On tap at Seven Lakes Station, nebulous pale honey bock brings musky wet-grained Vienna malting to slightly viscous raw honey astringency and spicy hop tingle in relegated manner. Closer to a dewy autumnal ale than a springtime bock. On second passing, raw-honeyed orange souring gained musky black tea rusticity and minty lavender afterglow that’s muskier and sourer than stylishly expected.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, briskly clean-watered farmhouse ale lets tart lemon-soured passionfruit puree seep into creamily frothed crystal malt sugaring with minor acidity. Sunny citrus midst gains light barnyard acridity as well as white-peppered tingle while passive green grape esters, zesty grapefruit juicing and mild gooseberry snag add depth.
Mild Belgian-styled witbier brings stylish coriander-spiced orange peel sweetness to spritzy orange-rotted lemon zest, tidy ginger spicing and wispy floral nuances above cracked wheat spine.
On tap at Growler & Gill, spritzy summer lager brings floral-perfumed lemon zest to the fore above light wood musk. Grapefruit-orange rind bittering stays subtle for crisply clean moderation.
On tap at Seven Lakes Station, blush pink-hued sour ale invites tart cranberry pucker to invitingly dry Kim offshoot. Vinous green grape tannins increase sharp brettanomyces-soured cranberry salting. Limey green apple and oaken cherry illusions deepen its sparkling champagne undercurrent.
On tap at Growler & Gill, heavy coconut-chocolate infusion and milk-sugared vanilla sweetness embellish off-beat hybridized schwarzbier. Usually a tediously nebulous black lager style never as worthily profound as a permier porter-stout, Singlecut’s heightened schwarz proves to be one step ahead of the dull pack in terms of distinct flavor profiling. Its coconut-chocolate-vanilla aspirations invite lovely gingerbread, sarsaparilla, cinnamon and toffee illusions to join the malt-roasted party. “A unique spin” on a German black beer. In the can, sweet coconut-chocolate enclave receives dryer Black Patent malt bittering, coffee-dried nut char and cocoa powdered chalking.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, serenely tropical hazy New England-styled pale ale (with IPA roots) offers brisk lemony grapefruit zesting, mild mandarin orange tartness and lactic yogurt souring to oats-sugared pale malts, retaining low resinous hop bittering. Subsidiary peach, mango, honeydew and pineapple illusions increase its irresistible fruited tropicalia.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, briskly clean wheated pale ale spreads light citrus spicing across grassy hop astringency, dry pale malting and slight barnyard acridity. Polite Citra-hopped tingle pervades lemony clementine, navel orange and tangerine tang as well as mild orange pith bittering above wheat cracker base in highly sessionable manner.
On tap at Beef Trust, tequila-wooded coffee liqueur sweetness enriches milk-sugared cocoa fudginess for Regular Coffee variant. Homemade coffee syrup deepens caramel latte, crème de cacao and mocha meringue illusions while tequila-like agave nectar adds further sweetness.
Dry lemony floral perfuming gains honeysuckled coriander spicing and light hibiscus sweetness to contrast resinous Noble hop herbage, leaving a prickled citrus sparkle on the tongue.
BRECKENRIDGE, COLORADO
At the foothills of Breckenridge in the quaint tan-hued Quandry Center mini mall, BROKEN COMPASS BREWING COMPANY was founded in 2014. Serving wide-ranging homemade brews with lots of cool flavor designs and profile depth, this unassuming pub will please a varied array of brewhounds.
At the front-windowed TV, several rock videos play while I venture towards the eighteen-seat, L-shaped, white pine bar on a cold March ’19 evening. Railroad tie wood and corrugated aluminum furnish the casual one-room outpost. Four community tables provide extra seating and a colorful black-boarded menu offers today’s selections. Dried hops hang from the wood trellis bar top and a few Broken Compass insignias fill the walls. In the rear, large silver brew tanks provide the sassy suds.
For starters, musky oats-dried lightweight, Czech Pilsner, brought spritzy lemon rot to biscuity pilsner malting.
Lemon-sugared ginger leaf guided Ginger Pale Ale as herbal ginger-rooted black tea dryness countered its sweet frontage.
Dewy peat mustiness seeped into caramel-spiced apple skin and brown pear for stylish moderation, Irish Red Ale. Its lovely barrel-aged version retained subtle bourbon-whiskey sweetness, subdued apple-bruised pear syruping and mild peaty dewiness to infiltrate its brown-sugared caramel spicing.
Mildly rye-spiced Red Hop Rye-Demption had a fig-dried granola likeness and tamped-down hop bittering.
Rummy Grand Marnier-like Scottish Wee Heavy went beyond its stylish intentions as bruised orange, caramelized raisin, apricot and cantaloupe cut across its dewy meadow.
Easygoing Azacca Smash IPA placed mango-skinned lemon zest and mandarin orange tartness alongside grassy hop astringency, relegating its dry pale malt spine.
Evergreen-fresh Snow Blind Double IPA let pineapple-juiced grapefruit, orange and tangerine tanginess receive honeyed floral sweetness and mild herbal nuances.
Hybridized peach liqueur barrel-aged Belgian Strong Ale received mildly sour green grape acidity to contrast its peachy sweetness.
Blackberry pureed Nitro Blackberry gained medicinal cherry coughdrop syruping to graze wispy blueberry-boysenberry tartness above peaty earthniess.
Though mellow on the tongue, daring Chili Pepper Pale Ale connected green chili, cerrano, pablano and habanero peppering to dry pale malts, leaving only a light burn.
Dry Tall Ship Foreign Export Stout let raw molasses drip into dark chocolate and dark-roast coffee tones above earthen nuttiness.
Mallomar bar-like Coconut Porter brought chocolate-coated marshmallow sweetness to toasted coconut sugaring, picking up latent almond, pecan and hazelnut illusions.
Aged for one year in bourbon barrels, Imperial Bourbon Brown Ale loaded creamy vanilla sweetness cocoa upon coconut-toasted macadamia, almond and pecan illusions.
www.brokencompassbrewing.com
SILVERTHORNE, COLORADO
At the foothills of Silverthorne inside a reasonably large freestanding building a mere three miles west of Bakers Brewery, highly respected ANGRY JAMES BREWERY opened for biz January 26, 2018. Residing in the nondescript semi-industrial area just off Route 70, this glorified cafe features modern wood-designed furnishings, a 12-seat concrete-lacquered bar and enclosed side deck with gas fire pit.
The partnered Cultivate Kitchen serves a limited smattering of ‘off beet local eats’ from veggie lovers plates to bison chili dogs to complement the delightful homemade suds crafted by entrepreneurial couple AJ and Darcy Brinckerhoff. Two electronic blackboards list the beers currently on hand and two TV’s keep sports fans at bay.
My wife and I plus long-time friend Dennis take seats at one of the community tables near the side-decked overhead door to consume all ten brews on hand this sunny March ’19 afternoon.
Easygoing sugary pale-malted opener, Jake’s Pils, gained a musky wet-grained herbal hop pungency to contrast its caramelized lager yeast setting.
Just a tad beyond typical German pale ale styling, efficiently light-bodied Bavarian Blonde utilized gooseberry-soured, tangerine-sweetened Mandarina hops to engage its dry cereal-grained bottom.
Candi-sugared Belgian blonde, Pali Wog Pale Ale, stayed dryer than stylistically expected as herbaceous white-peppered spicing saddled lemon meringue tartness, lemon rind bittering and lemon-candied sugaring, gaining tertiary banana, peach and green apple illusions as well as possible sage-thyme passages.
Sour lemon-drop candy draped phenol banana-clove soaping above creamed wheat flouring of moderate Alpen Weisse, a dryer stylistic take on a German-styled hefeweizen.
Dry Imperial Red Ale, The Emperor’s Red Robe, sufficed with its dewy moss sweetness contrasting resinous pine tones alongside sweet orange-spiced grape juicing before mild sarsaparilla bark adds tea-like residue.
Straight-ahead Terrifica Double IPA brought tangy citrus spicing to mild piney juniper bittering and sticky pine resin.
Briskly vibrant grapefruit-peeled orange juicing enlivened Tricentric IPA, bringing light caramel spicing to the fore as spritzy lemon, tangerine and tangelo undertones flutter.
Sinewy honeyed Scotch malts and dewy rye breading inundated Norwegian Farmhouse, an offbeat saison with mild green grape esters and orange-lemon liqueur enticement gaining a briny vodka snip.
Creamily soft-toned Two Tone Footer Stout – Nitro let cinnamon-toasted coconut sweetness and dark chocolate malting rub up against Graham Cracker-like wheat sugaring, changing the complexion of the richer, carbonated, coffee beaned Two Tone Footer.
At nearby competitor Bakers Brewery, sipped serene wheat wine, Gin-U-Wine, a unique ginger-spiced hybrid with mild juniper berry bittering skewing its lemon-peeled grains of paradise tartness and pine-needled lavender and rosehips illusions.
angryjamesbrewing.com