by: Jon Leyba – Denver TapHunter

The Keystone Bluegrass and Beer Fest was a blast.  The cool, rainy weather turned out to be perfect—generally just a drizzle with one brief downpour—for an afternoon of high-altitude drinking.  Ski town charm, big pours (3 ounces; I’m accustomed to the single ounce pours at GABF!), and great company (my lovely girlfriend) made for a wonderful weekend.  Some highlights:
•       Right out of the gate, we found a nice brew on the first pour. Great Divide’s “Hoss” Rye Lager (greatdivide.com) is mildly sweet, earthy, spicy, and then finishes crisp and clean as a whistle.  I’ve finished the last few beer fests wondering why I don’t buy more rye beers; this time is no exception.
•       If you’ve had a mountain outing in Colorado, there’s a good chance you’ve been to the Dillon Dam Brewery (dambrewery.com), a popular après-ski favorite.  They serve up some great food and beer right off
the highway, but my new Dillon pick might be Pug Ryan’s Steakhouse and Brewery (pugryans.com).  They brought some great beers to the fest, and I’ve been to the restaurant in the past for some killer burgers.
Try the unique Scottish Ale if you get a chance.
•       I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with green chili beers, and my internal conflict is well represented by the San Luis Valley Brewing Company’s latest offering (slvbrewco.com).  I loved the first sip; it really tastes like roasted green chilies.  But alas, I couldn’t come close to finishing my 3 ounce pour.  The flavor seems to grow exponentially and become overbearing.  But if chili is your thing, I would definitely recommend a taste.
•       Also on the questionable side was Crazy Mountain Brewery’s Lava Lake Wit (crazymountainbrewery.com).  Spicy, citrus, yeasty; all a little too heavy-handed for my taste, getting close to the intensity of liquid potpourri.  But I’m chalking this one up to circumstance.  I would love to try this on its own (not sandwiched between beers of varying styles), and I bet this could be good in the right food
pairing.  I hope I get the chance to find out.
•       Everyone was raving about Durango Brewery’s Blueberry Wheat Ale (durangobrewing.com), and I’m about to do a little raving of my own. I’m usually not a fan of fruit beer, but the blueberry taste was so fresh and balanced, not cloyingly sweet like I find most fruit beers to be.  I think the key here is capturing the sour tartness of blueberries to compliment the sweetness.  Excellent.
•       And don’t forget about the bluegrass!  The Farewell Drifters (thefarewelldrifters.com) were superb, and I’ve been listening to their CD since the fest.  Really tight vocals, satisfying fiddle and mandolin riffs, and they have a confessional style of songwriting more common to the singer/songwriter genre than bluegrass.  They also handled their timeslot with kindness and class; I know it can be tough trying to keep a tipsy crowd happy but also at arm’s length.  Great job guys!

All in all a great weekend, and a great opportunity to try a lot of small-town breweries that you won’t find anywhere else.  I think this fest might become a regular on my calendar.