Category: Craft Beer

Brewers' Olympics 2016

6/19/2016

Here's our short take on the Brewers' Olympics of 2016. This is a reason in itself to visit Fort Collins (or play here if you're lucky enough to live here already)! It kicks off Fort Collins Beer Week (#FCBeerWeek), which culminates in the Colorado Brewers' Festival in downtown FoCo at Washington Park (the last Friday through Sunday in June -- this year, it's 6/24-6/26, with the cool Summit [read: extra-special beers] taking place on Friday night).

This year the Brewers' Olympics benefited The House that Beer Built II, an effort by 12 NoCO breweries and several local craft-beer-centric businesses, spearheaded by Odell Brewing Company and New Belgium Brewing Company, to help FoCo's Habitat for Humanity build a house this fall for the Beavers family in FoCo. Watch for other upcoming events that enable each of us to pitch in (financially or with a hammer) to this effort! (e.g., Check out Bowling with Brewers this Thursday night -- 6/23/16 -- at Chippers Lanes (North College), and watch for our upcoming beer release, Groundwork Red IPA, the proceeds from which will go directly to the HTBBII effort).

I'm uploading our pictures below -- if you want the commentary, click on the picture to read our ever-so-accurate editorial take on the day. Suffice it to say that this day is one of the reasons we 100% love FoCo.

Despite our best efforts, we failed to bring The Torch home to H&D for another year -- it'll be residing at Fort Collins Brewery for 2016-2017. Big ups to them. We'll bring our best game next year, though, so be prepared, all y'all!

First stop is a video (borrowed from FCBeerWeek's Instagram), of our team's entrance. Backstreet Boys got nothin' on them. Or at least, they brew beer really well!

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Saturday

5/26/2016

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Just your average summer Saturday for a FoCo craft brewery here. This is a great example of why we love this industry.

We started out setting up for the #FortLoveBrewersJamboree at Legacy Park. Taste, sip, learn.

First off, we get to bike there, past the awesome Cache la Poudre River (I tried to capture the chorusing combo of frogs, birds, and 12 Cents for Marvin warming up on video, but I managed to mess up the sound so all you get is this photo!)

Yes, there is a helmet under that hat -- of course! If you're not familiar with TimCo's examples, made right after H&D opened, of why we should all wear helmets when bicycling, come on in to the taproom and take a look at his former helmet.

Here's brewer Z from 1933 Brewing Company (and the inimitable Dotys).

Z looks pretty calm there considering this is what he had planned for later in the Jamboree:

Casual brewers' meeting before the start:

Newly painted jockey box cover courtesy of the guys over at Set It Off Paint & Body in FoCo -- woot!

Slightly creepy photo -- relaxing before the gates open.

The Pateros Creek crew throwing some disc before the gates open.

Limagrain Cereal Seeds & Troubadour Maltings in the house!

Come to the Jamboree! Meet fun people (here: Peter Bouckaert of NBB fame, Frezi Bouckaert of FoCo fame, and TatumCo)...

...and eat great food at the VIP tent!

One of us got to leave the Jamboree to head up Rist Canyon and see Team Rubicon in action. This team of veterans spent the weekend clearing hazardous dead timber left from the High Park Fire, keeping their skills honed for any upcoming emergency, and bonding over shared experiences (past and present). They are the best-natured, hardest-working, and most team-oriented people around. [We brought them a bit of libation for post-work hours. If you think a cold beer tastes good after mowing the lawn....] Read more about what Team Rubicon is and does at this link.

They haul massive limbs and wield a chainsaw with ease
(and translate & sling water containers on an an emergency mission to Ecuador post-earthquake) -- and all the while, under their work gloves...

Many thanks to Team Rubicon for all your work, and to Lisa Smith (top row far right) for inviting Horse & Dragon to come take a look! Y'all can read about TR's Clay Hunt Fellows, which Lisa was just awarded/named for the coming year, here.

Meanwhile, back at the taproom of a Saturday:

Big ups to our Saturday team of Claire, Hayden, Liz, and Benjamin for holding it all together (as always) while the rest of us were out of pocket!

Liz MIGHT have started the shift changing an angry keg of Sad Panda. Addition to the H&D lexicon: "I Panda'd my pants."

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2nd Anniversary -- check out our Team Members' Charities of Choice!

5/1/2016

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Two years ago today we flung open the doors of the taproom to the public for the first time. To celebrate the Terrific Twos, we're having a weekend-long party here and each of our team has chosen a charity to encourage y'all to support with tips or other contributions. The selections, and the reasons for them, make us grateful all over again for the people who work with us here at Horse & Dragon, and for the folks who are devoting their lives to making a positive difference by establishing and working for these charities. Read on to find out a bit more!

The MS Society helps people affected by MS by funding research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating education, and providing programs and services that help those affected and their families. My Poppabear has MS and the people at the MS Society have been very helpful offering transportation services, group therapy, and even helped me navigate transitioning my dad from private insurance to Medicare. They have chapters in all 50 states so their network is expansive. Beyond raising awareness and funding research for rehabilitation technology their goal is a world without MS; something I really hope happens one day.

-- Claire

Non-profit Summitstone Health Partners operates as Larimer County’s “mental health safety net”. Its mission is to provide unsurpassed behavioral health prevention, intervention, and treatment services in Larimer County. One out of four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder. This affects each of us, our friends & families, and our community. Summitstone provides services for all of us, including those not covered by traditional health care plans, at several locations. They recently opened a new mental health crisis services center (like an ER or urgent care center for mental health issues) at 1217 Riverside Ave.
(just south of Consuelo’s Express).
Cheers to a mentally healthy community and thanks to Summitstone Health Partners for all your efforts!

-- Chad

Luke sez: I worked with this group for a while during my time with Job Corps and found they truly had a positive direction and vibe

TCFFO offers a wide range of programs and classes to help adolescents and their families make better choices. The Center is a non-profit agency that offers education, intervention and support. They focus on creating programs and support systems to help youth and families sustain long term, positive changes within the family unit.

-- Luke

The CPRW brings together local volunteer and other groups to take action to protect and preserve the watershed that we live in and rely upon for life in Fort Collins. There are so many reasons that the Poudre River Watershed is important - supporting the population, local businesses, recreation, agriculture. The CPRW is the most effective confluence of the many preservation groups that directs resources toward that goal of protection and preservation of this vital water source in Northern Colorado!

-- Benjamin, Hayden & TimCo

In bicycle-friendly FoCo, we’re used to seeing bikes right and left. In many communities, bikes aren’t so prevalent and are out of reach, financially, for most people. However, they can provide a means for economic change for whole communities. As their website states:

Bikes 4 Life collects, restores and provides bicycles to the most marginalized & impoverished communities around the world. In remote communities a bicycle is not only a means of transport to places of employment and education but can provide many with access to remote sources of food, water, medicine and shelter.
One bicycle can support social rehabilitation & economic change.

-- Titus

Fort Collins’ Murphy Center for Hope is both a core service provider and is a collaborator with agencies that have all assembled under one roof to serve anyone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The Murphy Center serves as a gateway to connecting to a variety of services located outside of the Murphy Center.

-- Christian

The Animal House provides second chances for thousands of our furry friends and is working to reduce euthanasia rates of adoptable animals. They do this by collaborating with overcrowded and kill shelters, providing time and space for homeless animals to find their forever homes, and educating the community. They are a local organization that has been advocating for these silent sufferers for 8 years. Being funded entirely by private contributions they rely on community support to offer these services. The Animal House will also moving their facility in 2016 and can use as much support as possible to make it happen successfully. Please help them continue their mission to improve and save lives!
www.animalhousehelp.org
-- Abby, Ashleigh, Linsey & Sage

Skateistan began as a grassroots 'Sport for Development' project on the streets of Kabul in 2007, and is now an award-winning, international NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) with projects in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa. Skateistan is the first international development initiative to combine skateboarding with educational outcomes. Skateistan is non-political, independent, and inclusive of all ethnicities, religions and social backgrounds.
I believe in this mission because the majority of the children impacted are girls. For many it’s illegal to ride a bicycle but skateboards give them an outlet to freedom, education and community building. These kids shred!
http://skateistan.org/
--Tucker

Literacy is the key to being able to provide for yourself; childhood is the easiest time to become literate. Book Trust is a fantastically simple and effective program that enables full classrooms of children in high need areas to choose and own their own books, which they order from the Scholastic Book Order form each month. The choice & ownership infects whole classrooms of kids to be enthusiastic about reading, and inspires a culture of literacy both in classrooms and in families at home. $10 supports a child for a month’s order.

Book Trust was started in FoCo!
It now serves over 38,000 kids in 132 schools – including 11 in NoCo –
in 15 states and is growing every year.

-- Liz, Tatum & Carol

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Why FoCo? Nights like this one, for starters.

4/9/2016

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Y'all, last Thursday we had a firkin tapping and seafood boil at Jax Fish House. It felt like a vacation on a beach right here in FoCo.

We love Jax for a lot of reasons, not least of which is that this case greets you when you walk through the door (along with a bunch of really awesome people).

When we arrived, Linsey gave their Head Chef Ricky Myers a quick lesson on how to tap a firkin.

He seemed to get the hang of it.

We've never seen such a clean tapping for getting the beer flowing -- usually there's a nice, dramatic fountain of beer before the spigot is fully in the firkin. I keep re-watching this video trying to see if any spilled at all.

Ricky & Linsey had the first samples. Diagnosis: cumin-forward until the swirl, then the lemon comes out. This firkin used our Irish Red as a base beer recipe.

Meanwhile, back at the seafood boil....

Disproving the old adage, this pot had an audience and still boiled for all it was worth.

Cooler full of deliciousness.

Sam spent his "night off" dousing bags of mussels, clams, shrimp, potatoes, onions & corn in this amazing broth. As one 6-ish-aged youngster walking by noted to her mom, "Mmmmm. I smell good spices!"

And here was the result:

As with all the most exciting pairings
(and if you're not excited by great food + craft beer
you're probably not still reading),
both the beer and the food's flavors changed
& blossomed when consumed together.

It was finger-licking good, but just in case you didn't want to go that route, they served up o-shibori.

It was a night for relaxing with friends (and a chef or two -- thanks for sneaking out of the kitchen for a minute, Amy!).

John didn't feel the need to avail himself of the blankets offered on the patio. Carol did.

We might have had an order or two of these.
Not boiled.

Sit facing the restaurant and you get cool views
like this of the College Ave. buildings
reflected in the window as the sun sets.

Here're some of the awesome Jax peeps who rolled out a new menu the same night we invaded to do the seafood boil. They were totally unflustered.

Plus, they seem to have a 2-headed dragon as a kitchen mascot. How can you not love this place?

We give the whole experience the big thumbs up. This team knows how to throw a party. Many thanks for inviting us to be a part of it, Jax FoCo!

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Big Beers, Belgians, & Barleywines (redux) -- v. 2016

1/11/2016

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Shooting star effects courtesy of Ma Nature.

All 3 of y’all who read this blog (hi, Mom!) know that we attended last year’s Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines festival in Vail as consumers. We had a blast (excellent time, file under“market research”) and were pretty psyched to come back this year and pour a few beers. There’s a lot of the weekend I didn’t capture, some awesome seminars that our team attended, a cigar-and-beer-pairing that I missed (alas), and a ton of fun craft beer folk.

I think this festival was started, back in the day, because some now-revered craft brewers wanted to get together in the CO mountains and hang out (and a wise choice that was, because HELLO, scenerygoodbeergoodpeople). I’m pretty sure several of them weren’t in attendance this year, but for those who were – and for all the brewers who’ve come on the scene since then who were here, many thanks for the stellar idea and gathering!

When this is what you see on the drive and out your porch door the first morning,
how can there be anything wrong with the weekend?

Plus, where else but on the way up that canyon are you going to find a school with a mascot like this?

Stocked the 'fridge and then headed out to the Thursday night Brewers' Reception. Slight consternation upon being greeted by this when arriving:

These are not the 'droids you're looking for.

We eventually found the right room, where some tasty beers were being poured by some fun peeps, e.g.:

Tim of Strange Craft and I think the BSG CraftBrewing guy, who sponsored this shindig for all of us, and whose name I've inexplicably forgotten (I am so very good at this networking thing!).

Antics ensued.

Titus sat on the high side of the table at dinner.

Chadwick trying to persuade all to participate in a round of spin-the-shot-wheel.

Saw this sign in Vail Village. All listed in the correct order.

Friday we did some teambuilding.

@Bonfire Brewing.

Bonfire shared a new sour with us!

@ Crazy Mountain Brewery

That's what the kids are calling it these days.

Titus & Luke tried their best to teach some of us some dart technique. Please weigh in on our teachability:

The remarkable thing about this photo at Vail Brewing Co. is that none of us are wearing the same H&D shirt. Not as easy as it sounds, to wit...

...Luke & TimCo sporting the newest fashion in men's P.J.'s: Sad Panda LS tee + plaid trou.

Friday night we had BEERTOSHARE, in which we so firmly believe that I think it's a program we need to get on. Is there a better way to gather than over a large-format bottle of great craft beer?

We were ever so social until Chad learned that the pour list for the next day's commercial tasting had been released. Here he is 3 nanoseconds later:

I managed to miss the Saturday morning seminars (which I hear included some samples of 2006 Utopias, the last year they did an unblended version of this beer) and hearing from our friend Neil Fisher of Weldwerks empaneled alongside giants from Sam Adams & Lagunitas (woot woot!), and a by-all-accounts impressive presentation on human's beer-sensing anatomy in The Science Behind Flavor by Nicole Garneau. I missed these because I was running back to FoCo for a meeting -- during which trip I had cause to be grateful I don't make the Saturday-morning drive west on I-70, ever. (Saw some cool decorated-by-the-elements trees and a great sunrise, tho'.)

[Speaking of FoCo, huge gracias to these folks for holding down The Fort while so many of us were away!]

We've done this. It isn't easy. Thanks, Tucker!

A couple of notes about the actual tasting event at Big Beers -- to be in the festival, a beer must either be over 7% ABV (big), a Belgian style (Belgian, natch), a barleywine (by definition big?), or an experimental beer. It makes the commercial tasting quite an experience – a ton of beers I hadn’t tried before and the ability to talk with people integral to the companies that made each beer (often the brewers themselves) makes this festival a standout. And then there are just the fun folks you bump into (almost all of whom know a ton about beer – it’s an education to wander around this place). *If you're after extensive reviews & beer-tasting notes, stop reading here and go on over to one of the real beer reporters' blogs or articles. I got some good tasting advice from a few of them, including Jonathan Shikes of Westword, who's likely to have a column on it in a minute here. Though I missed him I'd be shocked if Tristan Chan of porchdrinking.com was not there. Focus on the Beer also had a camera or two there. *

Tom (Black Bottle brewer) & Diana & Matthew. And a dude from Barrelworks, if his hat is any indication.

We recognized this guy serving up samples behind Odell's jockey box.

Theodore, returning to his home turf.

Some attendees who knew Linsey in her college days (pre-brewing, during the Zoology era).

Such a high to be around folks who are brewing and showcasing great beers and who love what they do.

Now, back to the (great) grind. But with happy memories of a weekend well spent!

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Brewers' Olympics 2016

Saturday

2nd Anniversary -- check out our Team Members' Charities of Choice!

Why FoCo? Nights like this one, for starters.

Big Beers, Belgians, & Barleywines (redux) -- v. 2016

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Brewers' Olympics 2016

Saturday﻿

2nd Anniversary -- check out our Team Members' Charities of Choice!

Why FoCo? Nights like this one, for starters.

﻿Big Beers, Belgians, & Barleywines (redux) -- v. 2016

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Big Beers, Belgians, & Barleywines (redux) -- v. 2016