The 15th running of Denver’s Rare Beer Festival saw one major change–the venue. Previously hosted at the McNichols Civic Center Building and before that, Wynkoop Brewing, election year-related scheduling conflicts at McNichols meant that Rare Beers needed a new home. Given that many visitors and brewers in town for GABF already make a yearly pilgrimage to Bierstadt Lagerhaus between convention shifts, the new venue was a natural fit.

Beyond a few modest chokepoints, the venue worked swimmingly. The volunteer-led festival was set up earlier than usual (the elevators at McNichols usually slow things down quite a bit), the tent out front gave free blood draws to hundreds of men to screen for prostate cancer, and the entire festival ran about as smoothly as one could hope.

The vibe of the festival remained unchanged: uncommon and rare beers, and usually ones of a high alcohol content including barrel-aged Barleywines and Stouts dominated the lineup. Breweries like Side Project, Cerebral, Firestone Walker, Forager, Fremont, and more headlined the list of attendees. Rare Beers often has an eclectic mix of local breweries participating, and this year was no different including breweries like Jagged Mountain Brewery, Odyssey Beerwerks, and Burns Family Artisan Ales In the mix. 

The typical festival goes something like this–The festival opens at noon and ticket holders scramble to line up for some of the most hyped beers. Lines fluctuate from those primarily hyped beers to a secondary set of breweries with slightly less hype. Then things spread out by 1 p.m., with attention being given more equally to the entire festival lineup. By 2 p.m., most people are standing around, talking in groups, with not a line to be seen anywhere–after all, it’s difficult to drink 12-18% ABV beer for four hours straight!

This year felt slightly different. There wasn’t really a line to be seen anywhere. This may finally be the year where one-off hype has died down enough and the festival has such an all-star caliber of breweries where lines were few and far between. And while the small social groups formed as time went on, it did seem that more drinkers paced themselves this year than ever before.

As a nine-time attendee and an eight-time volunteer, I personally hope that the venue stays the same. Bierstadt offered a quality in-house food lineup (OK, maybe the food line could be cut down slightly, but that’s a small complaint!), plenty of outdoor seating to enjoy said food and the space was just large enough to work for a festival of this size. Having everything on one floor was fantastic. Not having to worry about high-caliber art being damaged, which is always a concern at the McNichols venue, was a bonus. It may also be easier to line up such a high caliber of breweries when the event takes place at Bierstadt.

As to what the future holds? Who knows. Organizer Rick Lyke has had his ear to the ground and has kept adapting the festival to continue to be a success. Many high-quality, all-star cast beer festivals have closed up or gone on hiatus post-pandemic. Lyke has found a way to make this festival a success every single year. As a prostate cancer survivor who credits a simple blood test for saving his life, he’s been steadfast in dedicating his time and energy to the festival, all to raise money for prostate cancer awareness and screening. Whatever he decides, I and many of the long-term attendees will be on board.

Highlights from the 2024 Denver Rare Beer Tasting

Amalgam’s Coastal Bias IPA 

This beer wasn’t even listed on the beer sheet. Amalgam’s Sitting in Stillness, a wonderful barrel-aged imperial stout blend, was the advertised beer. That one poured from a barrel, and was enjoyed by many attendees. Coastal Bias, however, stole the show. As I walked around the festival, asking people what stood out, time and again Coastal Bias is what they pointed me towards. Luckily, it was my first beer of the fest, so I totally understood what they were talking about. A lot of this festival is out-of-town attendees, so Amalgam is probably a bit under the radar for them. Those of us in Denver know.

Good Word Brewing – Various

Owner Todd DiMatteo was pouring over a half dozen beers at his booth, and happily chatting away with anyone and everyone about his passion for the beer. The mostly lower ABV beers were a big hit at the festival. If there’s one criticism I might give towards Rare Beers, it’s that it could use a few more low-ABV beers. While drinkers forking over $200 for the fundraiser ticket expect a lineup of rare big and wild beers, lagers and IPAs are very much in vogue (and hyped up from time to time as well). A barrel of Helles from gravity, a limited-release West Coast IPA, a small increase in beers like this would go a long way towards rounding things out. It was obvious that between the popularity of Amalgam’s IPA and Good Word’s booth, there is ample demand for some more drinkable beer. Not enough to dominate the fest, but just a few more options to balance things out.

Firestone Walker – ParAmburana

Amburana wood is like a cheat code, and Firestone Walker has one of the best cheat codes I’ve ever tasted. The wonderful Parabola base beer was aged on Amburana wood–the South American wood that adds a sort of sophisticated cinnamon spice to beer. While Amburana can be poorly used in beers (and if you’ve tasted some of the low ABV beers aged on the wood, you know what I’m talking about), it tends to play very well with bigger barrel-aged beers, imperial stouts in particular. The crew at Firestone is always on the cutting edge and they consistently execute as well as anyone in this industry.

Cerebral Brewing – Age of Monsters & Here Be Monsters Pappy Van Winkle 23-Year

Owner Sean Buchan told me that of the five barrels presented to members, they chose the two sweetest ones that went on to be Age of Monsters. With that in mind, I was expecting a fairly cloying, ridiculously sweet beer. While it was sweet, it was more of an overwhelmingly pleasant richness. I wouldn’t drink eight ounces of this beer, but I’d hardly drink eight ounces of anything in this category. This would be a wonderful beer to split among friends, and I can understand why members chose these barrels. 

The Pappy beer, I was admittedly skeptical about. I’ve had a half dozen beers aged in 18+ year barrels before. While the whiskey that comes out of these barrels is often phenomenal, the issue with putting beer into the empty barrel is that the whiskey has often taken a lot of the best components from the wood. Not so with this iteration. The Pappy blend had some spicy wood notes that added depth to the fantastic base–Here be Monsters is one of my favorite imperial stout iterations, it goes so well with just about anything (straight up, as a blend, with vanilla). It was a touch drier than some of the beers in this category, but without being sharp or hot. Cerebral has long stood out as a top producer in the state of Colorado, and nationwide.

Forager Brewing – ROMP

Forager brought a dark, complex, modern barleywine. This drinks close to a modern stout, with waves of chocolate and caramel. It was absolutely wonderful and showed why Forager continues to shine, particularly in the barleywine category.

Side Project Brewing – 10 Candles

Side Project was absent from the festival these last few years. It previously had huge lines and would tap quickly. This year, however, there wasn’t a line to be seen by 12:30, and there was still plenty of beer to pour. The imperial stout packed quite a punch, at 17 percent ABV, and was finished on ten varieties of vanilla beans. The heat from this beer played fairly well with the complex vanilla flavors. While not as sweet or smooth as many of the Side Project stouts (particularly the Derivation series), Cory King continues to show why he’s one of the strongest barrel blenders in the industry.

Sierra Nevada – Unfiltered Celebration Ale

“Celly,” as it’s affectionately called, is one of the most anticipated beers of the season. The unfiltered version, from the very first batch I believe, had plenty of festival goers talking. The recipe is over forty years old, and has hardly changed, so it’s always great to taste the power of fresh hops.

Cloudburst Brewing – Fresh Wet Hop IPA

Like Sierra Nevada, Cloudburst knows a thing or two about how to use hops. This fresh hop IPA had a cardamom vanilla nose, with a tangerine-led fresh hop flavor. This was a really nice drinkable break between some of the bigger beers of the festival.

Other Half – Bananaversary Blend

Other Half had its Bananversary beer pouring all day, a great beer in its own right. But then they did something even cooler–They blended it with both Side Project and WeldWerks’ beers. The result was a decadent blend of banana, vanilla and soft cherry notes reminiscent of a banana split ice cream. These types of “off-list” offerings make Rare Beer even more special. And it’s a good reminder to always ask the booth what they are pouring, you never know what special one-off you might run into.

Moksa Brewing – Singularity^2” EC20-B8

Speaking of special one-offs. When my friend nudged me to try the single bottle that Moksa had just cracked, I didn’t hesitate. I was rewarded with a ridiculously complex stout, layered with fudge, medium chocolate and caramel notes.

Odyssey Brewing – Nala’s Zinfandel Barrel Aged Honey Tripel

One great thing about Rare Beers is that among these national powerhouses, and locally “hyped” producers, you’ll also find some local gems in the mix. Odyssey isn’t a nationally known brewery, in fact, it has more of a Cheers-type vibe to it. I should know, it’s one of my locals–A long walk, short bike ride, or minimum Uber away. The kind of place where there’s always a few regulars at the bar. While I’m usually drinking lager or pale ale at Odyssey, they do have special release big beers. Nala’s Tripel fits that category and is an ode to the owner’s recently passed away dog, Nala. The beer is red wine and bubblegum on the nose, with a wisp of honey behind. Spicy yeast, lightly toasted malt and a touch of tannin on the tongue, with some berry fruits and cherries. It’s a complex and fun beer, and totally different from most other beers at the festival.

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