Well, I was going to try and conjure up a wildly creative first blog post but I decided that I would answer the questions that my counterpart posed. I, of course, will do so in a much funnier and interesting fashion.
1) Why are you attempting this crazy, drunken project of trying every brewery in Colorado?
This project to me was about a couple of different things, explained in no real order, just what comes to me first.
1. There are a few really great things that this life has to offer. These include (but are not limited to) food, friends, sex, traveling, and booze (I like that I have a list within a list that is within a list). To deny yourself any of these great things is criminal in my opinion. The sheer joy that these simple things bring to life makes all the tedious day-to-day crap that one has to put up with bearable. I will never in my life understand people that say things to me like "Going to another country scares me", or "I will never try (insert food that has not been "Americanized")." While it is cliche, variety is the spice of life, along with Lowery's seasoning salt. This little adventure will give me the chance to do all of these things (except the sex... unless I get him really drunk) with one the best and funniest people I have ever known. I will get to travel around Colorado, which for those who are uneducated, is the greatest part of our fair country. I will get to eat at different places, stay in cheap motels or in a tent, and most importantly, I will get to drink all the bounty of beers that Colorado has to offer and see if they live up to my preexisting bias that the New Belgium Brewery is the single greatest place on this planet. Which is a lovely segue to point, the second.
2. I loves me some New Belgium beers. As with J, I grew up in Fort Collins. To give you an example of how great a town Fort Collins is and how great New Belgium beer is, I am about 98% sure that had Jesus thought about it, he would have had the sense to be born in Fort Collins and would have flipped the three wise men the bird when they brought their frankincense and myrrh and told them to get him a 1554 (this being ironic in that they were currently in the year 1 and 1554 would not come around for another... many years). Later on on in life he would have performed one of his first miracles by converting water into Fat Tire. In my home, I have an extensive collection of New Belgium shirts, hats, posters, beer signs, scarves, lip balm, bottle openers, decals, thong underwear, lube, etc. What I am hoping to discover, is a place within this fair state that can even give New Belgium a run for their money. If I find even one place like that in Colorado, I will be amazed but I will be happy that I get to expand on my wardrobe.
2) What's your goal here?
Well, I kinda already answered this question J. Way to go Captain Redundant. You always say the same thing over and over, just reiterating the same tired thought, it's like you can't stop repeating yourself in a manor that expresses your original point.
I will make something else up. I guess another goal is to do something that I will remember for the rest of my life. Something that I can look back on and remember fondly when I am burdened with the pressures of children, work, marriage, dementia, and dementia. I may be romanticizing this a bit, but I get the feeling on the start of this that this could turn into a magical moment in my life. Even if it does not turn out how I expected, the feeling I have now is worth it all the way. It's wonderful to be at a point in my life when I can embark on something like this and I plan on embracing it. Even the dreaded trip to the middle of South Eastern Colorado (the forgotten zone) to hit the one lone brewery there.
3) Favorite beer?
While I fully support J and his selection of the St. Bernardus Prior 8, my favorite beer has to be the 1554 from New Belgium. Like many foolish kids in their late teens to early 20's, I secretly only really liked lighter beers that had little flavor. Outwardly I would profess my love for darker and more "manly" beers like Guiness or other porters or stouts. In reality, I never really enjoyed those until I tried 1554 for the first time. It is a wonderfully complex Enlightened Black Ale that weighs in at 5.6% ABV. It was the first beer where I sought out the different aromas and flavors that it offered. It opened my eyes to all the things that beer had to offer besides the pleasant feeling I got after drinking 8 or 9 of them.
4) Since I already answered my favorite Colorado beer, I will subject myself to potential humiliation by listing some of my guilty pleasures when it comes to beer. Let me say though, almost all beer has something to offer. To me, beer snobs are like any other snob. Be it music, wine, cars, culture, etc. Pull your head out of your ass and just enjoy life. That being said, even I feel a bit guilty about enjoying some of these.
1. Coors Light. I loooove drinking this on a hot summer day or when I am out doing something like golfing.
2. Red Beers. The combination of tomato juice and beer. Sounds gross and worthy of scorn. I dig it.
3. The occasional Pabst Blue Ribbon. While I am fully aware that this is the go-to beer for hipsters. I do not enjoy this beer on an ironic level. In fact, most of the time I don't enjoy it at all. But now and then, I have one and then quickly consume several more. Then I go back to (correctly) hating it.
So there you have it. A small peek into my mind that is often swimming in carbonated malt beverages. I hope you enjoy this blog. If others have undertaken a similar journey, let us know so we can read about your trip and subsequently mock it with how much better ours will be.
Two men set out to try beers at every brewery in Colorado, the new Napa Valley for beers. Will they succeed? Will they interest you to try some microbreweries? Will they get in a fist-fight in the street when they've had one too many? To find the answer to these questions and more, stay tuned!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Jason's Profile
This blog has two authors, Jason and Caleb. Here is the profile of the first.
1) Why are you attempting this crazy, drunken project of trying every brewery in Colorado?
I grew up in Fort Collins. I was still in elementary school when New Belguim and O'Dells were really getting their start. When I turned 21, I was already hooked on Fat Tire and rarely ventured beyond drinking local, tried and true beers. When I moved overseas for a few years, I began to realize how fortunate I was to grow up in the heart of American microbrewing at a time that the entire beer industry was changing. I got a chance to try beers that were brewed outside of Fort Collins. Some were excellent, some were barely more than cat piss in a glass. Whether they were good or bad, I always felt a longing for the beers of home. When I made the decision to move myself and my family permanently, I felt that one way to really connect with Colorado was to try to visit all of the breweries here. I love Colorado and I love beer, so what better way to reacquaint myself with my roots than to drink every beer I could in Colorado?
2) What's your goal here?
My goals are twofold. First, I want to share with people the joy of microbrewing. I may be an amateur beer drinker (in that no one has ever paid me to drink beer), but I think that microbrews are really the future of beer. However, whenever I go into a store to buy beer, I'm overwhelmed by choice. Do I want a stout, a pilsner? Is this IPA any good or does it taste like dead skunk? The only way to figure that out it to try all I can. Second, I'm trying to reconnect with the things that I've really enjoyed of my life in Colorado. It's much more than friends and family. There is a genuine warmth exhibited by people in this state that I really want to experience. I want to see the beauty of this state with my best friend. Also, if I get him drunk enough, Caleb might be up for a little pinch and tickle, if you know what I mean.
3) Favorite beer?
Without a doubt, my favorite beer in the world is St. Bernardus Prior 8. It's a Belgian abbey ale that takes all the magic of stouts and brown ales and combines them into a nutty, caramely, 8% ABV nectar that is irresistible. Too bad it's a thousand dollars an ounce.
4) Favorite Colorado beer?
As I've said, I grew up in Fort Collins along with New Belgium, and so my favorite Colorado beer has to be Fat Tire, though the Sunshine Wheat in the can may be the best summer beer possible.
1) Why are you attempting this crazy, drunken project of trying every brewery in Colorado?
I grew up in Fort Collins. I was still in elementary school when New Belguim and O'Dells were really getting their start. When I turned 21, I was already hooked on Fat Tire and rarely ventured beyond drinking local, tried and true beers. When I moved overseas for a few years, I began to realize how fortunate I was to grow up in the heart of American microbrewing at a time that the entire beer industry was changing. I got a chance to try beers that were brewed outside of Fort Collins. Some were excellent, some were barely more than cat piss in a glass. Whether they were good or bad, I always felt a longing for the beers of home. When I made the decision to move myself and my family permanently, I felt that one way to really connect with Colorado was to try to visit all of the breweries here. I love Colorado and I love beer, so what better way to reacquaint myself with my roots than to drink every beer I could in Colorado?
2) What's your goal here?
My goals are twofold. First, I want to share with people the joy of microbrewing. I may be an amateur beer drinker (in that no one has ever paid me to drink beer), but I think that microbrews are really the future of beer. However, whenever I go into a store to buy beer, I'm overwhelmed by choice. Do I want a stout, a pilsner? Is this IPA any good or does it taste like dead skunk? The only way to figure that out it to try all I can. Second, I'm trying to reconnect with the things that I've really enjoyed of my life in Colorado. It's much more than friends and family. There is a genuine warmth exhibited by people in this state that I really want to experience. I want to see the beauty of this state with my best friend. Also, if I get him drunk enough, Caleb might be up for a little pinch and tickle, if you know what I mean.
3) Favorite beer?
Without a doubt, my favorite beer in the world is St. Bernardus Prior 8. It's a Belgian abbey ale that takes all the magic of stouts and brown ales and combines them into a nutty, caramely, 8% ABV nectar that is irresistible. Too bad it's a thousand dollars an ounce.
4) Favorite Colorado beer?
As I've said, I grew up in Fort Collins along with New Belgium, and so my favorite Colorado beer has to be Fat Tire, though the Sunshine Wheat in the can may be the best summer beer possible.
The First Post
The first post on a blog always has the most pressure. It's a good thing that I'm drunk, because that really makes me not stress out about what I need to write in this damn thing. I guess the first thing to do is tell you all what this blog is and will be about. Caleb and Jason, the two authors, have made it their mission to visit every brewery in Colorado. Why? First, because we both believe, deep down, that Colorado totally kicks ass, and we want to have an excuse to explore the state that we grew up in. Second, because beer also kicks ass. There is little in this world that most people agree on, but one of those things is beer. This ambrosia has been around since ancient Egypt, and is a regular part of the life of most people in the world. In the United States in the last decade or so, Colorado has become the center of a microbrewing revolution. As of this post, Colorado is home to 142 breweries.
Long gone are the days of Americans drinking horse piss and calling it beer. We're experimenting with international recipes that have been around for a thousand years or more, twisting and blending hops and malt, wheat and fruit, to make some of the best beer ever created. And we're doing so because we're tired of drinking swill and calling it beer. Since Caleb and Jason were young, small breweries have been cropping up nationwide that all have their own dreams of the perfect beer and a distinctive way to get there. No place exemplifies this beer revolution more than Colorado.
Sure, we both grew up here, but this state really feels like the center of a beer movement. The first Colorado microbreweries opened up about 20 years ago, and have been leading the pack in brewing ever since. They have changed the landscape of beer. No longer do you have to walk into a liquor store and choose the lesser of evils among watery, bitter, 3.2% pilsners. You can walk into a liquor store nearly anywhere in the US and find ales, loggers, stouts and wiesens brewed within 50 miles of the store. You can see a renewed emphasis on American ingenuity and quality, a pride in craftsmanship that we've always been taught should be present in everything American made.
We, the authors of this blog, are trying to sample a slice of this revolution. We're trying to visit the brewers that are leading this change in American consciousness. We want to find that pride in the final product and send time touring the most beautiful state in the union as we do it. And we want to share that journey with you.
So come along with us. Pour yourself a beer and snuggle up to your computer. We're about to take you on a journey of all the best and worst that Colorado beer has to offer. Hopefully, we'll learn something along the way. Or we may just get drunk, who knows?
Long gone are the days of Americans drinking horse piss and calling it beer. We're experimenting with international recipes that have been around for a thousand years or more, twisting and blending hops and malt, wheat and fruit, to make some of the best beer ever created. And we're doing so because we're tired of drinking swill and calling it beer. Since Caleb and Jason were young, small breweries have been cropping up nationwide that all have their own dreams of the perfect beer and a distinctive way to get there. No place exemplifies this beer revolution more than Colorado.
Sure, we both grew up here, but this state really feels like the center of a beer movement. The first Colorado microbreweries opened up about 20 years ago, and have been leading the pack in brewing ever since. They have changed the landscape of beer. No longer do you have to walk into a liquor store and choose the lesser of evils among watery, bitter, 3.2% pilsners. You can walk into a liquor store nearly anywhere in the US and find ales, loggers, stouts and wiesens brewed within 50 miles of the store. You can see a renewed emphasis on American ingenuity and quality, a pride in craftsmanship that we've always been taught should be present in everything American made.
We, the authors of this blog, are trying to sample a slice of this revolution. We're trying to visit the brewers that are leading this change in American consciousness. We want to find that pride in the final product and send time touring the most beautiful state in the union as we do it. And we want to share that journey with you.
So come along with us. Pour yourself a beer and snuggle up to your computer. We're about to take you on a journey of all the best and worst that Colorado beer has to offer. Hopefully, we'll learn something along the way. Or we may just get drunk, who knows?
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