the highlight. I finished with a Tiger Root Beer, non-alcoholic which was just what I needed in 33 degree heat and with a long day ahead.

Wynkoop Brewpub. Coors Field (right)

We then headed on to the Falling Rock Taphouse www.fallingrocktaphouse.com, one of the most amazing bars in the world. With 69 beers on tap at the moment and literally hundreds in the bottle, we settled in for a lunch of “Love Mussels” a single barrel version of New Belgium’s La Folie, a Flanders Red style. This is one of my favourite styles and this was a great version, mildly lactic with just a touch of Brett. We stayed on for a bit of a chat and a chance to try a couple more local brews. My favourite was an Odell 90 Shilling Ale – basically an amber ale rather than strictly to Scottish style guidelines but rich and well balanced.

                            
Falling Rock Bar

                       
We hit the heat outside and moved on for the first of two brewery tours. Eric Warner is a name well known to most brewers as the author of two of the Classic Beer Series books on Kolsch and German Wheat Beer. Eric’s Brewery, Flying Dog is a fast growing enterprise with great labels designed by Gonzo artist Ralph Steadman. Steadman is best known for his work with Hunter S Thompson. Catchy dog themed brews such as Doggy Style Pale Ale, a classic US style version with loads of Cascade and In-Heat Wheat, a Bavarian style made by one of the masters, disguise a serious approach to beermaking and a brewery busting at the seams. I would return.

Flying Dog Truck and the Flying Dog Bar

Next door is Shanahans distillery and if 37 degrees outside was hot, I don’t know what it was next to the still. The wash is made at Flying Dog and they sure makes a fine drop, almost evaporating as it touches the tongue. The powerful aroma of American oak is just amazing.

Stranahans Distillery

By this stage the journeys between establishments became sprints to beat the heat. Lance from local club Hop, Barley and the Alers our intrepid leader was leading the way as we headed toward the Great Divide taphouse. They really have a great range of high gravity beers and here I was mixing in rarified company with Brian St Clair, later to be adjudged one of the best brewers at the NHC and John Watson, Grandmaster Judge.

Great Divide Brewery. Taps at Great Divide Brewery

We worked our way through Yeti Oak Aged Imperial Stout and Old Ruffian Barley wine before settling on a more subtle, hoppy but well balanced Denver Pale Ale.

Breckenridge is one of the best known brewing companies in Colorado and the Ball Park Pub is a huge heaving establishment that must have had 500 hundred people on a hot Tuesday afternoon crowded in making an incredible amount of noise. These people certainly like their beer. By this time the group has started to split up and move back to the Conference Hotel. A few of us hung in and made plans for dinner. In the meantime I tried a Vanilla Porter and decided that it had just a bit too much vanilla – or maybe just a bit too much beer. I decided to take it easy on water for an hour or so before we moved onto dinner at The Denver Chophouse and Brewery.

Breckenridge Ball Park Pub. Denver Chop House and Brewery (right)

The name did not bode well but the food was amazing – as recommended by a customer of ours and Denver native Jeff Wyant. I had a fabulous Sirloin – famed apparently through the Rockies and the plains, accompanied by a Californian Syrah, a coffee and the stragglers from our crew. Steeled and fortified I now felt ready for an evening of serious beer judge talk.

One of the main reasons for my trip was to judge at the National Homebrewers Competition, the largest brewing competition in the world. Five thousand beers had already been pre-judged and the next day was to be the 2nd round of the judging with over 900 hundred beers to be judged by about 100 judges. The Judges Reception was held at Wynkoop where I had started the day 8 hours before. I caught up with Dave Logsdon of Wyeast and met Gordon Strong of the BJCP and well known author Randy Mosher. Gordon ran through some changes to the judging sheet for the next day while Randy gave an entertaining Sensory Analysis seminar complete with off flavour samples. It was a very professionally run event and I looked forward to the next mornings judging.

Gordon Strong of BJCP

It was 10 pm and time for a good nights sleep before a serious mornings judging and the beginning of the Conference proper.