Funky tunes and flagship brews took over Upslope’s Flatiron brewing location this past Saturday! After hosting parties and specialty tappings for the five straight days, one of Boulder’s breweries capped off its celebration of American Craft Beer Week by hosting its third annual Get Down Fest. Get Down is a free music festival with an emphasis on food, games, art, fun… and BEER.

At the event, Upslope poured six of its most popular beers including: Brown Ale (a recent 2016 World Beer Cup medal winner), Lager, Pale Ale, IPA, Belgian Style Pale Ale, and Thai Style White IPA. Early on, Upslope also had their new Guava Style Blonde Ale that’s only available in the taproom or exclusively in the state of Utah otherwise (which reminds me, I need to get to Moab this summer). In the VIP area, the brewery also offered a limited amount of some of its more specialty beers including its Lemondrop Kölsh, Imperial IPA, and Dunkelweizen.

Of all these beers, my go-to of these mainstays at Get Down was the Thai-Style, a summer Limited Release, coming in 33 IBUs. Having this brew fresh from the source, really allowed me to pick up on those citrusy notes and the seven Asian-inspired spices including lemongrass, ginger, Thai basil, and coriander. Moreover, I also really enjoyed the Lemondrop Kölsh, which was super crushable on this sunny spring day. The hints of lemon balance out the mosaic and lemondrop hops. This Tap Room Series release is available are a 19.2 oz. tall boy can – just in time for summer.

Besides the beers, the diverse musical lineup also made the event a funky, fun time. There were thirteen bands spread out among three different stages for non-stop tunes for Get Down attendees. The bands included the headliner Eminence Ensemble, as well as some other crowd pleasers such as Freekbass, Moontang, Lady and the Gentlemen, and Punch Drunk Munky Funk. Only a brewery music fest can you truly appreciate a live band rocking it on a loading dock.

Upslope really thought of everything for Get Down, as it also had a great selection of noms from local food trucks, from Moe’s Original BBQ, to Farmer Girl, and Rocky Mountain Slices. Throw in some empanadas from Lazo Foods and some tamales from Sancho’s and you’ve yourself a smorgasbord of options. And as if didn’t get any better, there was also a Rowdy Mermaid kombucha truck for those beer drinkers who needed to cleanse their palate before lining up for their next Upslope beer.

Walking around the seemingly endless amount of booths, many of the vendors (Flatirons Subaru, Zeal Optics, Colorado Ski Furniture, PepPod to name a few), all have an emphasis on outdoor adventures, what Coloradans do best. It makes sense that Upslope would want to feature many of the brewery’s canned and inherently easy-to-recycle offerings that accompany their adventurous craft beer fans on outdoor excursions. That said, Get Down also had an emphasis on using compostable cups and recycling with the help of designated Ecocycle waste sorters.

A portion of the profits of Upslope went to its event beneficiary, the nonprofit UpaDowna. This Colorado company strives to provide equitable access to the adventures of the outdoors. And in the spirit of getting people to enjoy the Colorado sunshine, Get Down also featured corn hole, a curious game of nine-square volley ball (which I am proud to say I held down the middle square for a bit), and a climbing wall. Many other booths and booths and events were also set up, some as returning sponsors and some as three-year Get Down veterans.

All in all Upslope really invited their local fans to embrace local beer, food, music, and fun at Get Down. Everyone there truly embraced the phrase “Après Everything,” even an après big wheel course.

 

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