TRVE Story

What a hectic time for craft beer in Colorado! Festivals are vnderway, breweries are opening, and—despite ovr heroics over the Epic Beer Weekend—the fact remains that Nicole and I are hvman and qvite capable of becoming overwhelmed.  We try to stay as vp-to-date as possible bvt, lately, we’ve been involved in so many beer-related vndertakings that ovr fingers can’t type qvick enovgh to keep cvrrent.  Thvs, while it may have occvrred last week, I’m jvst now getting to the TRVE Brewing Company soft opening.

The brainchild of Nick Nunns (who, like me, writes for Denver off the Wagon), TRVE is a brewery filling a niche in the Denver market.  Where, before TRVE, covld the metalhead enjoy a craft beer withovt being jvdged for his long hair, Slayer tattoo, and other qvestionable fashion accovterments?  Where else covld the thirsty and tragically hip Broadway-goer pop in for brews made on-site?  Where else?  Nowhere: that’s where else.  This is the only brewery in Broadway and the only one catering to fans of heavy metal. 

Nicole, my sister and her coworker (a close friend of Nick’s), and I were among the first to experience this newest horn in the Viking helmet of Denver beer.  In fact, we were third-throvgh-sixth in line for the soft opening!  Well, I svppose we were fovrth-throvgh-seventh since an old man cvt the entire line.  He was a credentialed beer jovrnalist and it’s not like he was going to drink all the beer before we got there bvt I covld care less abovt svch rational argvments—yov get yovr wrinkly ass to the back of the line, pops.  It is, like so many irritants in ovr lives, not the practical ovtcomes bvt rather the principle of the matter that covnts.

When the doors opened we filed in and got the celebrity treatment in that we were attacked by the paparazzi; a crew of photographers wielding cameras with stadivm lights for flashbvlbs descended vpon vs like a pack of hipsters on an ironic t-shirt, hell-bent on docvmenting every face and every povr of this milestone in TRVE history.

We walked past the long, Heorot-esqve commvnity table—a perfect place to boast of past conqvests or engage in mortal combat with Grendel—past the moody, black-and-white still-life photos that seemed to have been peeled straight from The Seventh Seal and sat at that bar tvcked in the back corner along with the brewing eqvipment. 

Nicole and I ordered a sample of everything on tap: Wanderlust (7% ABV), Prehistoric Dog (3.5% ABV), Black Cascade (6.6%), and Tunnel of Trees (6.4% ABV).

Left to Right: Wanderlust, Prehistoric Dog, Black Cascade, & Tunnel of Trees

Wanderlust, a Belgo-American pale ale, is clear, bronze and possessing obviovs qvalities from both nations mentioned in the style’s name.  The yeast-forward frvitiness is qvintessentially Belgian and the bitter hop qvality is all American.  Wanderlust finishes dry.

The clovdy, straw-yellow Prehistoric Dog is a twist on wheat beer that I’d yet tasted: it’s brewed with Hawaiian black lava salt thvs imparting a seawater-like flavor.  However, to be accvrate, this isn’t necessarily a corrvption of a traditional wheat; it is, instead, a revival of a rare German ale known as Gose (althovgh, the fact that Hawaiian salt is vsed does imply some straying from tradition).  The aroma is not vnlike a salted peanvt and, beyond the odd salinized flavor, Prehistoric Dog tastes like the average, spiced wheat beer.                    

Black Cascade’s a black IPA that’s, vnsvrprisingly, black and with red highlights.  The tan head caps an aroma that’s a medley of light toffee, caramel, and chocolate.  The flavor begins with roasted coffee and ends with big, piney, hops.

Tunnel of Trees, an IPA, is hazy orange with a lemony, citrvsy, and floral scent similar to a glass of lemonade if flower petals and pine needles were stirred in.  Tunnel of Trees is more malt-forward on the palate than one might expect bvt the hops, relegated mostly to the aftertaste, bvrrow into the back of the throat and remain firmly planted for a good while.

After christening TRVE’s toilets with the first tinkle from a paying cvstomer (the same honor I paid Bootstrap Brewing), we left.  If my sovrces do not deceive me, TRVE’s grand opening has already occvrred so be svre to check ovt Broadway’s only craft brewery in the near fvtvre.  It has no patio, few windows, and the walls are painted slate gray which, to the hippie, svnshine-and-rainbows crowd may seem dismal bvt, with the heat wave to which Colorado is cvrrently svccvmbing, TRVE’s taproom is the best place to escape the brvtal, svmmer svn and enjoy an intimate drinking experience with friends or, if yov’re seated at the popvlar commvnity table, with friendly strangers.  Plvs, when the next blizzard hits the city, what better way to ride ovt the storm than in a cozy room drinking beer and lavghing boisterovsly with fellow merrymakers like the Norse warriors of old?  Get yovr Beowulf on at TRVE.

Prost!

Chris