The Great American Beer Festival isn’t what it once was. This year’s two-day iteration takes place during the day at Levitt Pavilion and will welcome just 15,000 guests as opposed to the 60,000 who once gathered at the Colorado Convention Center.
As a result, the number and scope of parties, pairings, tappings and other events around Denver have also declined significantly from the hundreds that once dotted the city to just a few dozen this year.
But that doesn’t mean they won’t be fun and festive and full of delicious beer. Here are a few to check out.
Thursday, Oct. 8
Tennessee’s Xul Beer Company is one of the hottest breweries out there at the moment, making the kinds of beers that were popular in Colorado five years ago. And they will take over the taps at Cerebral Brewing’s Congress Park location, 1477 Monroe St., from 11 a.m. until they are sold out today. Xul will have “a stacked lineup of their beers, an epic merch collection, and absolutely no regard for our usual operating procedures,” Cerebral said. The brewery is known for slushy sours, heavily adjuncted pastry stouts and hazy IPAs. Their most well-known beer is PB&J Mixtape, a peanut butter and jelly sour
Bierstadt Lagerhaus, 2875 Blake St., which specializes in German-style lagers, taps its seasonal Hellerbock today. It will also have a rotating selection of beers from Washington State starting at 4 p.m.
The Krispy King Lager Competition returns to Barrels & Bottles Brewery in Golden from 2-9 p.m. Nearly 50 lagers, all under 5.5% ABV will be tapped and prizes will be awarded. There will be live music, food vendors, custom hats/shirts, and collaborator/brewer welcome pours. For a list of breweries, go to krispykinglager.com. 1055 Orchard St., Golden.
Friday, Oct. 9
Czech beer specialist Cohesion Brewing, 3851 Steele St., welcomes in 9 breweries from around the country for Lager Land, a tap takeover from noon to 10 p.m. Other breweries pouring lagers include Fonta Flora, Bow and Arrow, Breakside, Pfriem, Gold Dot, and more.
New Image Brewing, 9505 W. 44th Ave., in Wheat Ridge, brings in several guest breweries from noon to close today. Huddle Up, as the tapping is called, has rare or special beers from Offscript, Tall Trees, Amalgam, Grains of Wrath, Milieu, Ghost Town and Riip Brewing. There are also limited-release glassware and brick oven pizzas. Five-ounce pours are $5 a pop.
Hops & Pie, 3920 Tennyson St., continues as a must-visit destination during GABF week. Today from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., you’ll find an extensive beer list that includes selections from 3 Floyds, Allagash, Pizza Port, Russian River, Ska, Telluride, Westbound & Down, Outer Range and 4 Noses.
Improper City, 3201 Walnut St., will tap tons of beers from a wide variety of in-state and out-of-state breweries today, tomorrow, and Sunday. The breweries include Mikerphone, Trillium, Main Beer Co., Weldwerks, Bow and Arrow, Freemont, Crooked Stave, Other Half, Milieu, Offscript, Outer Range, Wiley Roots, La Cumbra, Lawson’s, Fonta Flora, New Terrian, Cerebral, Great Notion, Brujos, Fat Orange Cat, Pfriem, Forbidden Root, Fidens and more.
Saturday, Oct. 10
Ratio Beerworks will host state brewers’ guilds from across the country today at its Overland location, 2030 S. Cherokee St., which is just a five-minute drive from Levitt Pavilion. “If You Guild It, They Will Come” runs from 4 to 8 p.m. and offers a chance for attendees to meet reps from the guilds in Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, New York, Montana, Florida and Colorado. They can also try a selection of beers from breweries in those states, including: False Idol, Live Oak, Martin House and Jester King (Texas); Tractor Brewing, Ex Novo (New Mexico); Sunriver and Breakside (Oregon); and more. There will be live mariachi music.
Head back to Hops & Pie, 3920 Tennyson St., from noon to 10 p.m. for a curated lineup from Monksh, Other Half, Bissell Brothers, Bale Breaker, Foam Brewers, Forbidden Root, Ghost Town, Gold Dot, Grains of Wrath, Green Cheek, 2 Towns Ciderhouse, ISM, Breakside, La Cumbre, Narragansett, North Park, Perennial, pFriem, Pinthouse, Riip, and The Veil.
GABF has been pretty good to River North Brewery over the years, awarding it multiple medals. So, the brewery is bringing back some of its past winners to both of its taprooms. You’ll find Squirrels Just Want to Have Fun, Midnight Hike, Nightmare Fuel, River North White and more. The RiNo location, 3400 Blake St., opens at noon. North, at 6021 Washington St., opens at 1 p.m.
Table Public House, a coffee shop and gathering space at 2190 S. Platte River Dr. in Denver, is leveraging its proximity to Levitt Pavilion by hosting a GABF afterparty from 5 to 7 p.m. Find beers from Toppling Goliath, Fremont, La Cumbre, pFriem, and Ghost Town. Each brewery will have reps present to answer questions.
Bierstadt Lagerhaus, 2875 Blake St., will be offering shuttle service to and from GABF today and tomorrow. Go to Eventbrite for details. The brewery also has a selection of guest beers on tap from California breweries.
With GABF moving out of downtown and into southwest Denver, other businesses are getting a chance to participate. One of those is Riot BBQ, 2188 S. Delaware St., which was co-founded by Michelin award-winning chef Michael Diaz de Leon. The spot will give over its taps to Cerebral Brewing and Milieu Brewing for the weekend. Both are known for hazy IPAs, but make other great beers as well. Live music from 3-5 p.m.
