Celebrating the season with brews - #lakewoodnews

The holidays offer a lot of fun experiences -- the sight of extravagant light displays, smells of roasts and freshly baked pies and the warm feeling of joy when surrounded by friends and family.However, along with that, comes some stress -- long lines, crowds of people shopping for the perfect gift, the hustle-and-bustle of attending and planning holiday parties.But across the Denver-metro area, breweries and brew shops are offering an opportunity to slow down and enjoy a locally-crafted wintertime brew.Colorado Native WinterfestGlenn Knippenberg, president and cofounder of AC Golden Brewing Company, starts receiving emails and phone calls in September about the availability of Colorado Native Winterfest."It's got a unique style," said Jeff Nickel, AC Golden's head brewer. "Winterfest is an all-around good food-pairing beer. It stands up particularly well to hearty meat dishes and also pairs well with chocolate."Winterfest is a traditional Bock-style beer. It is made with Moravian two-row pale and chocolate malts, which create a sweet, toasted malt and biscuit flavor, Nickel said. "As a lager, it's smooth and balanced."Colorado Native Winterfest can be purchased in liquor stores or enjoyed at some bars, restaurants and other establishments across the state.But once it's gone, it's gone, Nickel said.Winterfest is not brewed in mass quantity. It is usually released in October, and AC Golden tries to make enough to last through December.Coors broke ground as a big brewery when it started Winterfest in 1984, Knippenberg said. However, Coors discontinued it in 2008. But AC Golden Brewing Company -- a subsidiary of the now MillerCoors company -- wanted to keep the tradition going, and took the brand that same year, Knippenberg said. Then, in 2015, AC Golden started sourcing all the ingredients for Winterfest from Colorado."That made it eligible to be Colorado Native," Knippenberg said. "We decided things are better if they're local."Nothing from out-of-state goes into any of the Colorado Native beers, he said, and Colorado Native is not available in any other state."It's Colorado's beer," Knippenberg said.Salted Caramel Baltic PorterThe Salted Caramel Baltic Porter of Parker's Elk Mountain Brewing will give people a "nice, warm feeling when it's cold outside," brewer Shannon Madruga said.And it will even appeal to those who don't prefer dark beer, she added.Baltic porters are lagers. Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine describes them as typically including "a lot of roasted character, chocolaty notes and hints of coffee and creaminess."The Salted Caramel Baltic Porter will have those big, robust flavors, Madruga said, but also a little bit of sweetness. The recipe uses kosher salt and caramel.It was brewed on Nov. 16 at Elk Mountain Brewing and has been fermenting since. Beer is on its own schedule, Madruga said, so the release date is unset, but people should expect it sometime before Christmas.The idea behind the Salted Caramel Baltic Porter originated through a contest. Five employees came up with festive, cold-weather beer recipes, which were then posted on Facebook for people to vote on. The Salted Caramel Baltic Porter was the winner.It will be the first time the brewery has made Salted Caramel Baltic Porter, but not the first time that the brewery, which has been open for 6 1/2 years, has tried something new."We like to make it interesting," Madruga said. "It's always really fun to do something new."Snowball Express Winter AleKokopelli Beer Company's head brewer Rick Holt has a passion for trains, snow and a winter's night storm. Thus, the Westminster brew pub's Snowball Express Winter Ale was developed.It captures "the serenity of the holiday season, all in one pint pour," Holt said.This is the second year Kokopelli has brewed the ale. It was released on Dec. 5 to celebrate Christine Wares' birthday -- she's Kokopelli's owner. The winter ale will be available until March 1, unless it runs out beforehand.People will most enjoy the aroma and its warming sensation, Holt said.The Snowball Express is dark, poured with a nice, creamy head, similar to hot cocoa, Holt said. The recipe includes Belgian Monastery yeast, which accents the aroma with a semi-sweet fruity nose and just a hint of banana bread."The full body mouthfeel provides a smooth texture, finishing with a nice winter warming that helps the chills on a long, dark winter's eve," Holt said.Tom's Brew ShopHomebrewing is a popular hobby all year round, said Tom Schurmann, owner of Tom's Brew Shop in Lakewood.But people especially love to brew in the winter, he said. "It's truly a cold-weather hobby."The most obvious reason, Schurmann said, could be because people don't want to spend hours over a hot stove in the hot summer months. He notes that his sales decrease slightly in the peak of summer.But other than that, people probably enjoy brewing in the winter because it's an extremely social hobby, Schurmann said."It's something that pulls people together," he said.Stouts are popular this time of the year, and so are spiced holiday ales, Schurmann said.The shop in Lakewood caters to craft brewers from beginner to experienced, and carries everything a person would need -- starter kits; equipment for the entire process, from brewing to kegging and bottling to cleaning; and all the ingredients, such as extracts, hops, yeast and several hundred styles of grain, for example."Brew shops helped get a lot of the big-name brewers going," Schurmann said.Employees at the shops answered their questions, taught and trained them and helped them develop their first recipes, he added.But it's a hobby for all."The whole thing about craft brewing is the craft," Schurmann said. "It's an ancient craft that people are enjoying once again."

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Celebrating-the-season-with-brews,240395