Lafayette brewers punch above their weight

COLORADO BREWERS CUP

Longmont’s 300 Suns, Wibby, Left Hand and Bearded Brewer among the winners

Dan Distlear, owner and head brewer, stirs, as Trey Harvey, assistant brewer, pours grain into the mash for an Orange Roll Sour Ale at 300 Suns Brewing in Longmont on Thursday. The brewery is celebrating its 11-year anniversary. MATTHEW JONAS — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Image

By Bizwest

bizwest@medianewsgroup.com

Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado breweries took home two dozen medals at the Colorado Brewers Cup, with Lafayette brewers accounting for a whopping nine awards.

The event, hosted by the Colorado Brewers Guild in Aurora, featured 650 entries from 134 craft breweries around the Centennial State. The beers were judged by a panel of 58 experts from six states.

Denver breweries won 18 medals, the most for any city; with Lafayette brewers coming in second with nine awards.

The Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado winners included:

Golden, blonde, and other light ales

Gold: Westbound & Down Brewing Co. (Lafayette), The Coloradan.

Kölsch

Silver: Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. (Lafayette), Kölsch.

Dark Lagers

Gold: Wibby Brewing (Longmont), Moondoor Dunkel.Bronze: Fritz Family Brewers (Niwot), Niwot After Dark.

Standard American-style IPAs

Silver: Westbound & Down (Lafayette), Westbound Select.

Bronze: Westbound & Down (Lafayette), Westbound IPA.

Standard international and experimental hoppy beers

Gold: Silver: Westbound & Down (Lafayette), Spirit of the West.

Standard hazy pale ales and IPAs

Silver: Beyond The Mountain Brewing Co. (Boulder), I Wish You More.

Malty North American beers

Bronze: Odell Brewing Co. (Fort Collins), 90 Shilling.

Classic United Kingdom amber and brown ales

Gold: Stodgy Brewing Co. (Fort Collins), Scottish Ale.

Porters and stouts

Silver: Stodgy Brewing Co. (Fort Collins), English Porter.

Strong classic UK and North American ales

Silver: Verboten Brewing (Loveland), Grow Old With You.

Herb, spice and smoked beers

Gold: Liquid Mechanics Brewing (Lafayette), El Poblano Borracho.

Silver: Left Hand Brewing Co. (Longmont), Mexican Hot Chocolate Milk Stout.

Belgian and French ales

Bronze: Windfall Brewing Co. (Westminster), Windfall Saison.

Coffee, chocolate and dessert beers

Silver: Verboten Brewing (Loveland), Others in Darkness: Irish Coffee.

Bronze: 300 Suns Brewing (Longmont), Psychotic Balaclava Horchata Stout.

Brett and wild Beers

Silver: Cellar West Artisan Ales (Lafayette), Green Spur.

Bronze: Primitive Beer (Lafayette), Stable Of Stars.

Experimental and specialty Beers

Gold: The Post Brewing Co. (Lafayette), East County Fine Malt Liquor.

Silver: Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales (Longmont), Cinnamon Roll Blonde Ale.

Bronze: Wonderland Brewing Co. (Broomfield), Oily Oaf.

In addition to the awards for individual beers, the Colorado Brewers Guild issued Ambassador of Craft Awards to the following founding guild board members:

Jeff Mendel, Tabernash Brewing, Left Hand Brewing.

Tara Dunn, Great Divide Brewing Co.

Jeff Brown, Boulder Beer Co.

Mike Bristol, Bristol Brewing Co.

Doug Odell, Odell Brewing Co.

Mark Youngquist, Rock Bottom Brewing, Boulder Beer, Walnut Brewery, Dolores River Brewing

“The Colorado Brewers Guild was founded in 1995 by a group of passionate individuals who saw the potential of working together. Oregon had just started a guild to collectively promote their craft breweries and Colorado brewery owners were looking to do the same thing. They quickly realized that agreeing on a marketing strategy wasn’t easy, however, they found that they could agree on being active at the state capitol to protect the interests of small breweries,” CBG executive director Shawnee Adelson said in a prepared statement.