Best CO Producers by style

On a German beer kick, so I'll throw these in the ring (not an attempt at objectivity or truest style fit, just favorites):

Pils:
1. Bierstadt
2. Zwei
3. Prost

Helles:
1. Bierstadt
2. Wibby
3. Zwei

Dunkel:
1. Wibby
2. Zwei
3. Prost

Schwarz:
1. Zwei
2. New Belgium
3. Wibby

Kolsch:
1. FATE
2. Elevation

Hefeweizen:
1. Prost
2. Dry Dock
3. Butcherknife

Vienna/Amber:
1. Zwei
2. The Post
3. Weldwerks

 

Related to the German thing, I still haven't had a truly great altbier in CO. I know that Little Red Cap has won a ton of awards, but I just don't see it. Prost had a mostly passable one during Bill's tenure, but it still didn't quite do it. Dry Dock had possibly the best one I've had last Summer, but it was only on for a week or two.

We might have Munich (Bierstadt Hell), Hamburg (Bierstadt Pils), and Bamberg (Zwei Pils and Bierstadt Dunkel), but we definitely don't have Duesseldorf. I don't know if we're even in the ballpark on that one.

Koelsch is probably the German style I have the least experience with, so I honestly dunno about that one. I know the one from Steamworks is a good beer, but I dunno if it's akin to something like Frueh or Gaffel. Fate's seems to be well respected, but I've only had the watermelon version.

 

I have trouble with altbier, too. I'm not sure I've ever had an "authentic" one, so it's not about style fit, but something about the Colorado-brewed ones I just can't get behind. The conditioning with the darker malts can get me in to tinny/metallic territory, I think. There was a nice one from Lumpy Ridge, but it tasted more like a low-hoppinness American Amber.

I might be in the minority for the super beer nerds on FATE's kolsch. It can be just a touch sweeter than others, but has that kiss of fruity pomme esters I like in a kolsch. That's my bag with Steamworks - their kolsch is crisp as all get out and hard to distinguish from other light beers. I know the esters are *optional* in a kolsch, but I like them, otherwise I'd have a lager.

Not a fan of the Watermelon Kolsch, but I know the masses love it as the weather warms. Just not my flavor profile. They do a coffee kolsch that is random, but I much prefer it to the coffee IPAs out there.

 

That's spot on with what I usually get. They taste like copper and the nose is off. A friend of mine once described it as smelling like a wet dog and now I can't escape it.
Yet the ones in Dusseldorf don't have that flavor or smell. None of them - including the overly sweet factory brewed ones like Schlosser. Most of them taste almost like an extra dry and hop-forward dunkel.
We don't really get many exports in good shape over here. Uerige exports their sticke and doppelsticke, but those are their own thing. They don't usually send the normal alt, although I do have the Bull & Bush on the lookout for fresh stray kegs. Diebels shows up here and there, but it's older and that's one of the overly sweet factory brewed ones. When they first opened Rhein Haus actually carried Fuechschen, which AFAIK isn't even exported to the US. It's as good as they come. No clue how they pulled that off, but it's not available there anymore.

 

Is it true that the Germans don't even really dig Kolsch? I thought I read that somewhere.


Sidenote to all- Dont ship the Watermelon from Fate unless you want your box to explode en route.

 

That depends. In Köln they love it. It's pretty much the only thing they drink. When a keg is tapped, it tends to keep pouring 8oz glass after 8oz glass until it's empty. You won't find much else to drink there outside of bottles of factory pils.

The trick is, generally speaking, Germans tend to drink their local stuff and playfully shit all over the beers from elsewhere. It's a pride thing and just part of their sense of humor. That can even be the stuff from just a few miles down the road. Köln, Düsseldorf, and Dortmund are all pretty close together, but you won't find them buying beers from the other cities outside of very specialized shops.

In Munich they swear their beers are the best and will insist you don't need to get beers from anywhere else. In Bamberg they'll laugh at that and say the opposite. I think they have a begrudging respect for the beers from other regions, but you have to pry it out of them. I'm speaking very generally, of course, too. There's a bit of a craft movement starting there right now, and it's a little less focused on local pride.

Anyway, that's kind of a roundabout answer of "kinda."

 

This is what I remember reading now. Thanks for the clarity.