Big Choice Brewing (Broomfield, CO)

Drinkability with uncompromising flavor. That’s what you’ll find at Big Choice Brewing in Broomfield, Colo. Eight taps line the downstairs taproom, ranging from a light wheat beer to a big, bold American amber. In addition to your typical taproom with a few tables and stools at the bar, Big Choice has a second level, complete with vintage pinball and arcade games that compliment the ’90s punk vibe.

The best deal is a sampler of all eight offerings for $10. The Disconnected Red is their biggest seller, however there is a beer for everyone, from the dark beer lover to the biggest hop head. Ollie-Weizen is a German Hefeweizen, light in body, with the characteristic banana and clove flavor derivatives of the yeast, but not overwhelmingly so.

Another yeast-forward beer, 10,000 Summers Saison, is a farmhouse ale with a mild, spicy character and dry finish, which makes it a good choice as a summer beer with complex flavors.

Big Choice offers plenty of hoppy varieties, including the extremely approachable Rail Side Extra Pale Ale, with its high level of mellow, citrusy hops and low alcohol. Two other heftier, hoppy brews include the Type III IPA, an American Style IPA, and Disconnected Red, an American Amber Ale.

Type III has a medium level of bitterness, combined with the resiny qualities typical of many West Coast IPAs, balanced with a malty backbone. Disconnected Red has notes of toast and caramel, balanced with spicey, citrusy hops. For those looking for a big, creamy body, Big Choice brews Hemlock Double IPA, clocking in at 9.5% abv, and100+ IBUs, compliments of several varieties of American hops.

The welcoming surprise of the bunch is bar far the #42 Poblano Stout. Without the burn of most chili beers, the poblanos add an additional note of roastiness to this very drinkable oatmeal stout. There is a noticeable hint of smoke on the nose, and like a well-made stout, finishes thirst-quenchingly dry.

Big Choice embodies everything you look for in a local microbrewery: well-made, approachable, and unique beers, a convivial vibe for locals and travelers alike, and a personality all its own.

Fat Head’s (North Olmsted, OH)

I don’t know what it is with these no-name towns on the outskirts of major cities, but I think that’s the beginning of a formula for great brewpubs: be in the middle of nowhere, but within driving distance of a well-known city + have a great name + a penchant for the ridiculous + an obsession with quality = absurdly good beers.

Fat Head’s is brewed in both PA and OH, and this particular brewery and saloon is located just outside of Cleveland in North Olmsted, OH. The exterior (and even interior) is no different than your typical sports pub, but once you start reviewing the chalk board of taps and reading their respective descriptions in the menu, you quickly develop tunnel vision (or rather, tunnel “taste”) for a wide variety of extremely well-made beers.

I’ve always thought that the mark of a great brewery is one that can handily make a standard and seemingly simple beer like a bitter or pilsner, as well as create complex fruit, aged and other distinctly unique brews. Fat Head’s does the former, latter, and everything in between in droves.

Their Head Hunter IPA has gained accolades at several international beer festivals, but outside of being a classical example of the style, this beer packs an amazing punch of fruity/resiny hops that will surprise even the most jaded of hop heads. The tried and true hops of Simcoe, Columbus and Cascade dominate this ale, with just enough added sweetness and body to allow for the hops to shine through. The lighter body masks that fact that this is a pretty big beer at 7.4% abv. An absolute must try if you visit Fat Head’s.

Duke of Lager, a self-described German Fest Bier, begins with a touch of honey-flavored malt, and finishes dry to make this a great summer beer to enjoy on a hot day.

The Bumbleberry Honey Blueberry Ale is another good summer drinking beer. It tastes of a light lager with a hint of blueberry, dowsed with a dollop of honey, without the cloying or artificial flavor of most commercially brewed blueberry beers.

I saved the heavy Bourbon Barrel Aged Battle Axe Baltic Porter for my final Fat Head, and am glad I did. This is an absolute palate wrecker (and delight), which begins with a big waft of Bourbon, which is also noticeable in the flavor, along with other common whiskey barrel-aged flavors such as vanilla and oak. The beer has a alcohol hotness to it, but is nice, as it reminds you of a snifter of a hearty, quaffable whiskey, but is also balanced with plenty of dark chocolate and roasty coffee notes.

There were no less than eighteen Fat Head’s taps available, not to mention a treasure trove of other craft brews from across the nation. Both widely recognizable brands such as Stone and Troegs could be enjoyed, as well as beer-cult rarities such as 3 Floyds Gumballhead, one of the first American Wheat Wines.

Fat Head’s is one of those brewing rarities that enjoys both commercial success (they now brew in both Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and have won multiple International awards) as well as a distinguishing itself as a unique and distinctly local saloon.

Tired Hands Brewing Company (Ardmore, PA)

I strive to be as objective as possible and let the reader decide whether the brewery or pub described is someplace they’d enjoy or plan to visit. In this case, my bias is sure to show through, so I’ll go ahead and preempt my overview of Tired Hands by saying it truly is a place of unique character, and embodies more so than any other brewpub I’ve visited so far what craft beer is all about.

Ardmore, PA is much like any other ‘historical’ district you might encounter on the East Coast, with various craft and knick knack stores, ripe for window shopping. The town has a laid-back vibe and being within reasonable driving distance of Philadelphia, embodies the type of genuine sensibilities often associated with this area of the country. Tired Hands is at the end of one of the main streets in Ardmore, but feels tucked away due to its nonchalant and cozy features.

The menu, for the most part, consists of locally-sourced (all within 100 miles) charcuterie, including house made bread. On this occasion I wanted plenty of room for the varied menu of beers and ordered a simple platter of bread and butter. Rather than acting as a means of cleansing the palate, the nearly whole loaf of bread I received enhanced each and every beer I ordered. Accompanying the just-hard-enough crunchy exterior and fluffy, slightly sour interior bread, was a super creamy, dark yellow butter and dash of sea salt and very pungent fennel.  I had to not just pace my drinking, but my eating of this amazing bread so as not to fill up too quickly.

To say that Tired Hands does not brew to style would be an understatement.  It becomes clearly evident with each subsequent tasting of the nine taps that the brewer had a distinct vision for each creation and chose ingredients to both enhance and dazzle the taste buds.

The beers themselves offer a complex array of flavors so extensive, that I would be doing them a disservice by trying to describe them in simple objective terms, plus their website attempts to provide detailed descriptions already. I will say, that for the ‘wild beer’ drinker, you will assuredly find Tired Hands a mecca for these types of beer. They are not shy about using Brett (ie. brettanomyces, a yeast strain heartier than your typical ale strain, with additional complex tastes and aromas ranging from tropical fruit to barnyard), as I noticed in at least three beers including a saison, a hoppy pale and a grisette (made with wheat, honey and tea).

Whether you are just dropping in few a quick bite of some local bread and cheese, or plan on making Tired Hands a destination in itself, I would find it extremely difficult not to endorse either. Regardless, I assure anyone that you will likely find that time has quickly fleeted by when you leave this amazing brewery.

Zero Gravity Craft Brewery at American Flatbread and The Vermont Pub and Brewery (Burlington, VT)

Burlington, VT is home to four breweries, three within about four blocks of each other. I was fortunate enough to check out two of them on my recent pass-through of this area. The city of Burlington has an eclectic, artsy air about it, which supplies fertile ground for creative types, including brewers.

I started at Zero Gravity Craft Brewery, which is located within American Flatbread. In addition to a nice offering of multiple classic ales including several pales, a California common and a porter, Zero Gravity was also pouring some more experimental brews. The first, and by far one of the more rare offerings you’ll find, was a gruit. Gruit is essentially a beer made using several herbs and spices as opposed to hops, as was the custom prior to the 16th century (and earlier in some areas such as Germany… you should read about it, and you can actually thank political and religious oppression for the use of sweet sweet hops!). Zero’s Summer Gruit Ale contains some of the more traditional herbs you’d likely find in a medieval-style, including sweet gale, yarrow, mugwort and even tea. It really is the perfect summer ale on a hot, balmy day, as was the case on this 80% humidity day in July. There is hint of fruitiness, with a light body, and little to no bitterness despite the clear presence of herbs.

Zero’s Organic Saison was another great summer offering. It was not as dry as you might typically find among saisons, but still crisp and refreshing. My last sample was Hopscotch, a Peated India Pale Ale. This brew was not as smokey as I was anticipating, but definitely still had a moderate to high level of roast and bitterness.

After devouring one the phenomenal pizzas (ahem… flatbreads) at American Flatbread, I headed up the street to Vermont’s oldest brewpub, the aptly named Vermont Pub and Brewery. The restaurant and pub definitely have more of a neighborhood vibe than the bohemian, hipster feel of Zero Gravity, and offers a pretty wide range of beers as well as pub fare. I had a sampler of too many beers to review, but the highlights were definitely of the German and Belgian variety. Beetlejuice is a sour-mashed weissebier. It has your typical big yeasty flavors with the expected banana and clove, but with a nice added twist of a sharp acidic bite at the end. I’m assuming this comes with the sour mashing, which is likely pretty short as it is by no means tart. This beer definitely inspired me to try and recreate a beer that has quite honestly come to be a mainstay at craft brewpubs, with a pretty low amount of imagination. Most brewers seem to rely exclusively on the yeast to provide a majority of this style’s character, so it was nice to try a spin on a very classic beer. The other must try in my opinion is the Spuyten Duyvil, a Belgian sour red ale. This sour red had a little less tartness than is typical of say a Rodenbach Gran Cru, but had an added flavor of ‘barnyard’ (yes, I promise that is a common beer descriptor) from brettanomyces yeast. There is still the lactic acidity you would typically expect, but the brett quality really shines through for a complex and really tasty brew.

The city of Burlington itself is well worth the visit outside of the several breweries (also in Burlington is the brewpub 3 Needs, which I’m told has an extensive draft and bottle list of other sought after craft beers from Vermont, as well as the production brewery Switchback). A meadery and cidery are also within driving distance, and if you have the time (and have yet to begin your tour of imbibing) definitely check out some of the myriad hiking trails. Below is a snapshot I took while hiking halfway up Vermont’s highest peak, Mount Mansfield:

 

White Birch Brewing (Hooksett, NH)

Only a few words are necessary to describe White Birch Brewing: zero pretension, flavorful beer. As one pulls up to the brewery/tasting room, you could easily mistaken it for a medical supply company or some other innocuous establishment with about as much inventive facade as a stucco garage. If you asked founder and brewmaster Bill Herlicka though, I’m guessing he’d say he hadn’t put too much thought into it as he was busy making amazing beers. In speaking with him during a tasting it’s easy to see why his beers are so complex and varied. When working on a recipe he says he likes to try a bunch of other commercial examples of similar style, then brew to his own taste. His berliner weisse is a perfect example. Even though I didn’t get a chance to sample it, I saw that it was several percentages higher than what is ‘standard’ for that style. When I asked him about this he simply replied, “it tastes better”. He went on to explain that the flavors of this style are often lost by making it too sessionable, as many are typically flavored with artificial syrups.  To showcase it’s full flavor potential he makes it about twice the strength as outlined by ‘beer judges’.

Don’t try and pry Bill on what goes into his recipes, as he’s staying hush hush. Acknowledging that I was an aspiring homebrewer, he suggested, “just try a bunch of different things and brew what you like.” This philosophy has served him well, as within his first year of production in 2009 White Birch quadrupled, going from brewing a half barrel a day to two. Today, they brew on a seven barrel system according to their website.

A majority of White Birch’s brews are made using Belgian yeast strains. The complexity of Belgian yeast is evident in most, if not all of their offerings. For the geekiest of beer geeks, White Birch also offers several ‘wild’ brews, aged in wine barrels and using brettanomyces yeast. Bill is obviously a fan of big beers as well, with wheat and barleywines also available in the portfolio.

The building may not be pretty, but damn, the beers sure are, and well worth a visit. And in case you still can’t get over the spartan digs, buy a couple of White Birch ales and head ten minutes down the road to Lake Massabesic:

Spring House Brewing Company (Lancaster, PA)

Spring House Brewing Company was another stop on my recent Eastern PA brew trip. Much like Prism Brewing in North Wales, Spring House definitely delivers for those looking to try some inventive beers. Their brewhouse is located in Conestoga, PA, but a full bar and restaurant is down the road in Lancaster (also very close to Intercourse, PA, where, as I observed, that is the probably the last thing on the geriatrics who I saw roaming the area’s minds). 

They have a pretty ridiculous sampler where you can taste every beer on tap, and if I’m not mistaken, I believe I had ten 4oz pours, with an additional “guest beer” thrown in for good measure. Definitely the go-to brew is the Big Gruesome, a chocolate peanut butter stout. Although this, along with other similarly off-the-wall beers, definitely drew my attention to this brewery during my research, I was a bit hesitant and thought that perhaps this was merely a gimmick to draw in non-beer drinkers…   I couldn’t have been more wrong. Although very noticeable, the peanut butter flavor is not overpowering, but rather it adds not only an additional flavor to this hearty (8.5% abv) stout, but provides some smoothness to an already creamy beer. It’s definitely filling, but the rich texture makes it go down easy and could be pretty dangerous after a couple pints.

Spring House also serves up a similar Lil’ Gruesome (8.3% abv, so not that little), that’s a peanut butter stout fermented with raspberries. It’s definitely sweeter, but is balanced nicely with rich chocolate flavors and some roastiness.

Despite having other equally bizarre brews (a mango IPA; oyster stout; and pineapple IPA), brewer Matt Keasey has plenty of standards to round out his portfolio. The Asylum triple IPA will satisfy the most lupulin obsessed of hop heads, and the Goofy Foot summer wheat is great as a thirst quencher and those interested in sweeter, but non-cloying brew.

The food menu is equally creative and delicious. I had crab mac and cheese bites with tomato bacon jam, and am officially stealing the idea for my next house party. I don’t want to start a trend of giving opinions on prices and whether items are reasonable or not as I want to focus on the beer and brewers, but being a resident of habitually overpriced DC I was very impressed with the quality of food and drink I got for well under $20. This is definitely a place that thrives on its local community base, and it’s not surprising the locals keep coming back for more.

Prism Brewing Co. (North Wales, PA)

Prism Brewing Company is located in North Wales, PA, about 45 minutes north of Philadelphia. I came across this funky brewery/brewpub a few weeks back while on a brew tour of Eastern, PA through the use of the always handy ‘Good Beer Maps’ provided by the good folks at Brewing News. What initially caught my attention was their unique variety of beers, but what made me fill a growler was the charasmatic staff and amazing flavor combinations the brewers not only pulled off, but enhanced their beers with. 

The first beer I tried was their Love is evoL, a brown ale loaded with 100lbs of strawberries and 10lbs of jalapenos. I’ve seen and tasted chili beers in the past, but mostly in darker brews like stouts and porters, so it was nice to try one where the heat is definitely up front and not afraid to hide. The strawberries add a hint of sweetness to balance the whole thing out.

The growler I left with was filled with Shady Blond, a wheat beer hopped with Summit and Cascade, and fermented with juiced blood oranges. Most recipes call for orange rinds to get that citrus flavor, but I’m glad the guys at Prism didn’t heed that advice, as the fresh citrus notes make this an extremely refreshing beer, without being overly sweet. This is definitely a great substitution for that orange wedge garnished Blue Moon offered as “craft beer” at your local sports bar.

I wish I’d had more time to stick around and try out their other concoctions like their ParTea Pale Ale (made with whole leaf China black tea leaves) or “Big Black Wheat” ChemoSabe (with hints of wasabi, and whose partial profits go to help families fighting cancer). Shout out also to my bartender who shared half of her Philly Cheesesteak egg roll (yes, it was goddman delicious) with me…  well, I say “shared”, but after asking me if I’ve ever had one and replying no, she pretty much force fed it down my throat claiming it was “fucking amazing”. From the locals and staff I spoke to, they share the same exuberant and irreverant passion about their beer as they do for strange takes on Philly’s most iconic food export. If you’re in the area (or can find their beers, from what I can gather are mainly distributed in Eastern PA and New Jersey) definitely drop in for a pint with the local crowd.