Opinions on Jagged Mountain

Really enjoyed Jagged Mountain the one time I went there, could see them becoming one of my favorite spots in Denver eventually. Only went once and that was a few months ago, but with the owner's brewing experience, I doubt you could go wrong.

 

I like their IPA and their location. That's as far as I'll go.

 

Not a fan of Jagged Mountain personally and have given them a few chances. I guess I'll try again in the future, but much better breweries IMO!

 

I have faith in Wayne (huge fan of Bell's and Kuhnhenn), but honestly it's kind of dwindling. It's a great location, and I haven't completely written them off. I really hope his barrel aging process yields better results than the lineup that was on last time we were in.

 

NEED MORE BARREL AGED BEER....

Last couple times I've been in there they didn't have any of their higher octane stuff on tap, and if that's their bread & butter they need more of it. (Not just a firkin that's gone in a day or two)

I know due to the length of time needed they put out a lot of beers aged with oak spirals instead of barrels to speed it up (when they opened), but once they start making bigger batches using full barrels, they should find a sweet spot.

They also won't do a growler (and sounds like no plans of bottling) of their higher ABV beers which is going to hurt them in the end, if they can't serve their best beers on anything other than draft.

 

I thought Genghis Khan was stellar. First Descent was real good, but I'm really waiting for their BA version.
The rest weren't really my style. I didn't dislike anything, but nothing else worked for me.
After trying the GK, this is where their strength is as far as my preferences go. A 13+ ABV RIS that tasted like it was only around 8%. It was spot on.

 

On our visit they had 3 different beers labeled as "session" and they were all clearly brewed using the same methodology as a session IPA.
Had a Lasso 5 minutes later for the sake of comparison and it was like drinking Pliny.

 

Whoa... that can't be good news for JM.. cuz Lasso isn't even that good... to me at least...

 

I'd go so far as to say Lasso is my favorite beer that is labeled as a session IPA. Does that mean much? Probably not.

 

Yea... agreed... it is a style I just cannot get into... the best one I've had is the Stone Go To... but that says very little cuz I don't drink them often...

 

Went there back around opening and found nothing very stellar. I remember liking a black IPA? I'm a sucker for those though. Also JM seems to be completely void of any public anything - festivals, street parties, events, nothing. They're just on a corner... in Ballpark/LoDo... and they make average beer.

 

Have to agree with Kramer. Lasso is not a very good "session IPA," whatever that is. It does not even come close to Easy Jack or Stone Go-To, which are both readily available.

On another note, I went to Jagged Mountain on opening weekend and was not very impressed. The Spearhead saison was about the only decent beer I had. I returned again about 3 weeks ago and was letdown again. Despite its location I don't see myself returning here anytime soon, if at all.

 

I thought it was better than average the one time I went. Seems like I had a very nice IPA, also something on the border between hoppy APA and IPA, maybe even a bit better, but can't remember the names. This was right after they opened and I remember thinking some other places have had first-batch issues but these seemed competent. I liked the room and the location seems fine to me.

That I haven't been back may say something but I think it's less a criticism of JM than the fact that so many other places have opened. One weekend Former Future, two weekends Station 26, another weekend (3x actually) Comrade, one weekend up to Boulder for Sanitas, plus all the older ones, Renegade, Black Shirt, Crooked Stave, Dry Dock, sheesh, Epic where we have a friend working...there just isn't enough time for even an enthusiast to give all these places their due. Plus the beer bars, it's been two months since I've been in Freshcraft though I have made it to Euclid 2-3x in that span, but I've got friends/former Uptown Brothers working in there.

 

I always felt like kind of a shithead in that I lived right by Uptown Brothers, at 14th and Pearl, and I went there maybe twice ever. Dumb move, me.

 

I actually can't stand either of those. I think the only reason I like Lasso is because it's the one session IPA that has any malt character. All of the other just taste like hoppy water...and I'll forever proclaim to anyone who'll listen that Hazed & Infused beats 'em all handily and is only 0.3% ABV stronger.

Anyway, supposedly Jagged Mountain's best offerings are their big beers and they didn't have any when I went. The stuff they did have was so-so enough to make a second trip tough to justify. Especially with Comrade being fairly close to my house.

 

Oh Comrade. I wanna sing your praises from the mountain tops!

 

Seriously I was back there this past weekend (Comrade)... their IPA has to be one of, if not the best in Denver...