Favorite Colorado Lagers!

@ManBearPat
Cerebral has a regular Baltic porter called Nordic noir on shelves now. Grabbed a few, haven't tried em yet, but I know you're on the lookout for the style.

 

Hey all. Gonna be in Breckenridge this weekend and will need to pick up some good lagers for the house. What should I be looking for at the store?

 

Bierstadt, cerebral, trve all come to mind.

 

Does bierstadt distribute to stores? Like 4-packs and stuff?

 

Yes, they distribute to local liquor stores. I've found cans of slow Pour, pils, dunkel, and most of their one off brews around Denver.

 

Bierstadt distributes to some stores, but not all of 'em. If you're heading to Breckenridge you're probably going to be driving almost right by Bierstadt's location. It's a 5-minute detour off I70 and you can pre-pay for cans on their website so you can get in and out quickly.

Bierstadt is THE lager brewery in CO, so that's the easiest recommendation. If that isn't an option, Basecamp liquors in Frisco should carry Pug Ryan and Prost lagers in cans. Frisco is right beside Breck and you'll almost certainly be passing through it at some point.

 

We both forgot wibby. Don't forget wibby!

 

True, although I don't love all their offerings. That Volksbier is absolutely killer, though.

 

Awesome, thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I’ll be coming in before Bierstadt opens tomorrow and going straight to Breck, so won’t be able to pop in.

To recap, I’m looking for Bierstadt, but if I can’t find it, get Prost, Wibby, or Pug Ryan?

 

Yup. Those are the cans I'd been on the hunt for. On I70 you're going to pass through Idaho Springs. That's where Tommyknocker and Westbound and Down are located. Westbound has an "Italian Pilsner" (yes, typing that makes me cringe a bit) that is absolutely killer if you want something hoppier. They have cans to go and you might spot more at Basecamp in Frisco. Outer Range is literally across the parking lot from Basecamp. They don't specialize in lagers, but they typically have one available in cans most of the time. They have some of the best hazy IPA's anywhere, though. There are some other good breweries in that area that don't package (Baker's, Highside, Angry James), but they might be selling crowlers or small batch cans.

 

Not really adding anything new as Bierstadt #1 followed by probably Wibby and Prost make a good Top 3 for "readily available" lagers to me as well. But depending on how wide of a survey you want to have with canned/bottled offerings you should look for Cerebral, TRVE, 4Noses/Wild Provisions, Grimm, Crooked Stave, and Upslope lagers as well. All of these have been routinely cited in this thread for good reason.

Too bad Zwei or Casey lagers won't be available in stores because those are among the best in the state as well.

 

I think we'll eventually see Casey cans showing up outside of Glenwood Springs (and EF member pickups), but probably not for a little while. I know he's proud of those and they are truly damn good. Troy has been making lagers at a high level for a while now. I think AC Golden got going in 2009'ish.

 

I went to Fritz Family Brewers in Niwot back in October. They had a great pilsner and several other lagers. I'd definitely go back

 

Fritz is definitely on my short list of places I want to visit. Niwot feels like it might as well be Utah, though.

 

The foeder brewed lagers from Cerebral are fire. Especially cryptic message.

 

100% agree. Also really enjoying Tactical Maneuver.

 

Strange Gateways black lager from trve is a Coffee and chocolate bomb. Digging it

 

Looks like Odell is releasing a new year-round lager called Lagerado. Appears poised to replace the old Colorado Lager, which I personally loved and even had a keg of at my wedding. I dunno the story behind Lagerado and wonder if it's just a rebrand? Kinda hoping so.

 

@ManBearPat
I stopped in to get some dunkel at bierstadt and was informed they have a Baltic porter dropping next week. Just sayin. The employee I spoke with laughed when I double checked and I was reassured there would be no flavoring added.