A brewery on the Pearl St Mall is not exactly my ideal location. For one parking sucks. It's not like parking in SF kind of suck but it can be a routine. Plus any place serving alcohol on the mall can get CROWDED. Regardless, I had to try one of the newer additions to breweries in Boulder. It is beer after all. And this place is where BJ's used to be. My hope was the beer wouldn't be as bad as BJ's.
I made my way down the first night of the playoffs to watch the Giants. Yes, it was crowded as hell and the staff, like most in Boulder, were young and not very helpful. Like when I asked one of the waiters about the type of hops in one of their beers I got a "...we don't give out that info." Oh please. It's f***ing beer not an Ever-Lasting-Gobstopper! So that was a bad start. On to the beer...
As usual I will only review the brews I liked.
Third Kingdon IPA (6.7%)
This was a good intro and got my hopes up. It's a nice 'n dank IPA that has a good balance between the malt and hops with a bit of chewiness to it thanks to it being un-filtered. And like any good IPA it has a citrus hit that really made it for me. The color is perfect for an IPA. All in all a good beer with great malt flavor that cuts through all the dank.
TBD ESB
This was a classic ESB that reminded me of having a fresh Red Hook in Seattle in '91. It's a classic style ESB with a smooth and nutty taste that I really enjoyed. It didn't blow the doors off but a good brew nonetheless. The malt is nice and dry that lends itself to the beer quite nicely. The carbonation was one as well.
Conniption Pale Ale
This was pretty classic. A nice Pale Ale with a hit of hoppy dankness that works pretty well. It has a bitter touch to it with a touch of sweetness. Like any good hoppy ale I like it was the citrus notes that really got me to like this one.
All in all West Flanders serves up some pretty good beers. I was disappointed in the Belgians hence no reviews. Either way I enjoyed a few good pints and I hope they can step up to the plate a bit more and really work on those Belgians. Especially the strong ones.
cheers
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There's always been a particular flavor that lets me know I am drinking a Great Divide brew. I't's not a hoppy thing but more in the yeast and malt. It's a good thing. And this years Hibernation has that. It's a rich, malty English style Ale with chocolaty up front flavors. A roasted coffee taste is there as well as in the nose. And Like any good holiday brew there's a wee bit of cinnamon. It's a bit heavy, which I like, but really delicious. It has an almost warming affect. But that could just be me and the stock bubbling away next to me. There's a bit of hops when you give a whiff and a bit more when you sip. But you gotta concentrate on it. I could see this beer aging well for a year or two. It's rich enough and seems to have enough sugars to pull it off.
