Do you need a craft beer to match your feelings about the aftermath of a swarm of uncontrolled megafires? What would you like to drink will pondering an unprecedented machine-gun blast of devastating hurricanes, one after another? Is there a craft beer that reminds you of the biblical-scale flooding we have seen this year? Wackos with machine guns? Science-denying governors? Yeah, probably not. We do live in a time of surreal madness and thrumming dread. And, certainly breweries don’t brew beers to celebrate death and greed and sorrow and murder. But, all the evil cranked to 11 is on Peaks and Pints’ mind. And our Craft Beer Crosscut 11.7.17: A Flight of Dark Times reflects our feelings.
TRVE Cursed
4.5% ABV
TRVE Brewing opened in June 2012 in a long, skinny space on Denver’s major transportation corridor, Broadway. The layout gives the place a dark and divey feel, which is just fine with owner Nick Nunns, who names all of his beers after black heavy metal bands or songs and plays black metal music most of the time. Cursed, a “Mixed Culture Sour Pale Ale,” hits the nose with a slight funk, a lightly grassy note and a bit of a lemony tang. On the tongue, expect all the things — lemon, lacto tartness, Brett, grass, fruit with a subtle, enticing dry-hop component on the finish.
Founders Backwoods Bastard
11.2% ABV, 50 IBU
Founders Brewing is one of the first American breweries to barrel age beer, and the Grand Rapids, Michigan brewery does so in old gypsum mines, aging the beer some 85-feet underground. That the Backwoods is boozier than its little Bastard brother is only a side note; the big distinguishing factor of Founders Brewing Scotch ale is that it is aged in bourbon barrels, with great undertones of vanilla, bourbon, oak and dark fruits. It’s smooth and creamy, with the mouthfeel of a milk stout and the body of a Scotch ale. Let this sweet Bastard sit for a few minutes for a richer taste as it gets warmer, reducing the sugar-sweet fresh-out-of-the-fridge impression and replacing it with a complex depth. The alcohol cuts away any aftertaste while dominating the aromatics. While the artwork depicts a scary weathered, pioneer-type hermit bearing an axe, this beer demands a certain amount of relaxation. We recommend chilling out by a fire while you drink this Bastard.
Skookum Murder of Crows Imperial Stout
9% ABV, 70 IBU
Loud, rambunctious, and very intelligent, crows are most often associated with a long history of fear and loathing. Farmers trying to protect their crops and seedlings consider Crows pests. Many people fear them simply because of their black feathers, which are often associating them with death. But research demonstrated in a murder of crows proves crows are actually very social and caring creatures, and also among the smartest animals on the planet. Skookum Brewery head brewer Hollis Wood is also smart — not for naming his imperial stout Murder of Crows as the beer is finished on old crow whiskey oak cubes, but rather the man known for brewing amazing IPAs can also create a big, roasty stout with bitter chocolate, oak, dark fruit and a subtle smoky char flavors.
Iron Goat Impaler Imperial IPA
8.5% ABV, 72 IBU
Iron Goat Impaler sounds menacing, but the brewery’s name hearkens back to Expo ’74, the world’s fair that took place in Spokane in 1974. The brewery is named after a garbage-eating goat sculpture at the fair. A year after moving into their new digs in downtown Spokane Iron Goat Brewing Co. now distributes in Tacoma, including Peaks and Pints in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Owned by couples Greg and Heather Brandt and Paul Edminster and Sheila Evans, the increased production capacity allows for more consistent distribution of both bottled and draft beers in the local market and the recent expansion into Western Washington. The Impaler, an imperial India pale ale and its kid brother Head Butt IPA (also in our cooler), both receive a biscuity character from Munich malt, and fruity flavors and aromas from Southern Hemisphere hops: Australia’s passionfruit-scented Galaxy in the Impaler, and New Zealand’s lemon/lime Motueka in the Head Butt.
Triplehorn Intervention
8.8% ABV, 80 IBU
According to Norse mythology, the world was created when Odin and his brothers slew the primeval Frost-Giant Ymir, and it will come to an end when the Giants rise against Odin and his comrades and kill them in battle. Certain doom awaits the gods and men alike, but in the face of that doom the one noble activity is war, and to die courageously fighting was the only way to enter Valhalla, the warrior’s paradise. Triplehorn Brewing Co. follows the ways of Norse mythology, at least in its décor and brew names. “For men of consequence a mound should be raised to their memory, and for all other warriors who had been distinguished for manhood a standing stone, a custom that remained long after Odin’s time,” states its website. We’re not sure what that means, but it sound like someone needs an Intervention … the brewery’s double IPA. With aroma full of resinous pine and a sweet grain backbone, the flavor follows suite, thanks to Munich malt, honey and wheat on a mix of Amarillo, Citra and Cascade hops.
