Ah, the kids are comfy, in their little bunk beds, the dinner table is cleared and the dishwasher is loaded and whirling about. There is nothing pressing on my to-do list. A nice fire is roaring on this snowy night. My husband has just stomped the snow off of his feet after coming in the front door with a sampling of Colorado winter brews. There are several definitions of a winter brew. Some have higher alcohol content, deceptively to keep your insides warmer during the cold months. Some winter brews add Christmas spices like cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg. Others are seasonally brewed because they contain a fresh ingredient that is harvested in the Fall thus only available for brewing during the Holidays.
Colorado is a special place for beer because it has more beer production per capita than any other state in the U.S., its home to the first brewery to use wind in part of their operation (New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins), it has the highest packing brewery in the United States (Grand Lake Brewing Company in Grand Lake at 8369 feet above sea level), and sports the world’s largest single-site brewery in the world (MillerCoors Company in Golden). Christmas time is a special time for many of Colorado’s beer makers because they brew their seasonal winter beers. Here is a list of ten Colorado winter beers that you can buy at the store.
1. MillerCoors – Winter Fest
2. Avery Brewery – Old Jubilation Ale
3. Boulder Beer – Never Summer Ale
4. Breckenridge Brewery – Christmas Ale
5. Bristol Brewing Company – Winter Warlock Oatmeal Stout
6. Dillon Dam Brewery – RedZone IPA
7. Great Divide – Hibernation Ale
8. New Belgium Brewery – Snow Day
9. Odell Brewing Company – Isolation Ale
10. Tommyknocker Brewery – Cocoa Porter Winter Warmer
I’ve been putting off the question that any article about beer should ask: which of these beers is amazingly great? I’ll condition my answer to this question with the background information that I am a stout girl; a cream stout girl, specifically a St. Peter’s Creme Stout girl. My brother-in-law says I like to drink pork chops. I would take a St. Peter’s Creme Stout over the world’s best piece of cheesecake. Sad to say, I had full intentions to sample each of the Colorado winter brews listed on this page. I only made it through three of them: MillerCoors Winter Fest, Great Divide’s Hibernation Ale, and New Belgium Brewery’s Snow Day. I liked the initial spice of the Winter Fest but honestly had to force myself to finish the bottle. The Hibernation Ale was a little smoother and closer to the stoutness that I like; still one bottle was enough. Snow Day was another one of New Belgium’s over-rated micro brew beers; a little better than a Bud Light. I stopped after these three and rinsed the bad taste out of my mouth with a St. Peter’s Creme Stouts and an Old Rasputin (an Imperial Stout).