Casey Brewing and Blending

Took me about 5 hours today

 

Coming from where?

 

Durango

 

Yeah, I drove both ways earlier this week and it took the same amount of time. It's just a single lane both ways, but it never stopped. Shouldn't be bad. We made it to Aspen in three hours flat.

 

Double points for anyone who can hit tomorrow's Casey release and the Strong Ale Fest at Avery!

 

I am surprised to be the first one to say this, but holy cow what an awesome release yesterday! I was shocked to see a line formed (~60 people) when I arrived at 10:30, but once the doors opened it was smooth sailing. From what I gathered there were a LOT of folks from far out-of-state (I heard Kansas, North Carolina, Georgia) and with some on-site bottles of Leaner available, most people flocked to the bar for pours.

Every single beer available for pours was fantastic, equally great no matter which order they were in. The new batch of Advanced OT was a standout for me, I found it more complex and enjoyable than the first blend. I am also happy to report that the new batch of Balaton Cut is just as amazing as the first, albeit slightly lower in carb (not an issue for me at all).

The biggest surprise of the day was during the "meet the blender portion at the end of the day. It's always a good time with Troy pulling out some bottles that are typically "in-progress" or unreleased, but yesterday, he went a step further and shared bottles of the Side Project version of Leaner. I have never seen that many people left at the end of a release, but it was a still a full house and everyone got a taste. Kudos to Troy for sharing that with us (I believe he said Cory only sent him 3 cases). It was also great hearing about their differences in fruiting technique (Casey Leaner on fruit for 6 weeks with SP fruited for 7 months). Both are incredible beers!

TLDR: awesome release as always, excited as always for the next one. Great hanging out with @aaronyoung01 @ONovoMexicano and @gyoungit as always

 

Completely agree! Had a blast. I was surprised as well to see so many people lined up early. I was fortunate enough to snag another taste of Casey Leaner, which made the SP Leaner experience even more fulfilling. Both are pretty amazing beers, and I'm sad that it's on-site only at SP. That said, I preferred the Casey version - much more fruit forward despite the much shorter period of time on fruit. Shockingly(!), Troy knows how to get the most fruit out of a beer...

Agree as well that Balaton Cut really improved. It was a completely different beer from back in November when it debuted as a sleeper.

Still, my favorite beer of the day was the dry hopped OT. Completely floored by the beer. Mango, cheese, funk, oak, amazingness. I want to cellar my bottles but have no clue how long they'll keep...and its drinking so well right now...

 

Agreed on the Leaner (Casey > SP) but both are absolutely world class beers and I also wish I could snag a bottle of the SP version to do a proper side-by-side.

I've aged a few bottles of the Simcoe/Galaxy as well as the Amarillo DHOT and they both drank very well with some time, but I think I prefer them fresh. You get more of the fruity/floral/spicy hop notes when they're fresh (dry hopped - makes sense) while the funk moves more to the front after a while. It really just depends on your preference.

 

Every single beer we had was excellent. Dry Hopped Oak Theory was my fave. Bailed before all of the Leaner action went down, but the trip down and back was a breeze. In fact, it was probably even a little quicker than a few other trips with the Canyon being totally open.
I swear there has to be some kind of black hole near Idaho Springs. Somehow like 1/2 the traffic disappears and things open up, yet I can't figure out where they went.

 

Go ahead and add California (me & my wife), Utah (some friends I made at the release) and I overheard someone say they came from Austin. Pretty crazy for how far Glenwood Springs is from Denver, only being open once a month, etc. Anyway, I have to agree that the event was great. There was never too long of a wait for pours. They had a lot of folks behind the bar working their tails off and Troy kept thanking everyone for being patient. He said he didn't realize how many people would need hand carts to take cases of beers to their cars so he said he would buy a couple more for the next release. This kind of personal attention to detail is what, IMHO, sets apart breweries like Casey apart from the rest. Casey's beers are excellent and I think this trait of paying attention to details is one of the main reasons his beers are well executed.

Having said that, all the beers were awesome but Dry hopped Oak Theory was straight fire. Hands down the best beer of the day for me. I haven't yet tried Leaner but it's good to know people think it's a slightly better than the SP version.

Anyone try Seasons Past yet?

 

For me the drive up was worse going through Idaho Springs than the 1 lane each way portion (always is). As @Domingo said, it was worse in the summer than it was Saturday nearing Glenwood. I missed out on the Leaner pours by 4 people, such is life. I enjoyed all the pours I got (Balaton cut, Merlot cut, plum preserve, grape preserve) but the one that stuck out to me was the Advanced Oak Theory. I had not had an opportunity to try them in the past and I was not disappointed. The spice and oak from the whiskey barrel was an excellent compliment to the base in my opinion. Nice to see familiar faces as usual. See you guys for the second release in April. I'm always wearing a University of Texas hat, say hello next time.

 

What was the full allocation?

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1707968726084471/

 

I think it's called Winter Park and Mary Jane.

 

This weekend was great! Loads of great beer and good people.
Highlight for me was Reisling as I don't drink wine and was curious to see how it'd play off. Plum CFP was pretty awesome too. The bar keeps getting easier and easier to navigate every time.

Good seeing @FishPondManager . Don't know if anyone else I touched tips with is on here but a great time had by my group, and significantly lighter wallets.

 

Mr. B's just got in a bunch of East Bank (1/6/16). No limit.

 

Small Batch has a bunch too.

 

People seem to sleep on East Bank because the limits are higher and it continues to blow my mind. For anyone who can't regularly make it up to GS especially, East Bank is pretty much the best thing you're gonna pick up in Denver, especially for the cost.

 

Especially this blend. It's the best East Bank hands-down. I love the complexity of it.

 

Although I'm far away, I completely agree. Love East Bank