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Beer fans sample wares at Boulder Brew Festival

The first Boulder Brew and Music Festival turned the interior of the Fox Theatre into a twisted maze of porters, ales, stouts and lagers.

Several hundred people wandered through the darkened labyrinth on Saturday to sample the more than 50 beers on tap from 27 breweries. There were pomegranate beers and chile beers, organic beers and gluten-free beers, trusted names on the microbrew scene, like New Belgium Brewing Co., and newcomers who have been selling beer for just a few weeks.

"We just want to shine a light on all the breweries that deserve attention, especially some of the brand new breweries," said Jay Kriner of the Beer Clothing Company, which organized the festival.

One of the newcomers is Boulder-based Asher Brewing, Colorado's only all-organic brewery.

Asher's Steve Turner set out to make an organic beer that tasted good.

"Better ingredients makes better beer," he said. "But if the beer isn't good, none of this matters."

It appears he's off to a good start.

"I was pleasantly surprised by the organic beer," said Jim Ruth of Denver. "I was really hesitant to try it because I've had some bad organic beers before, but it was good."

Tim Kellogg came all the way from Rapid City, South Dakota, with some co-workers to take in the festival.

"In South Dakota, we hardly have any good beers," he said. "These guys will tell you they distribute in 26 states, but we're never one of them."

Kellogg, who said he wasn't sure how many beers he'd sampled at that point, particularly liked the Chocolate Porter from Ft. Collins Brewery and Eric's Ale, a sour peach ale from New Belgium Brewing Co., the powerhouse of Colorado microbrews.

Matt Furlong, New Belgium's Boulder area beer ranger, said New Belgium has made Eric's Ale for six years, but it was not widely distributed, except in the tap room at the brewery in Fort Collins. He brought six 24-ounces bottles of the ale and ran out in the first 30 minutes.

Furlong said New Belgium would never pass up a beer festival, despite being so well established.

"It's just part of our culture here in Colorado," he said.

Another part of Colorado's microbrew culture is supporting new entries into an already crowded field.

Kevin Selvy and Jake Maddux said they've gotten a lot of encouragement and support from other breweries as they set up Vail Valley-based Crazy Mountain Brewing Company, which offered a hoppy amber ale and a citrus- and spice-infused witbier, or Belgium-style white beer..

"It is challenging, and yeah, there's a lot of beer here," Selvy said. "But there's a lot of people who like beer, too."

Selvy and Turner said beer festivals are important to getting the word out about their beers.

Even long-time beer aficionados found something new at the Brew Festival.

Christie Slattery, a graduate student at the University of Colorado, said she's been enjoying Colorado's microbrews since moving to Boulder from New Jersey last summer, but she settled in on a few favorites pretty quickly.

The Brew Festival is a chance to try new things, said Slattery, who prefers amber ales, though she also likes seasonal summer ales with their citrus tones.

"There's so much new beer here," she said. "It's just great fun."

This article was cited from www.dailycamera.com and can be viewed here. Contact reporter Erica Meltzer at 303-473-1355 or meltzere@dailycamera.com.

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