13 APRIL 27-MAY 3, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | (The exact amount depends on which style of pour you choose: hladinka, with a thick, creamy head; šnyt, with four-fi nger foam; and the nearly all-foam mlìko.) The bar itself is striking, with gorgeous tile work serving as a backdrop and a wood- paneled nook reminiscent of old Europe to the right. These wonderful details can be credited at least in part to the fact that Larkin has spent nearly six weeks in the Czech Republic over various trips, immers- ing himself in the beer culture. He’s even hired a private tutor, and spends regular time online improving his language skills for future visits. Comrade Brewing 7667 East Iliff Avenue 720-748-0700 comradebrewing.com If you click the “Brews” link on Com- rade Brewing’s website, you’ll fi nd a slew of awards listed. The brewery has some legitimate medal stock in the cabinet, but there’s also a sense of humor in there. “I Know About All These Awards, Just Take Me to the Beer List!,” it says. For those who don’t care about medals, Comrade is consistently recommended by brewers and fans alike as a top stop in Denver, particularly for IPAs, despite the fact that it’s a bit off the beaten path for travelers staying downtown. Comrade is best known for hoppy beers like Superpower IPA and More Dodge Less RAM, but the brewery has a rotation of beers on tap at any given time. One style that it does well is hefeweizen, a type of beer that can be diffi cult to really nail. Stuck in My Cabana is one example of the style that you don’t want to pass up when it’s on tap. REDCON is one of the brewery’s fl agship beers, an Irish red ale that’s elevated from the typical lightly malty, sweet offerings, with added depth from the use of Simcoe hops. It’s a good choice to open with before diving into Comrade’s more fl avor-forward hoppy offerings. Hogshead Brewing 4460 West 29th Avenue 303-495-3105 hogshead54.com Only a decade ago, it seemed like every brewery had at least one English-style beer on tap, whether it was an ESB or an English pale ale, a London porter or even an old ale. Although you’ll still fi nd the occasional Eng- lish porter, and English barleywines and mild ales are enjoying a minor resurgence, English ale as a whole is harder to come by these days. Beer engines are almost unheard of. Hogshead has all this and more. But like the other breweries on this list that specialize in a certain style, Hogshead is not stuck. While a majority of its beers are Eng- lish, it continues to add new and interesting offerings while not straying too far from its roots. One example is Robells, a Dortmunder- style beer also known as a helles export. It’s a fairly atypical German-style lager that falls somewhere between the hopping of a helles and a pilsner, but with a little extra alcohol. Hogshead also knows that not every customer will want cask-conditioned ales; many expect CO2 in their beer. The line between compromising what you stand for and authentically enriching your offerings to please more customers can be diffi cult to see, but Hogshead always seems to fall on the right side of it. Bottom line: Drink the English cask ales, but sneak in something different every once in a while. Novel Strand Brewing 305 West First Avenue 720-949-0246 novelstrand.com Novel Strand’s beer list is usually short and sweet, with a variety of lagers, hoppy beers and miscellaneous additions. (There’s currently a tripel collaboration with Goldspot and a three-year spon blend with Primitive on tap.) When you look at the breweries that Novel Strand regularly collaborates with, it’s no surprise that the beer is delicious. A recent example is Old School 10°P, made with Co- hesion using that brewery’s ingredients and techniques paired with the recipe for Novel Strand’s Alt School Like That altbier (which itself was a collaboration with Bierstadt). Novel Strand was also named 2022’s Brew- ery of the Year by Hop Culture magazine, a notable achievement. The taproom is very inviting, with a lot of natural light and wonder- ful brickwork. It’s cozy without being small, and is tucked away in a more residential part of the vibrant Baker neighborhood. Such a location is fairly unusual for a brewery, and an Arvada rezoning proposal recently used Novel Strand as an example of an ideal residential neighborhood business. River North Brewery 6021 Washington Street, 303-296-2617 3400 Blake Street, 720-236-8260 rivernorthbrewery.com River North was one of the original brew- eries to open in the RiNo neighborhood, and it’s gotten a lot of respect for its qual- ity beer and welcoming taproom over the years. In 2019, it returned to its namesake neighborhood while also keeping its pro- duction taproom, just a little bit north on Washington Street. Having an accessible location and not quite bending to the will of the so-called “hype customer” early on has helped River North fl y under the radar at times, but the brewery really plays in a lot of different areas and excels at just about everything it does. Nobody in Colorado — and few in the world (outside of California’s Bruery) — make as many 20 percent or higher ABV beers as River North. These aren’t just limited to stouts with port-like fl avors, but also super Belgian-style beers and barleywines, which are an eye-opening adventure in the fl avor, complexity and depth that a beer can offer. But River North isn’t limited to high- alcohol beers, either. It was fairly early to the hazy IPA game; Mountain Haze is lauded for being fl avorful yet fairly balanced for the style. Beyond those beers are plenty of other examples that make River North unique, one being its pale festbier. Most breweries in the U.S. make the amber-colored Märzen for Oktoberfest, but River North makes a delicious pale version, the same kind that is actually served at Oktoberfest in Germany. Email the author at [email protected]. 3004 W. 105th Ave Westminster, CO 80031 303-955-0051 8330 Washington St Denver 80229 303-287-4250 7310 N Federal Blvd Westminster 80030 303-650-4030 ................................. ................................. ............ 1967
