Do you find yourself craving some exciting and rare beer? Do you struggle to find those specialties on your local dusty liquor store shelves? Have no fear because the Denver Rare Beer Tasting is (almost) here! The festival has announced its pour list, and there are many treats to entice you to attend.
An intimate and carefully curated addition to Great American Beer Festival week, the Denver Rare Beer Tasting is a relaxing festival offering the opportunity to sample rare beer while chatting with the people who made it. Taking place on three floors of the McNichols Civic Center Building, there is ample space to spread out without feeling crowded or rushed. The focus at the tasting is on the exquisite beer being poured, the stories behind the beer and the people who made it. The lines are short and the attitudes are open and willing for discourse.
While PorchDrinking.com could perhaps guide you toward some specific highlights on the pour list, the Denver Rare Beer Tasting is best explored with an open mind and willingness to try some of the participating breweries’ best beer—even if it’s not your typical favorite style. Those with curious palates will no doubt be rewarded with amazing beer and perhaps a new appreciation for a brewery or style they had not previously explored.
The announced beer list (so far) is below:
- Alamo Beer Company, San Antonio, Texas – Victory or Death
- The Ale Apothecary, Bend, Oregon – Spontaneous Wild Ale Aged on Chenin Blanc Grapes
- Alesong Brewing and Blending, Eugene, Oregon – Double Barrel Maestro
- Amalgam Brewing, Denver, Colorado – Another Realm (Batch 2) & Freeform: Central Coast Syrah (Batch 2)
- Avery Brewing, Boulder, Colorado – TBD
- Barrique Brewing and Blending, Nashville, Tennessee – Strawberry TenneSPON & Vitis Cerevisiae
- Beachwood Brewing, Long Beach, California – Cuvee Adela, Frambiek & Barrel Aged Vanilla Fudge
- Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Denver, Colorado – TBD
- The Big Friendly, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Joe’s Cherry Preserves
- Big Sky Brewing, Missoula, Montana – Bourbon Barrel Aged Ivan The Terrible Imperial Stout
- Bombastic Brewing, Hayden, Idaho – Bukwus
- Bottle Logic, Anaheim, California – Intrepid Observation
- Bow and Arrow Brewing, Albuquerque, New Mexico – Midnight with a Chance of Coyotes Imperial Stout & Sunbloom Saison with Navajo Sumac and Orange Peel
- Branch & Bone Artisan Ales, Dayton, Ohio – Jamaican Rum Barrel Aged Barleywine with Toasted Coconut, Tahitian Vanilla and Ceylon Cinnamon, Feral Dawn & Gorlami
- Buried Acorn Brewing, Syracuse, New York – Vincent Batch 5
- Burns Family Artisan Ales, Denver, Colorado – Artemesia & Prince’s Cellar
- Casey Brewing and Blending, Glenwood Springs, Colorado – Barrel Aged Wrong Answers Only – Brazilian Chamissonis and Bahiana Vanilla Beans
- Cerebral Brewing, Denver, Colorado – TBD
- Comrade Brewing, Denver, Colorado – More Dodge Less RAM
- Creature Comforts Brewing, Athens, Georgia – LA Commemorative Stout
- Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, Delaware – Bière de Coupage: Le Botaniste & CocoAmburana
- Ecliptic Brewing, Portland, Oregon – TBD
- Fiction Beer Company, Denver, Colorado – Barrel Aged Zembla Baltic Porter with Bad Ass Coffee
- Fidens Brewing, Colonie, New York – Jasper with Nelson
- Forager Brewing, Rochester, Minnesota – Double Barrel Nillerzzzzz
- Fort George Brewery, Astoria, Oregon – Matryoshka 2023 with Mexican Vanilla Bean, Coconut And Lime Leaf
- Fox Farm Brewery, Salem, Connecticut – Triolet: Blend of One, Two, and Three Year Old Spontaneous Ale
- Free Will Brewing, Perkasie, Pennsylvania – Dystopias & Ralphius
- Garden Path Fermentation, Burlington, Washington – The Fruitful Barrel Blueberries and Fir Tips
- Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, Colorado – Barrel Aged Yeti Imperial Stout (Vertical of ’21, ’22 & ’23 vintages)
- Jessup Farm Barrel House, Fort Collins, Colorado – 2019 Amburana Quad
- Jester King Brewery, Austin, Texas – SPON Three Year Blend
- Joyride Brewing , Edgewater, Colorado – 2023 Barrel Aged Loxodonta Imperial Stout with Coconut & Vanilla
- Kane Brewing, Ocean, New Jersey – A Night to End All Dawns Affogato & Field & Oak Second Anniversary
- La Cumbre Brewing, Albuquerque, New Mexico – No, You’re a Dort
- Live Oak Brewing, Austin, Texas – Smoaktoberfest
- The Lost Abbey, Vista, California – Cable Car & TBD
- Mikerphone Brewing, Elk Grove Village, Illinois – 2023 Barrel-Aged Imperial Smells Like Bean Spirit
- NoDa Brewing, Charlotte, North Carolina – Twilight of the Thunder God Nordic Barrel Aged Imperial Stout & SLURP Tsunami
- Odyssey Beerwerks, Arvada, Colorado – Barrel Aged Brown Sugar Barley Wine
- Old Irving Brewing Co., Chicago, Illinois – Barrel Aged Migration
- Other Half Brewing, Brooklyn, New York – BA Bannaversary 2023
- Ozark Beer, Rogers, Arkansas – Onyx B.D.C.S 2022 & Key Change
- Perennial Beer, St. Louis, Missouri – Peyto
- Pig Minds Brewing, Machesney Park, Illinois – 2022 Barrel Aged Barking Crow
- Prairie Artisan Ales, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – TBD
- Primitive Beer, Longmont, Colorado – Effectively Seasoned
- Radiant Beer, Anaheim, California – Coconut Catharsis
- Reuben’s Brews, Seattle, Washington – Heart of the Wood
- River North Brewery, Denver, Colorado – Quadruple Barrel Aged Anniversary 11 Stout
- Rowley Farmhouse Ales, Santa Fe, New Mexico – Ned Ryerson
- Samuel Adams Brewery, Boston Massachusetts, Barrel Aged Vixen & Utopias Specialty Blend (2019)
- Scofflaw Brewing, Atlanta, Georgia – Sour No. 2 Barrel-Aged Mixed-Culture Sour Blonde with Peaches
- Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico, California – Trip In The Woods – Old Fashioned
- True Anomaly Brewing, Houston, Texas – Flanders Redux
- Twin Elephant Brewing, Chatham, New Jersey – Under the Running Board
- Union Craft Brewing, Baltimore, Maryland – Vibration Vibration Vibration Barrel Aged Dark Sour Ale with Black Currants
- Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project, Loveland, Colorado – 2022 Double Oaked Cognac Grow Old With You & Barrel-Aged Others in Darkness: Cocoa Vanilla
- Wallenpaupack Brewing, Hawley, Pennsylvania – Bourbon Barrel Fermented Grodziskie
- Weathered Souls Brewing, San Antonio, Texas – Single Barrel
- WeldWerks Brewing, Greeley, Colorado – Coconut Scoop & Amburana Vanilla Luar
- Westbound & Down Brewing, Idaho Springs, Colorado – Louie
- Wise Man Brewing, Winston-Salem, North Carolina – Bourbon Barrel-Aged The Deepest Dream Oud Bruin
- Woods Boss Brewing, Denver, Colorado – Saison Paradisio, The Morality of Pineapples & Barrel Aged Reviresco
Tickets for Denver Rare Beer Tasting are still available for $200 and feature a single admission format with a four-hour session for all ticket buyers from noon to 4 p.m.. Treat yourself and a beer buddy (or loved one I suppose) with tickets and enjoy a day of rare and magnificent beer.