Beer in Colorado: 1.1 Miles Away and Worlds Apart

With a new year comes new beer! Fresh off our temporary conquest of Denver, Nicole and I decided to begin 2015 the best we know how: visiting new breweries. Since we’d recently ran through all the Mile High City has to offer, we set our sights south, rode C-470 to the ‘burbs, and checked out Living The Dream Brewing Brewing Company (LTD) and Grist Brewing Company.

Living the Dream

Separated by only 1.1 miles, LTD and Grist are in different cities (Littleton and Highlands Ranch, respectively) and worlds apart. LTD’s in as gritty a locale as one could hope for in an otherwise affluent suburb; it’s off the main road, behind a Murdoch’s ranch supply store, surrounded by landscape company yards, auto body shops, firearms and archery stores, fence post suppliers, and a multitude of other blue collar, rough-neck businesses. Drive north on Santa Fe Dr. a short distance, turn right, and, suddenly, you’re in the land of Starbucks, national banking firms, chain restaurants, and, shoved into the middle of a blank, corporate-looking building, Grist.

It looks like a Wal-Mart but, thankfully, Grist has more soul than that

Despite the discrepancy in surroundings, LTD and Grist fit their environments splendidly; once there, you can’t imagine the space without a brewery and, before walking through the door, you get a pretty good idea of the ambiance that awaits in the taproom.

Inside LTD

For example, when driving up to LTD, one turns into a parking lot and is faced with a metal-sheeted building and a parking lot landmined with pallets of stone pavers, bricks, rock, and other construction material. A posh, Belgian abbey-inspired ambiance would be inappropriate for such a setting so LTD doesn’t even try to be fancy. Instead, they play the hand they were dealt and go for more of a secret hangout atmosphere, sort of like a speakeasy; decorative walls only go halfway up, leaving metallic columns and rafters exposed, the table tops are rustic wood, appearing as though they were scavenged for use in a treehouse, and—oh, yes—skis. Lots and lots of late model skis and snowboards. The place is covered with them: the beer menu, the bar face, the tap handles, the shelving…etc. Living The Dream for LTD apparently means brewing beer and hitting the slopes—a fitting dream for any Coloradoan, really.

Inside Grist

Triangular peninsula attached to Grist's bar

On the other side of the spectrum, there’s Grist. The laidback, no-frills approach won’t fly when the other occupants of the building are design studios and science labs. The flight of the approach becomes even more like a cinder block when, in the vicinity, there are golf courses, soccer stadiums, and an equestrian jumping park—the trifecta of WASP sports. Grist acted accordingly with a rather chic taproom. First, the brew room is massive and the tanks butt right up to the customer space. The enormous fermenters tower over the customers, benevolent deities rewarding loyal subjects with the nectar of their bodies. The bar is a jagged island in the center of the room with catwalk-style storage hanging from the ceiling. A clever touch at the bar: triangular peninsulas that add extra seating and allow customers to actually look at each other instead of being forced to face the same direction. A bold, yellow feature wall with a light-up sign, large, windowed garage doors, and worn-wood accent pieces make Grist a lively but clean-cut place to quaff.

Brew equipment at LTD

Brew equipment at Grist

If there’s a common link between LTD and Grist, it’s the beer. For being a touch removed from the craft beer epicenter that is Denver, both are cranking out some damn decent brews. At LTD, I enjoyed a flight of Arrogant Hipster Lager, Alt Whitman, C-470 Collaboration Weizenbock, and Helluva Caucasian Cream Stout with peanut butter.

Left to right: Arrogant Hipster, Alt Whitman, C-470, & Helluva Caucasian

The Arrogant Hipster is intended to be the craft version of PBR and, based on the taste, I’d say they achieved that goal; everybody should brew something light and easy for when beer geeks drag their craft-adverse friends to the brewery. Getting non-craft drinkers into the taproom is step one, getting them to drink a gateway beer like Arrogant Hipster is step two. With a few more steps, our domestic lager-guzzling friends will be downing quadrupels and Russian imperial stouts like a champ. I only hope a certain southern California brewery doesn't get its panties in a twist over the use of the word "arrogant."

Beer menu at LTD

Alt Whitman is a typical, malt-forward A ltbier although, just to stir things up a bit, the version I enjoyed was brewed with lager yeast rather than ale yeast, making it not a hybrid ale but rather a plain, old lager. A good beer, to be sure, but hardly memorable. It’s a middle-ground road for when you want something more complex than Arrogant Hipster but don’t feel like committing to anything extravagant, either.

Weizenbocks are one of my least favorite beers but I ordered C-470 anyway if only for the story. In a nutshell, it’s a collaboration beer amongst the breweries along the eponymous highway: LTD, Grist, Blue Spruce Brewing Company, Lone Tree Brewing Company, 38 State Brewing Company, 3 Freaks Brewery, C.B. & Potts, and Rock Bottom. Can we call the C-470 neighborhood the next Denver-area brewery neighborhood (using the word “neighborhood” loosely, of course; these eight breweries represent four separate and independent towns)? The resulting beer features a dominant chocolate flavor with banana-like undertones. For a style I don’t like, I actually did enjoy this one.

Inside LTD

Helluva Caucasian was by the far the best, though. A decadent and creamy stout, the addition of peanut butter really helped knock this one out of the park. I don’t know if LTD has any plans to can or bottle in the future but they should start with this one. It’s basically liquefied Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

At Grist, I once again had a flight: Winter Saison, American Barleywine, Juniper Berry Belgian Single, and Berliner Weisse.

Left to right: Winter Saison, Juniper Berry Belgian Single, American Barleywine, & Berliner Weisse

If there’s a beer with a more pleasant smell than Winter Saison, I’ve not come across it. It’s a big whiff of cinnamon sweetness and, while the flavor’s okay, it’s hard to beat that aromatic opening act.

American Barleywine is over 10% ABV but you can’t tell by drinking it, it hides the alcohol well; no burn, no punch, it slips down your throat with ease. American barleywines and double IPAs are considered close relatives in the beer world and this one definitely straddles the line. It’s perhaps a bit under-hopped to be a double IPA but only barely.

In the Juniper Berry Belgian Single, the reverse of Winter Saison is true: the flavor outshines the aroma. Stick your nose in this beer and you’ll shrug your shoulders in a “so what?” manner. Then, give it a sip and your palate is treated to a medley of Belgian spices and fruits. Yes, the juniper beery makes a showing, too, but is most apparent near the end of the taste.

I’ve had a lot of Berliner Weisses in my day, they’re among my favorite styles of beer. Although they’re famously tart, quite a few are lacking in the acidity department. I don’t like that. I like a nice, pucker-inducing Berliner Weisse. Some beer geeks identify themselves as hop heads, I’m a sour head. That’s why I enjoyed Grist’s version so well; it clenches your lips quicker than a Krazy Glue lollipop.

I’m amazed at how diverse two breweries can be when they’re so close in proximity. It’s heartening, too, as it supports a personal crusade I’ve been waging in recent years, a crusade against the false notion of brewery oversaturation. I’ve made many points in support of my stance and I won’t repeat them all but I will say that, if two breweries are different enough, they can be located directly next door to each other and still coexist. In my mind, breweries are no different than restaurants yet nobody’s beating a dead horse over restaurant oversaturation. Why? Because each restaurant offers something a little different from the next one. And so do breweries. So long as there’re not, like, 15 Italian restaurants/Belgian-style breweries in a quarter mile radius, so long as each establishment is at least a little unique when compared to the next one, the market will continue to grow and prosper.

Prost!

Chris