On Wednesday, Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock tapped a firkin of barrel-aged saison at Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project's new brewery. He was joined by Richard Scharf of VISIT DENVER, Craft Beer Program Director at the Brewers Association Julia Herz, The Source developer Kyle Zeppelin, and Crooked Stave's owner Chad Yakobson.
This event represented the official opening of the new Crooked Stave location at The Source at 3350 Brighton Blvd., which will be open to the public today at 3 p.m., and also introduce the Denver Beer Trail to the kick off of Denver Beer Fest, a 10-day celebration of all things craft beer in the city.
Up until now, Chad Yakobson has been brewing his beers at Prost Brewing and aging them in his barrel cellar and taproom at 1441 W. 46th Avenue. "We didn't fit at Prost Brewing Company [anymore]," Chad said in a recent Eater interview, adding, "The Denver base at the Source is phenomenal. It's a beautiful taproom. I put a lot of time and effort into that over the past year and a half."
The new taproom is simplistic and industrial in line with The Source's design, and reminiscent of the Crooked Stave Barrel Cellar. The same funky artistry that displays the tap list at the barrel cellar can be found at Crooked Stave's new taproom, this week displaying the popular Surette saison, the white beer-inspired St. Bretta, and the dry-hopped Hop Savant. Also on tap for the brewery's opening are a Burgundy sour called Mystery Cedar Box and another sour beer called Mama Bear's Sour Cherry Pie.
All of the Crooked Stave beers are now brewed onsite at The Source in a 20-barrel brewhouse. In addition to increased production, Yakobson plans to continue the yeast research that the company was founded upon. "A lot of my beers are rooted in research," he says. " My masters is just the beginning of what you can do with Brettanomyces."
Next week, in collaboration with Funk n' Wild, Crooked Stave will present the What The Funk?! festival, showcasing the barrel-aged, the wild, the sour, and the funky. On Friday October 11, Yakobson will be joined by brewers from all over the country, including Portland's Cascade Brewery, California-based The Bruery, and local companies like AC Golden and Hogshead Brewery, to present beers push the boundaries of style, often blurring the lines between beer, wine, and spirits. What The Funk?! begins at 6 p.m. at the Sherman Street Event Center. For more information, visit crookedstave.com.
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