South Denver Beer Fest

About 30 minutes south of Denver lays the small suburb of Littleton, Colorado. While this small town does lay claim to a brewpub and have a couple microbreweries in the works it is often overlooked and not mentioned as a craft beer town. That all changed on May 4^th and 5^th when over 60 breweries from around Colorado and the rest of the country gathered at Clement Park to pour their craft beers to the masses. This was at the inaugural South Denver Beer Fest, a two day festival that celebrated some of the best craft beers, ciders, and meads from all around the country.

Contrary to other beer festivals in smaller towns this had a wide open space to enjoy the festivities. Away from the chaos and lines there was plenty of park space to walk away and enjoy the all the craft beer around. So with the Rocky Mountains in the background and a sample cup in hand we set off to find some great beers, and ciders. What we did find were an eclectic mix of both unique and original beers including some sours, and classical beer flavors throughout the day. Here is a recap of some of our favorites.

From Boulder, Colorado comes one of the newest brewpubs in that area Fate Brewing, and with that came their interpretation of a traditional Kolsch Style Ale. A light crisp ale with a sweet malty base, a light hop note from the noble hops. A golden color ale that is light and refreshing year round but a great beer for warm weather, but to make it unique for the summertime this new brewery added watermelon to it to create a totally unique beer. This adds a very subtle fruit flavor but balances out the whole beer and adds a unique flavor that keeps you craving more. The hops and malt flavor are not lost, and the watermelon adds the perfect taste during these warm spring and summer months. Without any hesitation this one of the most unique and refreshing beers poured at the festival.

From a classical beer with a fruity twist to a unique beer altogether was the Raspberry American Sour Ale from Loveland Ale Works. This style of beer that is not easy to come across was a traditional sour but with the addition of raspberries it added a whole new dimension of flavor to this beer. The mouth puckering sourness was the prominent flavor but it did not overpower the strong aroma and flavor of raspberries. The natural tartness and sweetness of the fruit added a great flavor followed by the sour of the beer. A very unique and flavorful beer worth trying at festivals or in their tap room during the summer making it one of the best aged beers at this inaugural festival.

Now unique and experimental beers aside there were also plenty of more traditional style beers to choose from at this festival and pointing one favorite was not possible due to the abundance of various styles. For fans of the Belgian style ales Elevation Beer Co. from Poncha Springs was there pouring the newest addition to the black diamond series, the Third Base Tripel. Red Ales were available in abundance but the nothing was better than the red from Bierwerks in Woodland Park. Of course a beer festival in Colorado wouldn’t be the same without the hoppy beers, and the best one available was the Colorojo from Wynkoop in Denver.

With the beer festival season officially upon us now there could not have been a better way to start than at the South Denver Beer Fest. With the beautiful scenery of the Rocky Mountains, great weather, and most importantly an abundance of high quality beers to choose from this brand new festival will become a great addition to the Colorado beer scene in years to come. With the beer scene growing in this small suburb the festival should also continue to grow, and become one of the more sought after ones with each passing year.

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