Snowmass Mammoth Fest: June 13-15, 2014

Snowmass-Mammoth-FestThe Snowmass Mammoth Fest, formerly Snowmass Chili Pepper & Brew Fest, returns for its 11th year on June 13-15, 2014 in collaboration with Snowmass Tourism. Tickets are on sale now.

The Colorado summer festival season kicks off in Snowmass Village at this year’s Snowmass Mammoth Fest. Snowmass Mammoth Fest is proud to announce that Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and Leftover Salmon, will headline the event this summer. Additional musical artists include Xavier Rudd, Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang, The Motet, Nathaniel Rateliff, Bonerama, Houndmouth, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Wheeler Brothers, The London Souls, Miner, and local DJs Berkel Beats, and Echo Da Funk.

Snowmass Mammoth Fest will include great music and food, but don’t forget about the brews! Come celebrate the Grand Tasting on Saturday, June 14th from 2:00pm to 5:00pm in the festival grounds where 25+ breweries will participate with over 50 different beers. Come sample some tasty brews from your favorite breweries on Saturday afternoon while listening to great music in Snowmass Town Park.

Mammoth-Fest-Brewery-ListThere are options of staying in a local hotel near the event, or you can camp at the event. Snowmass Mammoth Fest is coming up pretty soon, so be sure to check out avialability at local hotels here. Snowmass Mammoth Fest is a unique opportunity to be able to camp out at a festival with great music, food, and of course, craft beer. If you’re more interested in camping, check out the options here.

Snowmass Mammoth Fest – June 13-15, 2014
Snowmass Town Park
2835 Brush Creek Road
Snowmass Village, CO 81615

Colorado Craft Beer Week – March 21-29, 2014

Tomorrow marks the start of the annual Colorado craft beer celebration, Colorado Craft Beer Week. The celebration consists of a collection of events featuring local brewers, restaurants and pubs that serve Colorado craft beer. The next nine days will be a great time to try a new brewery, or check out a taphouse or pub you’ve never been to. There are quite a few different opportunities during the week to learn more about the ever growing Colorado craft beer industry.

ColoradoCraftBeerWeekColorado Craft Beer Week is run by the Colorado Brewers Guild. As they describe it, “Colorado Craft Beer Week is a nine-day celebration of Colorado’s craft brewers, pubs and restaurants. Dozens of events will showcase brewers and educate beer lovers about Colorado’s unique craft beer community.”

There are too many events to list them all, so here are the featured events for the week:

  • Collaboration Fest: March 22, 2014 – This event will showcase the release of over 20 Colorado collaboration beers, all being unveiled at the event! Each beer featured at Collaboration Festival will be created by at least one Colorado Brewers Guild member, with other participating breweries coming from near and far.
  • Escape to Colorado: March 21-29, 2014 – All week long, Epic Brewing will be donating $.25 per pint sold in the tap room of our much-loved Escape to Colorado IPA to the Colorado Brewers Guild. Raise a glass to the CBG for all the work they do for Colorado’s craft breweries.
  • Colorado Craft Beer Week Classic: March 25, 2014 – In celebration of Colorado Craft Beer Week, Lou’s Food is teaming up with four of Colorado’s top breweries to host a 5-course beer dinner. Featured beers provided by Avery Brewing Co., Left Hand Brewing. Upslope Brewing Company and Prost Brewing.
  • New Kids on the Block: March 27, 2014 – New Kids on the Block is a beer-centric event celebrating Colorado breweries under 2 years old. Come in your finest 80s duds to this all-you-can-drink event! The event will include unlimited beer tastings, 80′s jams, a beer-themed buffet and a costume contest.
  • Hops & Handrails: March 29, 2014 – Left Hand Brewing is excited to announce the return of Hops & Handrails Beer Fest & Rail Jam, on March 29th in Longmont, Colorado. The hybrid winter event will feature the finest craft breweries alongside a 25’ high ski ramp at Left Hand Brewery. Hops & Handrails will bring the best Colorado has to offer in a family friendly winter wonderland loaded with snowboards and craft beer!

There are quite a few more events going on during Colorado Craft Beer Week. To find out more, check out the event calendar. Have a fun week checking out Colorado craft beer, and be safe out there!

Beer Mapping: The rise of Craft Beer

The New Yorker recently ran a story about the rise of craft beer in the United States. There are currently 2,360 American craft breweries, and the number is steadily rising each year. The flavors, styles and unique characteristics of craft beer play a major part in the rise in craft beer. Another major reason for the popularity of craft beer is that Americans continue to gravitate towards locally grown and sourced food and beverages. Craft beer is a great example of this. There is something special about getting a freshly brewed beer from a tap, or from a bottle that was filled earlier that day. Chances are the beer was not only brewed locally, but included ingredients that were sourced locally as well.

Black & Tan from Brewery Rickoli in Wheat Ridge, CO

A few interesting facts:

  • Costco’s beer sales now make up 30% of all beer sales.
  • All but 2 states brewed more craft beer in 2012 than in 2011.
  • 27 of the top 50 craft breweries are located in California, New England, Oregon, or the Mid-Atlantic coast. Meaning most of the larger craft breweries are on either the East Cost or West Coast.
  • Colorado has 6 breweries that are listed in the top 50 craft breweries in the country.
  • Craft breweries are least dense in the South.

The story by The New Yorker includes a really cool map that can be sorted by many different criteria. You can sort the map to find out more about breweries in an individual state, how many breweries there are per 500,000 people, which breweries are growing the fastest, or many other other categories. Below are some facts that pertain to Colorado breweries, or to the craft beer industry in Colorado.

Colorado Beer Facts:

  • Two of the top 50 fastest growing craft breweries are Oskar Blues (#36) and Upslope Brewing Company (#41)
  • Breckenridge Brewery, Left Hand, New Belgium, Odell Brewing, Oskar Blues and rank in the top 50 largest craft breweries.
  • In 2012 Colorado had 151 craft breweries, ranking #3 of all states.
  • Total Colorado craft beer production was 1,291,711 barrels, ranking #3 of all states.
  • Total Colorado craft beer production went up 8.98%, ranking #41 of all states.
  • Colorado has 15 craft breweries for every 500,000 people, ranking #5 of all states.

Check out some of the great information available from the beer map on newyorker.com.
For even more information about the craft beer industry, check out the Brewer’s Association’s website

Breckenridge Spring Beer Festival: April 6, 2013

The Breckenridge Spring Beer Festival will be held in downtown Breckenridge, CO. on Saturday April 6th. This beer tasting event will feature over 30 craft brewers, many of them from Colorado! If you’ve never been to Breckenridge, this would be a great time to make your first trip. Breckenridge is an awesome mountain town and a great place to visit. To find out more about visiting Breckenridge, visit the Town of Breckenridge website: http://www.townofbreckenridge.com/.

With 30 craft brewers, and 100 unique brews to sample, the Breckenridge Spring Beer Festival will have craft beers of all kinds. The list of brewers on tap for the show is outstanding, and no doubt you will find one of your favorite Colorado brewers there.  Below is a list of all the brewers that will be part of the Breckenridge Spring Beer Festival:             * = Colorado Brewers

AC Golden Brewing Company* Kona Brewing
Alaskan Brewing Company Left Hand Brewing Company*
Avery Brewing Company* Oskar Blues Brewery*
Bonfire Brewing* Palisade Brewery*
Boulder Beer Company* Prost Brewery*
Boulevard Brewing Pug Ryans Brewery*
Breckenridge Brewery* Samuel Adams
Bristol Brewing Company* San Luis Valley Brewing Company*
Copper Kettle Brewing Company* Sapporo USA
Crabtree Brewing Company* Sierra Nevada
Crazy Mountain Brewing Company* SKA Brewing*
Deschutes Brewery Stone Brewing
Echo Brewing* Trinity Brewing Company*
FATE Brewing Company* Upslope Brewing Company*
Goose Island Widmer Brothers
Great Divide Brewing Company*  

The Breckenridge Spring Beer Festival will provide live music from three bands from 12:00-5:00PM. The headliner will be 7Horse, you can find out more about them here: http://www.7horsemusic.com/. There will also be food and retail vendors at the event. The Breckenridge Spring Beer Festival is sponsored by KSMT The Mountain.

To get tickets to the Breckenridge Spring Beer Festival, go to: http://breckenridgebeerfestival.net/april/event-info-2/