It’s almost Colorado Craft Beer Week so it’s time to get that liver-piece primed up and ready to go. Please follow along as we showcase the not-to-miss events in this week’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat including the first part of Colorado Craft Beer Week, some more beer releases, beer dinners and other brewcentric badassery in the Denver Metro area. Yeahbud!

While I divulge in great specificity (well, mostly, depending on how much info a brother can get); all events are subject to change. So it’s always good to follow up with your favorite craft brewery, delicatessen and brewpub through social media and to check back with PorchDrinking.com for updates on all things craft beer!

Wednesday, March 19

River North Brewery (Denver) – The RNB folks are tapping J. Marie Barreled & Bretted for Wayward Wednesday. We suggest you get down there with the quickness; this won’t last too long.

Thursday, March 20

TRVE Brewing (Denver) – Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers! Every first and third Thursday at TRVE, enjoy amazing beer & killer tunes by El Brian & KrisWolf!

Friday, March 21

Avery Brewing Co (Boulder) – Coming up this Friday at 5pm is the annual release of Avery’s Samael’s Oak Aged Ale. This is one big ABV brew, typically weighing in over 15% ABV. Avery will have this year’s plus several vintages from their cellar of every single year Samael’s were made. Adam Avery loves drinking wine and wanted to create a beer that captured the intensity of flavor, the wood aromatics, and the vanilla notes of Madeira, one of his favorites. So in 2006, Avery brewed a big English-style barleywine and aged it for 4 months with toasted and raw oak to get those desired aromas and flavors. Grab a bottle for now and a few to lay down in the cellar.

The Fort Collins Brewery (Ft. Collins) – To celebrate the seasonal release of their Maibock, FCB introduces a Goat Cheese-Making Class & Maibock Pairing Dinner set for Friday, March 21st. The cheese-making class starts at 5:30pm and the 2-course dinner will begin at 7:00pm in the FCB Community Room. RSVP by calling The Fort Collins Brewery at (970) 472-1499 or email rsvp[at]fortcollinsbrewery.com. Cost is $35 for just the class or $75 for both class and dinner. FCB’s seasonal Maibock is now available from March through June.

Start of Colorado Craft Beer Week!!!!

Now under the direction of the Colorado Brewers Guild, Colorado Craft Beer Week is a nine-day celebration of Colorado’s craft brewers, pubs and restaurants. Dozens of events will showcase brewers and educate beer lovers about Colorado’s unique craft beer community.

Twisted Pine Brewing (Boulder) – Special Small Batch Tapping! They’ll be tapping a keg of a different, limited quantity, small batch beer each and every day during CCBW (sometimes more than 1!).  Each day’s keg will be tapped when they open; you might want to make it a lunch date so you don’t miss out!  They’ll keep the full lineup under wraps, for now, but check their Facebook page during craft beer week for specific details. Stay twisted, Colorado!

Grimm Brothers (Loveland) – Celebrate Colorado Craft Beer Week in Loveland with a Little Red Cap beer run puzzle.

Pick up a playing card at Grimm Brothers Brewhouse 623 Denver Ave. Loveland, Colorado.
Order any Grimm Brothers beer at the following 9 locations. At each location you’ll receive one piece of the puzzle (remember to ask your server):
Monroe’s Lounge, Old Chicago’s, Miller’s Crossing, Henry’s, Pourhouse, Next Door Food & Drink, The Wapiti Pub, Sports Station and Grimm Brothers.
Be one of the first 50 people to turn in a completed puzzle to Grimm Brothers taproom staff and receive:
A Grimm logo pint glass (1 per person)
A free draft beer
Certificate for a can of Little Red Cap on April 12th
Then join us on April 12th at Grimm Brothers for the release of Little Red Cap in cans!

Lowry Beer Garden (Denver) – Colorado Tap Invasion! In celebration of Colorado Craft Beer Week, the Lowry Beer Garden has teamed up with Epic and Odell to feature some of their best beers in a partial tap takeover.  From March 21 through March 30, each brewery will feature four different beers.
Epic Brewing: BlueSki Lager, Escape to Colorado IPA, Copper Cone Pale Ale, Utah Sage Saison
Odell Brewing: Wolf Picker, 90 Shilling Ale, Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout, Runoff Red IPA
During the week, the Beer Garden will also offer two special beer brats- one infused with Utah Sage Saison and one with Runoff Red IPA.

A representative from Odell Brewing will be on hand Friday, March 21 and from Epic Brewing on Friday, March 28 with giveaways.

Epic Brewing (Denver) – A week long fundraiser! Drink up, friends!  All week long, Epic Brewing will be donating $.25 per pint sold in the tap room of our much-loved Escape to Colorado IPA to the Colorado Brewers Guild. Raise a glass to the CBG for all the work they do for Colorado’s craft breweries. The folks at Epic wouldn’t maintain such a moniker without being the epitome of its namesake . . . So they are bringing the party for the first day of CCBW.

Join them for Four Firkin Friday! If you haven’t had an Epic firkin yet, you are in for a real treat!  They’ll be tapping 4 firkins at 4pm. Get a flight of all four or a full pour of any one of them for only $5. Every penny from this will once again benefit the Colorado Brewers Guild.
Firkins include:
Sour Apple Saison with fresh ginger
Santa Cruz Brown with Novo Cascara (coffee cherry)
Escape to Colorado IPA dry hopped with Amarillo
825 State Stout with coconut

Saturday, March 22

Dulce Vida (Denver) – Dulce Vida Grand Opening and Craft Beer Week Kickoff Party!
Dulce Vida is the Golden Triangles newest bar and restaurant.  They will be featuring Ska, Left Hand, Bristol, Funkwerks, Upslope and River North Brewing on our 6 tap draft trailer in addition to our 16 taps at the main bar!!! Join us starting at 12pm at 1201 Cherokee St.

Lone Tree Brewing Company (Lonetree) – Halfte Oktoberfest! CO Craft Beer week starts March 21st and it is halfway to Oktoberfest, make this a perfect reason to bring out their Weisen-style Oktoberfest again! Join Lone Tree Brewing Company for Halfte Oktoberfest March 22nd…bring in your ‘mas’ and help us kick off this amazing week in style. El Toro the Tot will be on site with delicious food! Prost!

Epic Brewing (Denver) – Beer School! Epic Brewing’s brewer Brian Arnold will be hosting an educational bit on beer tasting, styles and proper glassware. From 1pm – 2pm, Brian will walk you through beer tasting and complete sensory analysis. The one hour session will also include a short discussion of beer styles, storing/cellaring beer and which styles are appropriate for cellaring. Participants are encouraged to try out their new sensory knowledge in the tap room afterwards with one of our suggested flights or even a build-your-own flight from our 25 taps. Admission $5, space limited to 40 participants. Admission price is donated directly to the Colorado Brewers Guild.

Collaboration Festival (Curtis Hotel, Denver) – On March 22nd, Imbibe and the Colorado Brewers Guild have teamed up to throw the first ever Collaboration Festival, the headline event of Colorado Craft Beer Week! As one of the four Lovibond Series events, Collaboration Festival will showcase the release of over 20 Colorado collaboration beers, all being unveiled at the event! Each beer featured at Collaboration Festival will be created by at least one Colorado Brewers Guild member, with other participating breweries coming from near and far. The other breweries will be from both in and out of state and some collaboration brews involve more than 5 breweries! The out-of-state brewery involvement is an exciting first for Colorado Craft Beer week.

More collaboration brews are being added but the current collaboration list includes:
Avery and Russian River
Barrels & Bottles and Golden City
Big Choice and Caution
Black Fox and TRVE
Bootstrap and Eddyline
Boulder and Sanitas
Cannonball Creek and 12 Degree
Caution and Copper Kettle
Denver Beer Co and Upslope
Dry Dock and Steamworks
Echo and Front Range
Echo and Right Brain (MI)
Epic and Elevation
FATE and Mission (SD)
FATE, Bru and Wild Woods
Former Future and Station 26
Front Range and Denver Pearl
Great Divide and Crooked Stave
Hogshead and Crooked Stave
Montain Sun Former Brewer Collaboration, Breck, Cannonball Creek, Durango, Jagged Mountain, Eddyline, Mountain Sun, Telluride, Iron Springs (CA), Moo Brew (Tasmania)
Odell and New Belgium
OMF and Wild Woods
Oskar Blues and La Cumbre
Oskar Blues and Shamrock
Oskar Blues and St. Archer
Pagosa Springs and RockYard
Pugs, Dillion Dam, Breck and Backcountry – Summit County Collaboration
Renegade, Wit’s End, Strange, TRVE, Black Sky, Breckenridge
River North and TRVE
Rockslide, Kannah Creek and Palisade
Ska and Nynashamns Angbryggeri
Southern Colorado Collaboration: Pikes Peak, Bristol, Phantom Canyon
Telluride Brewing and Marble Brewing
Trinity and Black Bottle
Twisted Pine and Swamp Head
Wild Woods and Echo
Wynkoop and Wonderland

Monday, March 23

Epic Brewing (Denver) – Hangover Breakfast: Burritos, coffee and draft specials! Join Big Kiwi Eats at Epic Brewing Company from 10am to 12pm for a hangover curing breakfast the morning after Collaboration Fest! Big Kiwi will be offering up a variety of breakfast burritos including animal-free options. $1 off drafts with the purchase of a burrito. Other beverage options will include the famous Utah Sage Saison Bloody Mary, Brainless Golden Beer-mosa and just some straight up coffee, ’cause you know you need it! Novo will be here doing pour over coffee.

Station 26 Brewing (Denver) – Join Station 26 in the taproom for their first Bluegrass Brunch! They’re kicking things off at 11am with music from the Hayward Strangers and donuts from Glazed & Confuzed. They’re also releasing a Coffee Vanilla Porter just for the occasion!

Tuesday, March 24

Stapleton Taphouse (Denver) – Join the Brewers from the Wynkoop Brewing Company as they visit the Stapleton Tap House to tap their Barrel-Aged Barleywine from 6pm – 10pm. This special English-style Barleywine was aged for a year in old whiskey barrels, and has flavors of figs, fruitcake, raisins, and tobacco. The Stapleton Tap House is always a great place to experience Colorado’s Craft Beers, with 30 limited distribution Colorado breweries on tap every day.

Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (Denver) – They will be tapping specialty blends and rare kegs from their Barrel Cellar every Tuesday @ 6:00pm

Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew (Denver) – Every Tuesday for $10 you get an artist series glass (10oz) and three fills (under 8% abv). Every month will feature a new artist.

BrewAsanas (Denver) – Beer? Check. Yoga? Check. One might have to call it BrewAsanas. Could two things like these ever co-exist? You bet your flexible-ass they can! BrewAsanas takes a rocking one hour yoga class and follows it up with a brew in a local brewery.
This week’s classes are as follows:
  Monday, 24th at 6 p.m. – Jagged Mountain Brewery (1139 20th St, Denver)

Hops & Pie (Denver) – Today is Tuesday 23 Night from 5pm to close. Get an 18″ Pie with 2 toppings and 2 draft beers all for $23.

Barley’s Angels (Colorado Chapter) – Salsa and Beer pairing by Barley’s Angels (for ladies only!) Epic Brewing hosts the Barley’s Angels on March 24th, at 7pm for a taste of sweet, sweet heat! Brewer Kim Collins is hosting a ladies only event for a roaming pairing through the brewing floor. She’ll lead the group through a discussion of four craft beer tasters matched with locally made tomatillo, red, smoky jalapeno, and habanero salsas. Specific beer pairings will be revealed at the tasting. The tour will include a trivia contest about beer production, with prizes from Epic Brewing. Tickets will be limited. Register today to reserve your spot. To learn more about Barley’s Angels, visit them online for more info.

Lucky Pie (Lousiville) – Presented by Elevation Beer Company and Lucky Pie Louisville, this event will present a fun night of Trivia and beer at Lucky Pie’s Louisville location starting at 7pm. Enjoy 4 rounds of Colorado Beer related Trivia during Colorado Beer Week, while sipping on one of 7 Elevation Beer’s on tap.  Prizes will be rewarded for each round and the night will be hosted by Elevation Co-founder Xandy Bustamante.

Them Future ‘vents:

The second half of Colorado Craft Beer Week should be a blast. Here are some future events to keep on your radar, because they are going to be so-gnar!

Barley’s Angels (Colorado Chapter) – Boulder Event: Upslope Brewing on March 25, 7pm. Upslope and Barley’s Angels are putting the Yum! into craft beer tastings with a pairing that matches four Upslope tasters with four bakery confections. Bouldern’s Samantha Rolen has carefully chosen the pairings and will discuss why she made her selections, while answering questions about the art and science of baking. Staff from Upslope will also be available to answer questions about the brewing process and give a tour. To learn more about Barley’s Angels, you can also visit our website at www.barleysangelscolorado.com
Great Divide (Denver) – Join them for their inaugural P.M. Beer Brunch at Snooze, an A.M. Eatery. Four Great Divide beers paired with four Snooze brunch favorites.

  Location: Ballpark Snooze: 2262 Larimer Street, Denver, CO, 80205.
Date/time: Tuesday, March 25th at 6:30pm.
Tickets: $50 (tax and tip included). Space is limited and pre-registration/payment is required.*
For Tickets – www.imbibedenver.com/snooze
Questions? Email us! [email protected].

Left Hand Brewing (Longmont) – Save the Date! March 29^th! Hops & Handrails – Experience the Best of Colorado: 20 craft brewery tasting + 25ft ramp snowboard competition!

Highland Tap & Burger (Denver) – Tuesday April 8th! Avery Brewing Company will be hosting a beer pairing dinner at the LoHi burger hotspot, Highland Tap & Burger. Join Chef Eli Odell and Avery Brewing will pair 5 courses for a beer dinner featuring some very unique beers, including a rare beer from their barrel-aged series. Ticket price includes tax and gratuity.

Until the next installment, stay thirsty and Keep Denver Beer’d!