If you’ve read more than, say,
three Beer in Colorado posts then
you’re doubtless aware of Nicole and I’s mission to visit every brewery in the
state (we’re at 79). We realize it is a
daunting task. So daunting, in fact,
that we never intend to complete the goal; for every new brewery we visit, two
or three spring up elsewhere.
Furthermore, there are tons of tiny, mountain-town breweries that are
well removed from the beaten path thus making for a difficult destination.
There are ways of alleviating the
enormity of the situation, though. Foremost,
not every brewery in Colorado “counts.”
Some breweries have subsidiary locations sprinkled throughout but these
outposts are not included in our overall total.
For example, the Breckenridge Brewery in Breckenridge does indeed count
but the Breckenridge Tasting Room on Kalamath Street in Denver does not count; it may be the main production
facility but it wasn’t the first to operate under the “Breckenridge” name. The same goes for SandLot Brewery at Coors Field as it is, unsurprisingly, a Coors-owned facility. Likewise, C.B. & Potts, Hops Grill & Brewery, and the Anheuser-Busch InBev facility in Ft. Collins do not count
as their corporate headquarters are located out-of-state—we do have standards,
you know. Downtown Denver’s Rock Bottom
kind-of, sort-of counts because, although the parent company is based in
Tennessee, the very first Rock Bottom to exist was the one on 16th
street. It’s a bit of a gray-area.
Which brings me to the point of
this post: not long ago, I received an e-mailed press release concerning Vine Street Pub & _______. Why the blank
space? Because, for years, that’s what
their sign advertised; they had beer but they didn’t have the means of making
it. That changed this past weekend when
a 4th anniversary party was held in honor of Vine Street’s new
brewing system. Usually, that means our
brewery count rises but, according to our self-imposed rule, we remain at 79
since Vine Street Pub & Brewery is an offshoot of Boulder’s Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery. We may refuse to
consider it among our list of Colorado breweries visited but that doesn’t mean
we refuse to have a good time.
 |
| Hopefully their brewing facility is more permanent than their sign |
The party started on April 20th
at 4:20 (this family of breweries is known to be exceptionally hippie-centric)
and featured live, outdoor music complements of By All Means Band, BBQ from Chef Annabelle Forrestal, beers donated by Great Divide Brewing Co., Brewery Ommegang, and Green Flash Brewing Co. in support of Judi’s House, and a special
beer release known as Capital Saison.
 |
| The new equipment |
Everything about this event was
great except that our schedules
wouldn’t allow us to be present for the party's kick-off—a huge annoyance to
Nicole and I whose punctuality is so ironclad that our friends have turned it
into a running joke. Alas, we couldn’t
attend until a little after 7pm and, by then, the party was in full
swing—crowds inside and out, the band rocking the whole neighborhood, and BBQ
smoke wafting through the air like ascending spirits. All of this was great to see as it makes me
happy when local breweries succeed but it’s much easier to be present for the
transition from quiet get-together to raging party than to interject one’s self
into the mayhem after the fact. That’s
where Nicole and I found ourselves: on the outside looking in.
I was still going to get a
celebratory beer, though, so I ordered Hooligan Oatmeal Porter (6.1%), a beer
that’s black when sat on the table, dark, ruby-red when it’s held to a light,
and topped with a mocha-brown foam. It
smells of sweet milk chocolate and the flavor is a bit smoked, a bit roasted,
and all-around chocolate-y. A velvety
mouthfeel rounds out this beer.
 |
| Hooligan |
Aside from a mighty tasty Cuban
sandwich, that pretty much sums up our time at Vine Street. If it sounds like I’m cutting this short, I
am. Don’t worry, though, I’m currently
working on a more intimate look at the new Vine Street facilities. Stay tuned, folks.
Prost!
Chris
P.S. check out Beer in Colorado on Facebook and on
Twitter @BeerInColorado.
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