Beer Calendar: Crooked Stave Reopens and Big Beers Fest Hits a Milestone

Briar Common Brewery + Eatery is hosting a monthly series of beer classes that goes into session at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 9, with Yeast Strains: Stages of Fermentation. Each one of these free brewing education classes will last one hour and fifteen minutes and provide an opportunity "to learn about different varieties of not only beer, but various hops and their characteristics, as well as yeast and brewing techniques," Briar Common says. And, of course, there will be tastings.

Each class has limited seatings, so RSVP to Heather Jaeger at [email protected]. The other classes are: Base Versus Speciality Malt Varieties on February 6; Hops and Hop Varieties on March 12; Water — Adjustments to PH and Why on April 9; Historical Beer Styles on May 14; and Recipe Development on June 11.

Keep reading for events into late January.

Wednesday, January 8
Black Shirt Brewing brings back Shadowtackle Multigrain Imperial Porter. Made with several types of wheat, rye and barley, and fermented with a blend of American and English yeasts, the 8.1 percent ABV Shadowtackle "delivers many of the roasty-toasty notes one might expect from a porter, but with a murmur of smoke from an addition of peated malt," Black Shirt says. "And though it may taste like it, neither coffee nor cacao were employed during the brewing process."

Woods Boss Brewing taps Contour Lines New England-Style IPA, a collaboration with the Craft Alley Crowler store and delivery service. The 7.9 percent ABV beer was double-dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Hallertaur Blanc, Tardif De Bourgogne and a little bit of Eldorado hops. The brewery describes Contour Lines as having "rounded citrus with intense candied grape aromatics. Pillow Soft and damn delicious."

Thursday, January 9
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project will reopen its original taproom at 1441 West 46th Avenue with a grand-opening party that also celebrates its ninth anniversary. Redubbed the Friends & Family Taproom, the location will be Crooked Stave's primary taproom, since the brewery exited the Source last year. The party starts at noon, when Crooked Stave will release three new beers in sixteen-ounce cans: Scoville Imperial Stout, at 10.5 percent ABV, brewed with Scotch bonnet peppers, cinnamon and vanilla; Mallow Out Stout, also at 10.5 percent, brewed with marshmallow, cacao and coconut; and Double Nelson double-dry-hopped double India pale ale.

TRVE Brewing releases a beer today that was blended back in April in collaboration with Threes Brewing in Brooklyn, New York. "We decided to play in all of our wheelhouses for this one: sour, hoppy, crisp and complex," TRVE says about the mixed-culture blend, dry-hopped with Mandarina Bavaria hops. It will be available on draft and in canned four-packs to go. The beer will also see limited distribution in Colorado.

The twentieth annual Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival kicks off today at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge. The three-day festival, which specializes in beers over 8 percent ABV, includes numerous seminars, a home-brewing contest, pairing dinners and the main event, the Commercial Tasting, on Saturday, January 11. But this year's festivities will also be highlighted by the return of some twenty former featured brewmasters who are coming back to spread their knowledge and pour beers. They include plenty of well-known Colorado brewers and brewery owners, as well as those from out of state. The town of Breckenridge will also join in the celebration, as a variety of bars, restaurants and breweries are hosting related events. Some of the events are already sold out, but there are still tickets left for the Commercial Tasting and most of the pairing dinners. Tickets range widely in price, depending on the activity. For all the information, go to  bigbeersfestival.com.

Friday, January 10
Seedstock Brewery brings back its award-winning Dusseldorf Alt (Beer Connoisseur named it the third best beer of 2018 and the 34th best beer of all time). Seedstock's altbier is brewed in the Dusseldorf tradition, meaning it's less sweet and more bitter than the more common northern German-style alts. At 5 percent ABV, it has "a clean, malty aroma with a very slight hint of fruitiness. It is assertive in its hop bitterness and balanced by a clean, bready malt character. The long-lasting dry finish makes it a very sessionable beer," the brewery says.

Copper Kettle Brewing releases Snowed In Maple 2020 at noon. The beer, which will be available on tap and in 19.2-ounce cans to go, is the brewery's bourbon barrel-aged imperial oatmeal stout with maple syrup.

Epic Brewing is tapping a whiskey-barrel-aged imperial porter called Big Bad Yankee in collaboration with Yankee Spirits. "Imperial porter, whiskey barrels, coffee, cacao, hazelnuts and vanilla. This is the only place it's available on draft," Epic says. It will also be available in a small number of bombers.

Saturday, January 11
Lowdown Brewery + Kitchen hosts its sixth annual Barrel Aged Beer Festival starting at 11 a.m. The brewery will tap several of its own barrel-aged beers, and for one day only will also tap barrel-aged beers from some of its brewery friends, including Elevation Beer, Ratio Beerworks, Dry Dock Brewing, River North Brewery, Lagunitas Brewing, Baere Brewing, Little Machine Beer and Black Project Spontaneous and Wild Ales. There will be fourteen beers in total, and some will go very quickly. No cover, no tickets.

Our Mutual Friend Brewing releases Pelle Viola, a blend of barrel-aged mixed-culture sour beers with Colorado-grown Primitivo grapes. This 9.6 percent ABV beer will be available on draft, in 750ml bottles, and in a small number of magnums (1500ml).

4 Noses Brewing in Broomfield will release three new barrel-aged beers in bottles starting at 11 a.m. They are Single Barrel Select BMF Imperial Stout aged in a Colorado rye whiskey barrel; Columbian Rum BMF Imperial Stout aged in Colombian rum casks and bottle-conditioned with blackstrap molasses; and Toasted Coconut Bourbon BMF Imperial Stout aged in Colorado bourbon and second-use port barrels.

Friday, January 17
Black Shirt Brewing will host a small fundraiser, Bevvies for Ozzies, to assist the people and animals of Australia as they continue to fight devastating wildfires. "Along with so many of you, we have watched as bushfires continue to ravage the country of Australia, displacing thousands of residents and forever altering the flora and fauna of that region," the brewery says. "As Coloradans, we know all too well the devastation that wildfires can leave in their wake." As such, the brewery will donate $1 from every pour of Safety Greeting IPA to the National Bushfire Disaster Appeal in Australia.

Join Cerebral Brewing for the release of a new IPA called Intentionally Blank. Made with Mosaic in the whirlpool and dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Idaho 7 & Sabro, the 7.2 percent ABV beer has "notes of cedar and candied pineapple," the brewery said. It will on draft and in cans to go. Cerebral will also have fresh cans of Rare Trait, it's flagship 6.4 percent AVB IPA.

Hops & Pie will host a tap takeover by Missouri's Perennial Artisan Ales starting at 11:30 a.m. They will be pouring Abraxas, Vanilla Bean Abraxas, Coffee Abraxas, Long Descent, Sanctuary Fog and Saison Di Lis.

Saturday, January 18
River North Brewery brings Super Stout Saturday back to its Washington Street taproom at noon. A wide variety of the brewery's rich, high-ABV stouts will be available on tap and in bottles. The G Wagon will have food.

Did you miss Ratio Beerworks's first bottle release of 2019 Bourbon Barrel-Aged Coconut Vanilla Genius Wizard Imperial Stout? Well, guess what? It's back. Starting at noon, the brewery is releasing one final batch of this beer in 375ml bottles — although there is only a limited amount; it will also be on draft. BA Genius Wizard "is brewed with copious amounts of base malt, specialty grains with the addition of molasses, then barrel-aged for twelve months to produce subtle sweet vanilla and oak forward flavors," Ratio says.

Cannonball Creek Brewery in Golden hosts a two-day celebration of its seventh anniversary beginning at noon. There will be special tappings, a food truck both days, live music and a photo booth.

Friday, January 24
Hogshead Brewing hosts the 2020 version of Hogshead Days, its celebration of big and dark beers. You'll find everything from a Russian imperial stout to bourbon-barrel-aged old ales, a Baltic porter, a barleywine and numerous English-style cask ales. Hogshead opens at noon.

Platt Park Brewing is finally releasing its two most popular beers in sixteen-ounce cans. Madagascar Dream is a cream ale brewed with Madagascar vanilla — and on nitro. "This beer has been the number-one-selling beer in our tasting room since the day it was released," the brewery says. The second beer is Tropical Snow Dance, a 7.1 percent ABV West Coast IPA brewed with 100 percent mosaic hops and pale malt.

Wednesday, January 29
Stout Month is just two days away, and this year, Mountain Sun Director of Brewing Operations John Fiorilli and his team are hosting an event from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Vine Street Pub so that  you can sample some of the best and unique Mountain Stouts you'll see on tap at all five locations throughout February. "Learn the origins of this stout-rageous style of beer and the history of Stout Month at the Mountain Sun," the company says. There will be seven beer samples along with seven heavy passed appetizers created by Chef Forrest Bayne. Tickets are $50 and extremely limited. Get them at Vine Street Pub (and get a free pint for every ticket purchased).

Send beery information to [email protected].