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Funky, Sour, and Wild: Experts Suggest 28 Places To Find Farmhouse Ale In Denver and Boulder

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America is recently obsessed with farmhouse, or wild ales, beers often mirrored after Belgian styles of beer fermented with wild yeast strains. These beers can be sour, tart, fruity, zesty, or herbal— they are harvest-driven beers, often brewed with seasonal ingredients.

We asked brewers and experts where they drink sour, wild, and funky ales in Colorado, and they had a lot to say. Here are 26 places to drink wild ale in Denver and Boulder. Coming soon is another map on where to find farmhouse beers in Fort Collins.


What did we miss? Email us at denver@eater.com and we'll add it to the map.

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Falling Rock Tap House

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Falling Rock is often noted as one of the country's best craft beer bars, and for good reason. The 80+ taps often sport rare sour beers like the Russian River Supplication and Quintine Saison 2000.

The Kitchen Denver

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Perhaps one of the most artfully crafted beer lists in town is at The Kitchen. It currently includes French, Belgian, and Canadian wild ales on tap, as well as more beers from Norway and Belgium in the barrel-aged and wild section of the bottled beer menu.

Wynkoop Brewing Co.

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Andy Brown at Wynkoop is experimenting with farmhouse yeast and barrel aging, among many other small-batch projects.

Freshcraft

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The bottled beer menu here is separated by country of origin, and extensive— so ask the knowledgable staff for farmhouse yeast and wild ale options you shouldn't miss. Freshcraft almost always has sour beer on tap, too.

Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen

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Euclid Hall's menu includes Duchesse de Bourgogne Flemish sour ale, La Fin Du Monde, and Petrus Aged Pale.

Ale House at Amato's

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The ever-changing lineup of beers at The Ale House often includes beers like the Boulevard Tank 7 saison, as well as wild ales from many Colorado craft breweries.

Colt & Gray

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He might be a sommelier by training, but the beverage director at Colt & Gray and Ste. Ellie Kevin Burke knows his beer. He chooses the rotating tap list, which features beers that you won't find at other Denver bars.

Ste. Ellie

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"We always have wild ale on tap at wither Ellie or Colt & Gray," says Kevin Burke. "And we try to keep one on both sets of [draft] lines."

Lower 48

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Lower48 is currently offering two beers that are brewed with brettanomyces: Paradox Brewery Nihilist, and Liefman's Goudenband. Go now— the beer list rotates!

Great Divide Brewing

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Great Divide has a new sour and wild ale program. The first of its specialty releases: Peach Grand Cru. "Brewed with Colorado fruit, this Belgian-style ale marries two of our home state’s well-known offerings: great beer and fresh Palisade peaches."

Star Bar

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Of Star Bar, author of Vintage Beer (that will release March 11) Patrick Dawson says, "A dirty, dive bar with a very impressive dedication to serving sour and wild beers."

River North Brewery

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Here you can find the J. Marie saison, named after the owner's wife, made with saison yeast.

Black Shirt Brewing Co.

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"Black Shirt makes a Red Sour Mash Saison that they just call Sour Mash Saison," says Denver Off The Wagon editor Sarah Haughey. "The beer rocks! Highly recommend."

Crooked Stave

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The Brettanomyces-obsessed Chad Yakobson has made a name for himself through experimentation with this yeast strain known to create sour and funky beers. Crooked Stave beers are currently brewed at Epic Brewing, where you can purchase the Crooked Stave and Epic sour saison collaboration, Elder Brett.

Epic Brewing Denver

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Epic Brewing brews many of its beers with a proprietary yeast strain named Brainless. Look for the Brainless Golden Ale, The Brainless on Peaches, The Brainless on Raspberries, The Brainless on Cherries, and the Brainless Belgian-style IPA among its 25 taps.

Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Cafe

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La Chouffe, Cuvee des Trolls, Orval, and Lindeman’s are just a small sampling of the sour and wild Belgian beers available at Cheeky Monk. Soon its owners will open the doors at Lost Highway Brewing Company next door, with more wild ales to come.

TRVE Brewing Co.

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Try the Grey Watcher Grisette-style Farmhouse Ale and the Circle The Wagons saison.

Historians Ale House

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The Epic Brewing Sour Apple Saison, among many other locally brewed wild ales, can be found among the 40-draft lineup at Historian's.

Former Future Brewing Company

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Brand new to Denver's scene and getting rave reviews is Former Future, who taps a wild yeast saison, an IPA brewed with Brettanomyces, and an American strong sour ale.

World of Beer

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As you'd expect from a bar named World of Beer, the wild ale selection here is also exotic, with extensive list of international bottled beers and sours from Petrus and Perennial on tap.

Stapleton Tap House

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This tap house boasts Colorado beers on ever-changing taps, including the Funkwerks Tropic King, the TRVE Circle The Wagons, and wild beers from Trinity Brewing.

Colorado Plus Brew Pub

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This brewpub only serves Colorado beers, and house-made brews by Adam Draeger, formerly of Yak & Yeti. The sour and wild selections at Colorado Plus come from Odell, Funkwerks, Crooked Stave, Black Bottle Brewing, Strange Brewing, and Verboten.

Crystal Springs Brewing

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Crystal Springs offers a lambic, and will debut Velvet Shank brewed with Brettanomyces this spring.

West Flanders Brewing Company

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"Head brewer Brian Lutz was making wild and barel-aged beers long ago when few in CO had ever heard or made them," says Marty Jones. "His Woodville project of all barrel-aged and wild beers from ten years ago was ahead of its time. He does such beers now -- the recent Brett on the Broncos for example -- and has more in the works."

West End Tavern

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One of Boulder's oldest taverns now serves wild selections like New Belgium's Transatlantic Kriek, Perennial Berliner Weisse, and several bottled wild European beers.

Backcountry Pizza & Tap House

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Perhaps the most eclectic and developed wild ale list casually slips under the radar at Boulder's Backcountry Pizza. Not to mention the perfect summertime patio.

Avery Brewing Company

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Home of the annual Sour Fest, Avery Brewing is surely serving something wild or barrel aged at the Boulder taproom on any given day.

Upslope Brewery

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Go for the Belgian-style pale ale brewed with Trappist Ale yeast. This limited release beer is available in a can, too.

Falling Rock Tap House

Falling Rock is often noted as one of the country's best craft beer bars, and for good reason. The 80+ taps often sport rare sour beers like the Russian River Supplication and Quintine Saison 2000.

The Kitchen Denver

Perhaps one of the most artfully crafted beer lists in town is at The Kitchen. It currently includes French, Belgian, and Canadian wild ales on tap, as well as more beers from Norway and Belgium in the barrel-aged and wild section of the bottled beer menu.

Wynkoop Brewing Co.

Andy Brown at Wynkoop is experimenting with farmhouse yeast and barrel aging, among many other small-batch projects.

Freshcraft

The bottled beer menu here is separated by country of origin, and extensive— so ask the knowledgable staff for farmhouse yeast and wild ale options you shouldn't miss. Freshcraft almost always has sour beer on tap, too.

Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen

Euclid Hall's menu includes Duchesse de Bourgogne Flemish sour ale, La Fin Du Monde, and Petrus Aged Pale.

Ale House at Amato's

The ever-changing lineup of beers at The Ale House often includes beers like the Boulevard Tank 7 saison, as well as wild ales from many Colorado craft breweries.

Colt & Gray

He might be a sommelier by training, but the beverage director at Colt & Gray and Ste. Ellie Kevin Burke knows his beer. He chooses the rotating tap list, which features beers that you won't find at other Denver bars.

Ste. Ellie

"We always have wild ale on tap at wither Ellie or Colt & Gray," says Kevin Burke. "And we try to keep one on both sets of [draft] lines."

Lower 48

Lower48 is currently offering two beers that are brewed with brettanomyces: Paradox Brewery Nihilist, and Liefman's Goudenband. Go now— the beer list rotates!

Great Divide Brewing

Great Divide has a new sour and wild ale program. The first of its specialty releases: Peach Grand Cru. "Brewed with Colorado fruit, this Belgian-style ale marries two of our home state’s well-known offerings: great beer and fresh Palisade peaches."

Star Bar

Of Star Bar, author of Vintage Beer (that will release March 11) Patrick Dawson says, "A dirty, dive bar with a very impressive dedication to serving sour and wild beers."

River North Brewery

Here you can find the J. Marie saison, named after the owner's wife, made with saison yeast.

Black Shirt Brewing Co.

"Black Shirt makes a Red Sour Mash Saison that they just call Sour Mash Saison," says Denver Off The Wagon editor Sarah Haughey. "The beer rocks! Highly recommend."

Crooked Stave

The Brettanomyces-obsessed Chad Yakobson has made a name for himself through experimentation with this yeast strain known to create sour and funky beers. Crooked Stave beers are currently brewed at Epic Brewing, where you can purchase the Crooked Stave and Epic sour saison collaboration, Elder Brett.

Epic Brewing Denver

Epic Brewing brews many of its beers with a proprietary yeast strain named Brainless. Look for the Brainless Golden Ale, The Brainless on Peaches, The Brainless on Raspberries, The Brainless on Cherries, and the Brainless Belgian-style IPA among its 25 taps.

Related Maps

Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Cafe

La Chouffe, Cuvee des Trolls, Orval, and Lindeman’s are just a small sampling of the sour and wild Belgian beers available at Cheeky Monk. Soon its owners will open the doors at Lost Highway Brewing Company next door, with more wild ales to come.