Since there are no reviews for the place yet and it just opened I wanted to hear what some other BAs thought about this place. Personally I love the design to this place and was quite impressed with the quality of the beer. I really hope they turn the large area behind the building into a beer garden, but so far I was happy with what I saw. Located @ 38th and Pontiac in Denver, I think people should give it a look. Thoughts?
Cool space. Great staff. Thought the session stout was very very good. Their beers are really dialed in for a new brewery. Well worth checking out.
I was here Saturday 12/28 and had two fantastic beers, the IPA and the Belgian Pale. Belgian Pale a dead ringer for my own home-brew belgian-american pale which makes me feel like I'm on the right track! (or it could mean Station 26 are horribly off course but I'm going with the first alternative...) I believe this place is going to be the Denver micro story of 2014. They were very full, and it looked/sounded (from the questions to servers) like a lot of the folks were newbies from Stapleton looking for something new to do, and enjoying it, vs. jaded beer geeks, though no shortage of the latter either, and that crew seemed as happy with what they were drinking as I was...
Great beers overall. The bitter is a hair buttery but the other 6 beers are wonderful. The Belgo/American IPA and Kölsch are great and those are styles I usually don't care for. The 4.1% ABV stout can keep up with beers 2x that strength.
A block from where I work = huge plus. They didn't have any of my style of beer, but they're only a week old, so I can't be too hard on them. The session stout wasn't bad for a session, good roasted malt flavor... for a session. But there's a reason I don't drink session anything, the weakness always comes through. Also tried the IPA #1 and the Bitter. Both leaned towards the citrus/grapefruit flavor with a little bit of a malt backbone. I noticed they all had the same funky aftertaste. Myself and my wife thought the same of every beer: by the time we were done with each style, we didn't want another one. Not that the beer was bad, but it was easy to get tired of. They're brand spanking new so I'll keep my eye on them. If they break into the styles I care for, I'd be happy to go back. BTW, super great staff.
Both my wife and I primarily drink imperial stouts and porters. We of course branch off, but any spot we frequent has to sport at least one solid stout/porter preferably imperial, or even a brown if it leans towards the malty side and not the hoppy side. I wouldn't expect any brewery within it's first week to have every style available, and the selection they did have does represent the overall flavor wheel that is popular in the area. And it sure seemed like everyone was enjoying what they had. I'm sure once they settle in a bit our favorite styles will come around and we'll be back. I did forget to mention I also tried the Cherrywood-Smoked Golden. Overall I liked it, but the smoke was similar to many rauchbiers I've had where it has a Band-Aid-like aftertaste. Again, not my style. Unfortunately, I did miss the Cranberry-Raspberry Kolsch, that one sounded good.
I'm in the opposite camp. The more beers at 6% and under the better. I'm tired of going to breweries only to discover their whole line-up is a 2-beer DUI waiting to happen. Either that or they didn't cover up that 10% ABV as well as they thought and the beers taste like jet fuel. As long as S26 can sort out that New World Bitter (or the lines/care of it) they're going to be fine. With Caution likely scaling back on this side of town, Station 26 will fit in nicely.
FWIW I didn't get a lick of anything off whatsoever on the New World Bitter, and I thought it was a fantastic beer.
If I had to guess, I think the diacetyl issues with that beer were related to the upkeep of it/lines. I've seen that from some of the best beers in the world. On the various review sites I'm only seeing mentions of butter sporadically. I know that both my wife and I left our samples 3/4 full and another guy beside us dumped his.
I fully enjoyed the experience here. VERY cool space, nice staff, and the coffee red IPA firkin was solid.
Great design...nice staff. While I wasn't blown away by most of the brews, the Red IPA was the bomb...reminded me of Renegade Ryteous (Redacted)...I've bought 2 growler refills so far.
I live a few blocks from Station 26, and I've really enjoyed it so far. I've been particularly impressed with their first couple Thursday small batch firkin releases, a Coffee Red IPA and a Red IPA with chipotle chiles and cocoa nibs added. Both were really interesting, unique takes on the Red IPA base, which is pretty delicious beer in and of itself. It seems like they are devoted to doing a lot of interesting experimental releases using high quality ingredients. The owners both seem like pretty cool, chill guys. I have been amazed at the turnout that they have been getting on Thursday nights. It is definitely a welcome addition to the Park Hill/Stapleton neighborhoods. I am really looking forward to hanging out there once the weather warms up and they open up those big firehouse doors with their new patio outside.
I had Station 26's new imperial IPA over the weekend and was quite impressed with it. It was probably my favorite beer release to date from the Station.
I also was a huge fan of their Double IPA. Reminded me a lot of fresh Hoptimum. Full body, bitter as all hell with a floral-passion fruit hop character. I sure hope they keep pumping beers out like this one because it definitely caught my attention.
Yeah, I thought it was a great combination of robust tropical hop flavors. Very impressive stuff from a brewery that has only been open a month.
