Leah and Drew Watson (Grant Hindsley, The Denver Post)
As 2015 comes to a close, we’re once again asking leading figures on the Colorado beer scene to reflect on the past year and look ahead to next.
This next installment in our 5th annual Beer In Review features Drew and Leah Watson of the northwest Denver pizza restaurant , which features an always excellent and ever-rotating beer selection of both local and national brews.
On to Drew and Leah’s picks:
Favorite beer of the year: When it comes down to it we are hop heads, always have been and always will be. That does not mean we don’t get smitten for many other styles. But this year the hops are reigning supreme for the Watsons and we are going with Alpha Project No.5 from. That beer, wow!
Colorado brewery of the year: So much great stuff going on all over. So many breweries pumping out good stuff. We have a two-way tie happening between out in southeast Denver and up in Fort Collins. Both of these crews consistently put out great beer, varying styles, well brewed and well received. No matter what either one of these places bring us, we can throw it on tap, pour a pint and know that it is going to be great. Thanks for that guys.
New Colorado brewery of the year: is crushing it out of the gate this year. We spend a fair amount of time taking up space down there, and it has been nothing but solid drinkable beers. That’s what we want when we hit a brewery, have a few pours of a few styles and enjoy all of them. Keep up the good work dudes!
Colorado brewery to watch in 2016:. With their added facility and awesome beers it’s a no-brainer. We are looking forward to seeing more of their stuff around the market this coming year!
Most notable craft beer news or trend of 2015: Breweries being bought out by the big boys. Guess their cages have been rattled and they don’t like losing market share. Let’s just hope they don’t mess up the craft beer world, and let it continue to come in to it’s own.
Craft beer trend to watch for in 2016: We think 2016 is going to show a lot more craft beer accessibility. It was more prevalent this year than ever before, but still only in its infancy. Being able to order a solid pint most places you go, finding hotel mini fridges stocked with local craft beers, airports featuring local breweries and sporting venues as well. This is commonplace in Colorado, but we have seen it more and more in our travels. In places that were consumed with macro are now turning over (and not just brands acquired by the big guys) and that is awesome. We hope and feel that this will continue with great force into next year. Cheers!
