Favorite Colorado Lagers!

It was mentioned once earlier, but the Green Mountain Maibock is REALLY tasty.

That being said, having 2 of these out on the patio of a beer bar in the warm evening air for the first time in over a year was certainly a "force multiplier..."

 

I picked up a 4-pack of the Bierstadt dark Czech lager week, and had one last night. Holy shit, it is good! It has so much flavor, and is so drinkable. I liked the Wild Provisions version a lot, but this is better. I should have had one for breakfast.

 

And I'll say that one good result of the pandemic was the fact that Bierstadt was forced to get off their asses and package their beers. It is nice to find them at my local stores with regularity.

 

Amazing, isn't it!!

 

Wild Provisions has, from what I can tell, quickly become primarily a second location for 4 Noses. I thought the Czech beers were going to be their flagships, but they seem to come fewer and far between. Big disappointment.

 

I think the hesitation with Bierstadt canning is QC throughout the distro/sale process. To tighten that up takes lots of pennies and different biz model. BUT, I have cans of Bierstadt in my 3-door beer fride, so....

 

Dry Dock's Franconian Lager is now available in cans: https://www.westword.com/restaurants/colorado-beer-next-level-lagers-to-drink-right-now-11970400
It's inspired by New Glarus' Two Women...which was in turn inspired by the rich (but chuggable) amber'ish lagers of Franconia. If you're looking for a reference point, it's kinda similar to what most people call a Vienna. I've had it in crowlers a couple times and it's really good. Looking forward to snagging some cans for the weekend.

 

The Wibby Volksbier (which is a Vienna of sorts) is now all over the Denver metro area. It won a GABF gold and apparently got a perfect score from Wine Enthusiast...which I guess is a super rare big deal. I haven't tried it yet, but those are some pretty lofty accomplishments!

 

I grabbed a 6-pack at Davidson's during my lunch break, so I'm eager to try it. Their stuff has always been really well made, even when their flavor profile doesn't match my personal tastes. If we have the best Vienna around in our backyard, I can't not support it. I'm also curious to compare it to DD's Franconian, too. It leans in a similar direction.

 

Isn't Wibby in Longmont? Are you trying to annex an area that's still part of the Denver Metro Area?

 

@ManBearPat hoards all the good stuff. I think he and I stole Fremont from Washington as well so there's that.

 

I actually forgot all about them. Go figure. Their beers never make it down here anymore, so out of sight, out of mind I guess.

Anyway, I tried the Wibby last night and it IS really good. Very toasty on the back end. Ft. Collins Brewery use to have a similar toasty note with their amber lagers back in the day. Odell Lager has a tiny bit of that flavor profile, too. Occasionally Paulaner and H-P Oktoberfests (the burnt orange ones) do too. I'm a fan of that note, and it's not in very many beers. It's definitely the Wibby beer that speaks to my tastes the most and it's one I hope sticks around long term.

 

Yeah, the Wibby is really good. Along a similar line, I got a sixer of Ska's Mexican Logger, and it was toasty and tasty as hell. I need to find more.

 

Continuing with this theme, Upslope has a new (I think) Mexican dark lager in sixers right now. Haven't had it, but I'm definitely intrigued.

 

I'm generally a fan of Upslope...although oddly not their craft lager, which is pretty "meh."
Still, I'll almost certainly give their dark Mexican lager a go. Anything comparable to Negra Modelo is automatically on my radar.

The whole concept makes me sad that Del Norte is no longer around. Their entire business model would be the coolest thing in Colorado...if they hadn't tried it 13 years too soon. It's like someone went back in time and told their younger self to make Mexican-style lagers, but they forgot to tell them when.