Imagine a swanky party in a turn-of-the-century hotel
suite—a hotel suite resplendent with thick, frilled draperies, dark wood
cabinetry, an ornately-carved four-poster bed, and a fireplace in the corner. Imagine a penthouse view of a downtown, urban
area, hardwood floors, plush, leather seating, and decorative molding on the
wall. The setting is chic, the
partygoers are laughing gaily, and libations are flowing. What, do you suppose, the people are drinking
in such a classy locale? Champagne? Cocktails?
Decades-old Scotch? No, if you
were among the lucky few to receive tickets for Former Future Brewing Company’s
tasting event in the Presidential Suite at LoDo’s Oxford Hotel, the drink of
choice was beer.
The result of the collaborative efforts of James and
Sarah Howat, Former Future is a Denver-based brewery that’s currently searching
for a location (presently, they brew at Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew) but,
in the meantime, they’ve turned to us, the beer geeks, to help steer their
business in the right direction. Hence, this
past Saturday’s tasting event was a chance for the Howats to collect valuable
feedback on their beers. This isn’t a
one-time data collection, though; in fact, customer feedback will always be a
major component of Former Future’s business operations.
Besides seeking input from beer drinkers, Former
Future also defines itself as a brewery that reimagines classic beer
styles. They put modern twists on
age-old favorites thus creating completely unique concoctions. The four beers available at the event were The
Harvester saison, The Red Coat English IPA, The Magistrate chocolate stout, and
The Mariner salted porter.
The Harvester was brewed with rye and wild yeast
captured from an apple tree in the Howats’ Baker neighborhood. The beer’s aroma is fruity (most notably and unsurprisingly,
apple) and bubblegum-like while the flavor is refreshingly citrusy, crisp, and
dry.
Nowadays, “IPA” is synonymous with “hop-bomb” but
that wasn’t always the case. When it was
first conceived by the British, the IPA was earthier, less bitter. It was American brewers that pushed it over
the edge with monstrous amounts of hops.
The Red Coat, with its piney nose, subdued hoppiness, and lightly
toasted aftertaste, harkens back to those early days of IPA.
While it is classified as a chocolate stout, there is
no actual chocolate in The Magistrate.
It is from the malts that this beer derives its chocolate aroma and
taste. The Magistrate is very low in
roasted bitterness and high on creamy sweetness.
The Mariner is a salted porter. Yes, it’s a porter—with salt. This was, by far, the most unusual beer at
the event and, from what I overheard from conversations around the room, the
beer with the most detractors.
Personally, I hope Former Future keeps this beer around because I enjoy
salty foods—pretzels, saltines, prosciutto…etc.—but I do think that a different
beer style would showcase the salinity better than a porter. Maybe something slightly lighter such as a
brown ale or even lighter since I also love TRVE Brewing Company’s Prehistoric Dog salted wheat beer.
While sipping our samples, Nicole and I floated about
the room, snacked on some cookies from The Cookie Brewer, and talked to other
beer geeks and bloggers like Dave from Fermentedly Challenged (who we met in
person for the first time at the Indianapolis Beer Bloggers Conference),
representatives from the Denver branch of Girls Pint Out, some homebrewers from
Boulder, Matt Sandy, my Examiner.com handler, and Sarah Howat who owed me a T-shirt
because I helped name the brewery’s mascot: Professor Phineas Barleyhop (I contributed
the “Phineas” part). It’s a pretty rad
shirt, too; I made a few other attendees jealous with my kickin’ new apparel.
I have been to the grand, open chaos of Great American Beer Festival, I have experienced the wild wonders of Rails & Ales Brewfest, but there’s something about the intimate elegance of Former Future’s tasting
event that will stick in my memory for a very long time; drinking in the
Presidential Suite at The Oxford Hotel makes one feel like Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris—transported back to a
more glamorous time.
If you weren’t among the fortunate few to attend, you
can still enjoy Former Future beer at the upcoming South Denver Beer Festival. Also, keep an eye on their Facebook page to
keep tabs on their progress in finding a location.
Prost!
We took some artsy-fartsy architect pictures on our way back to the car; can you tell where we took this one? |
How about this one? |