Fancy Pants Sunday: Elevation False Summit

Elevation is a fitting name for the Colorado brewery, situated at 7,464 feet above sea level in Poncha Springs, a mere 15 miles from the ski slopes at Monarch Mountain. Popular with locals as well as the multitude of outdoor adventurers who flood the area every summer to hike neighboring peaks and raft surrounding rivers, it has become known for seasonal, barrel-aged brews that transport taste buds to new, er, heights of flavor.

Xandy Bustamante, Sheila Bustamante, Carline Walsh and head brewer Christian Koch opened Elevation Beer Co. in 2010 specializing in bottling more expensive, seasonal barrel-aged beers, which fits the mold of Peaks and Pints Fancy Pants Sunday — a column that weekly highlights, expensive, complex and/or large format craft beers.

Elevation’s barrel-aged Belgian-style False Summit in 750mL bombers is fancy. The 11.1-percent ABV, quadrupel ale aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels has been one of the brewery’s seasonal, large-format offerings since 2013. Peaks and Pints’ scored the 2015 version, which awaits in our cooler. Aromas of dark fruits, vanilla, and bourbon seep off False Summit’s milk chocolate head. As the beer warms, notes of caramel, oak and dark Belgian candi sugar come more prevalent. This barrel-aged quadruple, like the final stretch of a mountain’s peak, is complex and rewarding.

You fancy, Elevation False Summit.

LINK: Fancy Pants Sunday archives