Deep Ellum Festivus - Revisited

Deep Ellum Festivus is a black IPA.  Last time I tried this beer, I equated it to being the love child between a porter and a scotch ale.  This years beer was very different.  It was totally a black IPA.  It had a huge floral hop nose and a nice hop flavor.  The roasted malts came through to help balance the hops.  It was served in this years Flying Saucer Christmas glass.  Notice how one side is upside down, so when you hang it up by the stem, it is right side up :)

Inventory

Y'all already know how much I love porters, stouts, and, well, just about any dark beer (possible exception here - a black IPA...but I'm open).  We're currently beer fridge-less, and there are so many of these wonderfully delicious beers in our possession, they're beginning to take over.  

So Joe had the brilliant idea of getting a cooler, filling it up with some of the beers from the crispers and upper shelves, and putting it out on the balcony.  It's about 22 degrees here in Denver today...I think they'll be comfortably chilled!

Anyway, while we were rearranging, I decided to take a quick inventory.  We have 68 beers - almost all bombers; here's what we have:

brewer - name - style (number) (status, if noted)

8 Wired Brewing – Ø is for Awesome – Imperial Amber Ale


Alaskan – Smoked Porter – American Porter (2)

Allagash – Four – Quad (Belgian) (2) (retired)

Allagash – Victor – Belgian Strong Pale Ale

Back Country – Peak One Porter – American Porter

Bear Republic – Black Stout – Imperial Stout

Breckenridge – 72 Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout – Milk /Sweet Stout (2)

Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V. – Witches Brew - Tripel

Clown Shoes – Eagle Claw Fist – America Amber

Crabtree – Oatmeal Stout – Oatmeal Stout (2)

Crooked Line – Cockeyed Cooper – Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine

Dogfish Head – Fort – Belgian Style Fruit Beer

Firestone Walker – Wookey Jack – Black Rye IPA

Fort Collins – Incredible Hop – Imperial India Pale Ale

Harpoon – 100 Barrel Series Island Creek Oyster Stout – English Stout (retired)

Hoppin’ Frog – Barrel Aged BORIS – Russian Imperial Stout

Jester King – Black Metal Imperial Stout – Russian Imperial Stout

Jester King – Le Petit Prince - Saison

Jester King/Mikkeller – Drink'in the Sunbelt – American Pale Wheat

Lakefront – Pumpkin Lager – Fruit Beer (2)

Left Hand – Black Jack Porter – English Porter (6)

Mikkeller – Big Worse – American Barley Wine

Odell – Friek – American Wild Ale

Odell – Pond Hopper Double Extra Pale Ale – Imperial IPA

Ommegang – Gnomegang – Belgian Strong Pale Ale

Paradox – Heralded Nocturnes – Apple Harvest Saison

Saint Arnold – 2011 Pumpkinator – Imperial Stout (3) (retired)

Saint Arnold – 2012 Pumpkinator – Imperial Stout (3)

Sam Adams – 13th Hour Stout – Belgian Dark Ale

Sam Adams – Griffin’s Bow – American Barley Wine

Sam Adams – New World Tripel – Tripel

Santa Fe – Imperial Java Stout – Imperial Stout

Santa Fe – Kickin’ Chicken – Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Wine

Shipyard – Smashed Pumpkin – Pumpkin Ale

Twisted Pine – Ghost Face Killah – Chili Beer

Twisted Pine – Imperial Hoppy Knight – American Strong Ale (2)

Unibroue – Grand Reserve 17 – Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Upslope – Christmas Ale – Belgian Strong Dark Ale (2)

Weltenburger Kloster – Asam Bock – Doppelbock

Weltenburger Kloster – Hefe Weissbier Dunkel – Dunkelweisse

Widmer – SXNW – American Strong Ale

Wynkoop – B3K – Schwarz Bier (11)

Parade of Darks

One of our favorite local brewpubs, Wynkoop Brewery (also a pretty good restaurant) hosted a beer festival this past weekend featuring a parade of dark beers. Here's a list of breweries that participated and some tasting notes for your reading pleasure.


Arvada Beer Co.
Jolly Holiday Ale - a tasty, winter spice-driven ale. Delicious. Especially when combined with Twisted Pine's Pearl Street Porter...you know I love chemistry!
Foreign to Me Stout - big, bold, Guinness-esq.

Avery Brewing
The Czar
Old Jubilation
Out of Bounds Stout - big coffee flavor without too much alcohol (a favorite component of Avery)

AC Golden
Blueberry Sour - Joe tried this and made a face
Plum Sour - a girl in front of us commented "That's just nasty!" as she dumped the remainder of her tasting glass into the spit bucket.

Bootstrap Brewing
Worthog Stout - a little on the light side with not much to it.
Boomer Brown - Joe had this one and liked it

Boulevard Brewing
Bully! Porter - I've had this one before...a very nice, robust porter
Dark Truth Stout - deep plums, prunes, dark fruit, warm alcohol...sneaks up on you

Breckenridge Brewery
Oatmeal Stout - their BBQ joint makes their sauce out of this stuff...sooooo gooooood
Vanilla Porter - I have a hard/fast rule about this beer: Never. Never in the bottle. Never.
Extra ESB
Christmas Ale - a lovely little beverage...good caramel-y brown ale

Bull & Bush
Big Ben Brown Ale - a fine exemplar of the style
Stonehenge Stout - I got a huge taste of briquette from this...ick.
Punk Up The Yams - a tasty seasonal warmer
The Legend Of The Liquid Brain - I had such high hopes for this, but it was more like taking medicine...Ack.
Captain Funk
Captain Midnight

Caution Brewing
Toaster Bat Black Smoked Porter - it tasted like someone shaved a lump of coal into the vats...no thanks
Dunkel(er)Weiss - sweet malty dunkel. yum!

Copper Kettle
Mexican Chocolate Stout - like Mexican Hot Chocolate in a beer. Please, sir, may I have some more?
Pumpkin Porter - lovely, spicy pumpkin porter...not much of a kick, but good

Denver Beer Co. (editor's note: I don't really like many of their beers)
Graham Cracker Porter - while it sounds really good, it's not much to write home about.
Chill Out Chocolate Chili Stout - they just try too hard...hot, but no flavor

Dry Dock Brewing (we visited their tasting room on Friday and had their Roasted Marshmallow Sweet Potato Stout...hard to top.)
Wee Heavy Strong Scotch Ale
Raspberry Porter

Elevation Brewing
Apis - a quad made with caramelized Colorado honey. good god.
Lil Mo Porter - another fairly lightweight porter

Firestone Walker
Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout - smooth, creamy, yummy...very well done
Walker's Reserve Porter - full of toffee and bittersweet chocolate
DBA - double barrel aged barley wine

Fort Collins Brewery
Double Chocolate Stout - had it before, and I had it again. Rockin'!

Great Divide
Yeti Imperial Stout - Big. Big. Stout
Espresso Oak Aged Yeti
Claymore Scotch Ale
Hibernation

Green Flash
Double Stout - meh

Grimm Brothers Brewing
Master Thief German Porter - too hoppy for me, but Joe liked it
Fearless Youth Dunkel
Riffraff Dunkleweisse

Jolly Pumpkin
Bam Noir - an uber lightweight dark farmhouse ale...tasted more cocoa powder than yummy chocolate notes.

Left Hand (love this stuff)
Fade to Black
Milk Stout

Lone Tree Brewing
Acres O Green Irish Red
Toots' Full-bodied Oatmeal Stout - darn good oatmeal stout, but I've had better
Chili Beer Collaboration #2
Old #99 Rauchbier

Lost Abbey
Judgment Day

Maui Brewing
Coconut Porter - Joe loves this porter...me, not so much...I'm not big on coconut

Mountain Sun Brewery & Pub
Megatron Imperial Stout - Joe liked this one...big hop finish
Oatimus Prime Imperial Stout - this is one of those better oatmeal stouts!

Odell Brewing
Mountain Standard
Isolation Ale

Ommegang
Three Philosophers - ahhh, the classics!

Port Brewing
Old Viscosity - motor oil pour, cold coffee...wow

Prost Brewing
Doppelbach - a fine exemplar of the style
Dunkel

Pug Ryan's
Brain-teaser Barleywine
Barrel-Aged Leap Year Trifecta

Sierra Nevada
Narwhal Imperial Stout - overpowering alcohol...rubbing alcohol
Wine Barrel Aged Dubbel

Ska
Steel Toe Stout - big fat-bottomed stout, tasty, but kind of a nothing finish
Nefarious Ten Pin - love this beer - dark rich flavors, nice alcohol touch
On The Sly Again

Strange Brewing
Pumpkin Porter - the best pumpkin of the bunch on this day
Cherry Bomb Stout - I liked it, but I wanted a piece of chocolate to go with it
Gingerbread Man - loads, loads and loads of ginger...dare I say, too much?
Vanilla Rum Porter - now you're talking my language

Twisted Pine
Espresso Stout
Honey Brown
Pearl Street Porter - this is the one that mixes nicely with Arvada's Holiday Ale

Upslope Brewing
Christmas Ale - one of my favorites - currently in my fridge
Brown Ale - their flagship ale

Wynkoop Brewing
Gingerbread Stout
2012 Barleywine
Cowtown Milk Stout
B3K Black Lager
Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout - yes, it's brewed with rocky mountain oysters - and, yes, it's very, very good.
Colorojo Double Red

I love a parade!