When hearing about a beer event, my first questions are usually “who’s pouring?” and “where is it?” With an unannounced list of breweries and a secret location that wouldn’t be disclosed until the morning of the event, Fuss Off offered precious few details, but the association with the Colorado Brewers Guild brought the promise of something interesting. Did I really want to spend an evening with people dressed in insufferable “hipster” costumes? 

Upon arrival, any doubts I had going in were vanquished. In contrast to the cramped quarters of many beer fests, the Studio Loft at the Ellie Caulkins Theater was an expansive and inviting venue. It gave attendees the opportunity to enjoy music from the Tom Hagerman band and converse using indoor voices, all while toasting mustaches and beards a plenty with one of the most impressive beer lineups I’ve seen this year.

How impressive? From session beers to sours to really big stouts, every brewery brought something special to this event. That Broken Compass Coconut Porter everybody’s talking about? It was there, along with a Rum Barrel-Aged Coconut Porter from Horse & Dragon for good measure.

You want sours? Avery sours? Sure. How about the rare sherry barrel-aged Antonius’ Carmen or Einzigartig, brewed with Reisling must? Crooked Stave rewarded attendees with Passionfruit and Blueberry Petite Sours plus port barrel-aged Nightmare on Brett. Odell’s delicious golden raspberry sour Brazzle was another beer I was happy to find.

Hopheads weren’t feeling left out either, with options ranging from Ratio Beerwork’s Dear You to Strange’s 1000 Barrel to Mockery’s Kumquat Double IPA. For the really adventurous, Telluride brought Cannonball, a cherrywood smoked porter with “hop hash” brewed in collaboration with Sweetwater.

And yes, a peach and pumpkin beer was present: an understated golden amber brewed by FATE that even an ardent pumpkin beer hater like myself had to begrudgingly agree was good as well as a fantastic collaboration pumpkin peach offering from the likes of Caution Brewing and 9 other Colorado breweries, that highlighted true pumpkin flavors rather than going the route of overpowering fall spices. Overall, the evening was full of pleasant surprises and revelations. Including one of our favorites, Elevation Beer Company‘s soon-to-be-released Raspberry Gulch Saison, which will hit shelves at the beginning of next month. This crisp refreshing light saison captures the fruity raspberry flavors at the beginning but finishes clean and dry, perfect for the summer months.

To be honest, I was a little worried going in to this event that it might be full of people taking themselves a little too seriously, legitimizing the stereotypes Budweiser assailed in their much-ballyhooed Superbowl ad. Instead, I was happy to discover a small, enthusiastic crowd of people drinking beer not because of snobbery or preening fetishization of particular styles or breweries, but because they enjoy and appreciate the hardworking people who produce it.

Overall, Fuss Off was a resounding success. The intimate setting coupled with the relaxing piano and string music provided the perfect backdrop while mingling with a smaller cozier group of attendees.  This was certainly a beer event to fuss over and one that I hope makes a return next year, when I can only hope, pumpkin peach beers won’t be a thing.