2016 GABF | Must-Attend GABF Events
WELCOME TO GABF WEEK 2016! Time to skull some coldies! We have been updating our events calendar for the last few weeks and we realize that it is quite daunting planning out your GABF week. That’s why we are here. I say we because I usually update the calendar solo style but this year we have added Jeremy Cornelius to the Denver Beer Beat team. We have a lot going on in the calendar (we have compiled some 300 plus events!) but have highlighted some of our favorite events to help narrow down the field.
Shut up and just take me to the Full Calendar now
We’ll keep updating the GABF Events Guide throughout the next week as we hear of other developments. Be sure to check in every day for new updates to the GABF Events Guide. If you are a brewery and have any other events to report please e-mail us at cory {at} porchdrinking {dot} com and we’ll add you to our list.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep in-the-know on all things GABF! Also stay tuned over the next few days as PorchDrinking will be updating our exclusive list 2016 GABF Pour List.
Navigating such a long list of festivities can be tricky. So, whether you got tickets for the floor or you are just flying by the seat of your pants around town, there are so many beers and so little time. Plan accordingly.
What events will you make it to this week?! Here are some of the events we are most stoked for:
Saturday, October 1
11am – Fourth Anniversary Celebration @ Black Shirt Brewing – The party continues over at Black Shirt Brewing just off of the A-Line from DIA. Stop by and enjoy some tunes, and some delicious brews. They’ll be tapping variations of their 4th Anniversary Quad (nitro, w/ Huckleberry coffee, and with chili and chocolate) throughout the weekend
1pm – The 11th Annual Falling Rock Fresh Hop Festival @ Golden Bell Press – This event showcases a medley of fresh hopped beers created by breweries from across the country. The majority of beers will come from the greater Colorado area, but some out-of-state guests will grace us with their presence as well!
2pm – Gratitude 2016 @ Our Mutual Friend – Every year (the Saturday before GABF) Our Mutual Friend takes the opportunity to celebrate you! To show their appreciation, they will have $4 standard and $5 special release pours all day! Over 20 beers on tap! At least 6 bottle releases (including Gratitude 3 sour ale)! Food trucks! Music! Giveaways! No ticket required.
Sunday, October 2
10am – Sour Sunday @ Backcountry Pizza and Tap House (Boulder) – SOUR HEADS, this is for you! They will be tapping 55 sour beers as well as having some bottle pours available.
Monday, October 3
5pm – Stone + First Draft Collab Release @ First Draft Taproom & Kitchen – Come try this one-of-a-kind beer at First Draft starting Monday during GABF week. They’ll also be tapping Stone Barrel-Aged Brown Ale with Balaton Sour Cherries and Stone Cali-Belgique aged in Tequila Barrels!
5pm – GABF – Week Kickoff Party @ Falling Rock Tap House – Falling Rock Tap House is the official kickoff party every year and this year will be no different.
6pm – Great Divide GABF Welcome Party @ Avanti F&B – Avanti F&B and Great Divide Brewing Co host a welcome party for GABF! Did someone say 2014 Oak-Aged Yeti?! Yes please!
Tuesday, October 4
4pm – Great American Bark Festival @ Romero’s K9 Club & Tap House (Lafayette) – Join Romero’s K9 Club & Tap House as they celebrate the week of the Great American Beer Festival in the blossoming beer destination that they call home in Lafayette.
5pm – Odd13 Brewing Showcase @ First Draft Taproom & Kitchen – First Draft Taproom & Kitchen is getting the GABF party started early with some great offerings from Odd13 Brewing! The Odd13 crew will be in the house with giveaways as well.
5:30pm – GABF Gems of CSA Distributing @ Barrels & Bottles (Golden) – GABF pre-game Tap Takeover with Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project. Melvin Brewing, Almanac Beer Co, Fremont Brewing, Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery, Bell’s Brewery and Jester King Brewery!!!
5:30pm – Beers Made By Walking @ Denver Museum of Nature & Science – Beers Made By Walking invites brewers to go on nature hikes and create new beers inspired by foraged ingredients identified on the trail. Each beer is a unique, drinkable portrait of the landscape. We’ve got the full initial pour list now!
6pm – What the Funk!? Invitational @ EXDO Event Center – Sponsored by Denver-based brewery Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project and Shelton Brothers, this festival features numerous breweries from across the United States and around the World making some of the best barrel-aged libations.
7:05pm – Burial Beer Tap Takeover @ TRVE Brewing – Help TRVE Brewing welcome their like-minded friends from Burial Beer Co. to Colorado with their first takeover in their taproom’s history. Beers are bound to go quick!
6pm – New Belgium Early-Week GABF Kickoff Party @ Avanti F&B – Avanti F&B and New Belgium host a GABF kickoff party for the ages! Giveaways include a pair of GABF tickets for Saturday night!
7pm – Brasserie St. James Tap Takeover @ Alamo Drafthouse (Littleton) – Join the Glass Half Full Bar at Alamo Drafthouse (Littleton) and PorchDrinking.com (that’s us) on October 4th for a tap takeover with Brasserie Saint James!
Wednesday, October 5
11:30am – CSA Portfolio Tasting @ Hops & Pie – 20 of the hardest hitting breweries in CSA’s Portfolio (and H&P’s blackbook) hit the tapwall for a mouthgasm unprecedented.
12pm – Barrel Aged Mexican Achromatic Bottle Release @ Weldwerks Brewing (Greeley) – BAMA is an Imperial Stout brewed with cacao nibs, cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans, aged in Breckenridge Distillery bourbon barrels.
3pm – Beerliner & Chill: Brewers Health Initiative @ 14th and Stout Street – Come enjoy great Texas craft beer during our open hours. $10 daily wristband gets you access to some of Texas’s top craft beers!
4pm – Jester King, Fonta Flora, Scratch Happy Hour @ The Way Back – Farm to table, meet top shelf artisan ales. Come Happy Hour at The Way Back with Jester King Brewery, Scratch Brewing Company & Fonta Flora Brewery in the Denver Highlands this #gabf.
5pm – Specialty Tappings @ el Camino Community Tavern – Join el Camino Community Tavern along with Ratio Beerworks, TRVE, Wicked Weed, Creature Comforts, Crooked Stave, La Cumbre, New Belgium, 4 Noses, and more for a most excellent tap takeover! Don’t sleep on the tacos or queso. You’ll thank me later. GABFuckYeah!
6pm – Renegade Brewing Presents Offensively Delicious 2016 @ McNichols Building – Offensively Delicious is a celebration of the craft and personality behind the beer industry. Laugh the night away with 10 breweries and 4 comedians.
6:30pm – Brett Pack Dinner @ Avery Brewing (Boulder) – During this 5-course meal, all five brewers will present two beers to be paired with each course (for a total of 10 beers). Adam Avery – Avery Brewing Co, Rob Tod – Allagash Brewing Co, Sam Calagione – Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Tomme Arthur – Lost Abbey Brewing Co and Vinnie Cilurzo – Russian River Brewing will all be on hand.
7pm – Beerdrinker of the Year 2016 @ Wynkoop Brewing – Time to battle it out for the 18th Annual Beer Drinker of The Year! Three contestants from across the country will be ready to prove their craft beer prowess.
8:30pm – Breast Friends @ Hi-Dive – Join TRVE Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, Burial Beer Co. and Revolution Brewing for a night of pre-GABF fun. These four Breast Friend breweries have teamed up for a tap takeover and punk rock / metal music showcase featuring Cloud Catcher, Space In Time, Major Sports, and Cheap Perfume all benefiting Keep A Breast Foundation! Skull some coldies for boobies!
Thursday, October 6
3pm – The Catalina Wine Mixer @ Call to Arms Brewing – In honor of Great American Beer Festival week, CTA formally invites you to the First Annual Catalina Wine Mixer at Call to Arms Brewing Company. They’ve decided to celebrate the weekend dedicated to the craft beer industry by putting 5 of their Wine Barrel-Aged beers on tap, all at once.
4pm – GABF Week: Casey Brewing and Blending @ Freshcraft – On Draft: Raspberry Fruit Stand, The Cut: Balaton Cherry, The Cut: Danube Cherry, The Cut: The Red (Cherry Blend), The Cut: Apricot and Casey Family Preserve: Apricot. If you don’t know, now you do.
4pm – A Sour Celebration @ Jake’s Brew Bar (Littleton) – Just look at the taplist. You will thank us.
5pm – Three Floyds Night @ Lowdown Brewery + Kitchen – Three Muthafuggin’ Floyds is in the house. Rip the roof off of Lowdown! Lowdown will have all of their own craft beer plus four offerings from Three Floyds!
7pm – Fourth Annual 50 Firkin Fiasco @ Epic Brewing (Denver Taproom) – 50 unique firkins for your enjoyment as you wander through the brewery to sample all of them.
10pm – Dogfish Head 120 Minute After Party with Sam Calagione @ Avanti F&B – Sam will be on site PLUS there will be 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2016 iterations of 120 Minute IPA – this is a big beer that ages extremely well. You’re in for a real treat here!
10pm – New Belgium GABF After Party @ Star Bar – New Belgium Tappings Include: Whiskey Barrel-Aged Fat Tire, NBB Love Blackberry Oscar, NBB Love Apple Felix, Peach Wheat Wine, Tart Lychee, RockStar
Friday, October 7
11:30am – GABF Week Tapping: Casey Brewing & Blending and Cascade Brewing @ Hops & Pie – What these two breweries do with an oak barrel is beyond my comprehension. Try them out for yourself. Buy by the glass or get a flight! Either way, don’t sleep on these brews!
12pm – **SOLD OUT** Denver Rare Beer Tasting VIII @ McNichols Civic Center Building – The Denver Rare Beer Tasting VIII features the chance to sample rare, exotic and vintage beers from some of America’s top craft breweries and the opportunity to meet the men and women who made them.
12pm – Kenny Lagers 2016 @ Star Bar – Easy drinking beers with New Belgium Brewing before the Friday Night GABF session. Yacht Attire is highly encouraged!
5pm – Beer Dinner with Our Mutual Friend & Odd13 Brewing @ To The Wind Bistro – $79 for some of the best food and beer you have had in a long, long time.
6pm – The Curiosity Ball 2016 @ Star Bar– Calling all GABF folks! There is a really cool event happening on Oct 7th at Star Bar with Creature Comforts and all of their friends they have collaborated with since opening including Other Half Brewing Company, Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co, 7venth Sun Brewing, Wicked Weed Brewing & Jester King Brewery!
8pm – Great Divide & Jameson Whiskey Present Levitt Pavilion Denver Live! @ Summit Music Hall – Levitt Pavilion Denver Live! with Jameson Irish Whiskey and Great Divide Brewing Co. present a special evening of music, drinks, and food!
10pm – Fruit Brews Luau with Ratio Beerworks & New Belgium @ Illegal Pete’s Colfax – New Belgium & Ratio Beerworks are coming together with Illegal Pete’s for a fun night of fruit beers, Hawaiian shirts, coconut bras, and grass skirts!
Saturday, October 8
8am – GABF Week: Breakfast with The Bruery @ Freshcraft – Join The Bruery’s CEO & Founder Patrick Rue, along with several of other staff members for breakfast and special beers from both their sour and non-sour breweries.
11am – CiderGrass 2016 @ Stem Ciders – Join Stem Ciders for the first reincarnation of the Stem Ciders Harvest Party, now known as CiderGrass! Just in time for all of the GABF fallout . . . a break from beer and a celebration of CIDER!
11am – GABF Cellar Bottle Sale @ River North Brewery – River North Brewery’s annual rare bottle sale will take place Saturday of GABF. Full bottle list TBA, but look for only a few bottles of some of the specialties shown above!
12pm – Woody on the Block with Deschutes Brewery @ Appaloosa Grill – Appaloosa Grill and Deschutes Brewery are proud to present Woody on the Block, a day of live music and rare reserve beers.
4pm – Bottlefest 2016 Sponsored by Tavour @ First Draft Taproom & Kitchen – Bottlelist includes: Casey Brewing & Blending, Cantillon, Jester King, Avery, Tilquin, Drie Fonteinen, Hill Farmstead, Paradox Beer Co, The Bruery, Lawson’s, Westbrook, and much much more!
9pm – Karaoke After-Party @ Ratio Beerworks – Everyone is welcome join the party, but if you bring your brewers badge and sign up to sing a song, your first beer is on us. Additonally, we’ll be tapping some serious heat during the party, to put the kabosh on a massive weekend.
Sunday, October 9
11am – Hangover Party Celebrating Avanti’s Brunch Cocktails @ Avanti F&B – Anyone up for some bloody mary’s and mimosa-juice after the long GABF week?! I know I will be ready for that.
11am – October Bluegrass Brunch @ Station 26 Brewing – Wrap up GABF weekend in style with Station 26 beer, live music from Burn it Blue, donuts from Glazed and Confuzed Doughnuts, and barbecue from Turn-In BBQ. Free admission.
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