Procuring German beers for Cicerone course book

What are the highlights and checks? Are those ones you still need to find?

You could find most of these in Denver at Argonaut, Mile High Wine & Spirits, and some on draft at Wurstkuche and Bull and Bush.

 

Does Uerige still send the normal Alt over here? I've only ever seen the Sticke and Doppelsticke. In Germany it's nearly the opposite.
Anyway, you might have better luck finding the one from Diebels.
The others can be had (in varying levels of freshness) in the places Josh mentioned.

 

Check with Jacob...

 

For Vienna Lager, Snake River Lager is an excellent example.

 

If you can wait a month or so when Bierstadt opens in Denver, I'm sure Bill will brew some of those

 

Brings me to the point that the list is only a recommended list.

 

You could attempt trading for these. Since they are most likely on the shelf it probably only require some of your fresh local beer to get it done. You are welcome to PM me and I would trade whatever I could find for your local stuff.

 

Having been a German beer fan for a long time, the issue usually isn't finding the beers but finding versions that aren't really old. While the stronger bocks hold up rather well for a while, the more subtle styles tend to be less than ideal in most instances.
Bierstadt will probably be a better bet for most of those, although I'm not sure if they plan to brew "Obergäriges Lagerbier" (top fermenting lager/ale hybrids) like Koelsch and Alt or just normal lagers.
I guess we'll find out in a few months. Bill's old alt is one of the few I've had that tastes at least pretty close to the ones in Germany. Grimm's Little Red Cap won a GABF gold, but tastes very different...at least IMO.

 

@Domingo where around Denver have you found has the freshest/best selection of German beers?

 

Since most bottles are dated, you can typically scan the bottles at most stores to find out how old the beer is. Some have the bottling date, while others have a “best by” date. They usually use 1-year from bottling as the best by target, so keep that in mind.

Grapevine and Mile High are a good as any. Lukas has a lot, but they’re all on a warm shelf…so be careful if they’re dated from a long time ago. Cooper’s in Glenwood recently had Mahr’s U dated from 6-weeks ago, which is phenomenal. Josh mentioned the Bull & Bush, which is actually a great option. Admittedly sometimes they leave them on waaaay too long, but when they tap a fresh keg that’s as close as it gets to Bavaria or Duesseldorf. They usually keep Uerige Sticke or Doppelsticke on rotation. I honestly don't think the normal alt is exported, but maybe I'm wrong about that.
An oddball is Wilbur’s in Ft. Collins. I’ve seen stuff from Spezial there, which is VERY rare over here. I haven’t seen it lately, though.
One thing to keep in mind, and it really bugs me. Avoid Augustiner. Whoever distros for them does a piss poor job and I have yet to buy an Edelstoff that isn't skunked/old in Denver. In my distant trading days I actually had a guy in Philly that would send me their bottles, which were nearly Munich-fresh.