Six of the best band-themed Colorado craft beers

By Steve Graham

Early this month, Great Divide Brewing Co. collaborated on a beer with Denver’s GRiZ.

The white-hot Denver DJ celebrated his sold-out Red Rocks shows with Chasing the Golden Hour, on tap at music venues around Denver. The beer, named after one of his songs, is an exclusive riff on Great Divide’s Collette farmhouse ale brewed with Colorado peaches.

In honor of their collaboration, we are highlighting six of our other favorite Colorado craft beers made for and with musicians.

1. Hoopla Pale Ale

String Cheese Incident keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth is not only one of Colorado’s most famous musicians, but also one of the state’s most famous homebrewers. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he made one of the first musical beers with his friends at Boulder Beer.

“Great music and beer bring people together to create shared experiences,” Tess McFadden of Boulder Beer told a music blogger in 2015. “We share a similar passion for delectable brews and harmonious grooves.”

Hollingsworth designed the Hoopla Pale Ale (SCI and their fans are big on hula hoops) as the ultimate festival beer. It’s still available during summer festival season, and at 5.7 percent ABV, it’s perfectly sessionable.

2. Silver Salmon

Not to be left out, another famous Colorado jam band also has a namesake local brew. Two years ago, Leftover Salmon played at Breckenridge Brewery’s 25th anniversary party and brewed a unique beer for the event. The Silver Salmon India Pale Lager was packaged with a 25-track live album from the bluegrass-heavy band.

3. Euforquestra

Euforquestra is a funky genre-melding band originally from Iowa City, Iowa, but they will now forever be linked to Fort Collins after one of the city’s biggest breweries made them a beer.

A couple of the guys in the band helped brew the fruity IPA, which Odell sent up the canyon for a Euforquestra show at Mishawaka Amphitheatre. The beer was also on tap for Euforquestra shows at the Aggie Theater and a beer festival at Odell.

“We're big fans of Euforquestra, they've put on some incredible shows for us and pairing music with craft beer is right where we like to be,” said Odell marketing director Alex Kayne.

Odell has also worked with Hollingsworth and made a beer with progressive bluegrass band Head for the Hills. The brewery also makes a new brew each year for the Fort Collins Music Experience festival.

4. Shebeen Black IPA

As a brewery named for a style of music, Ska Brewing Co. was obligated to honor some of their favorite rude boys with exclusive beers. In 2011, Ska named a black IPA Shebeen for the 30th anniversary of New York Ska legends The Toasters.

The brewery also made the Hi-Hop Ska Rye IPA for the Skatalites 50th anniversary tour.

5. Ghost Face Killah

Finally, music lover and brewing expert Bob Baile made a beer with ghost peppers and five other chilis for Boulder’s Twisted Pine Brewing Company. The name, Ghost Face Killah, was not really a collaboration with its namesake rapper. In fact, they never got permission to use the name.

But after the fact, the Wu-Tang Crew member gave an enthusiastic endorsement of the spicy brew. It’s seemingly true that it’s easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.

Some drinkers also endorsed the beer. A fan on beeradvocate.com said it’s “definitely the hottest brew I've ever tried and I like chili brews.”

6. Nothing Too Fancy Pale Ale

Boulder Beer also teamed up with Rock Brothers and Cigar City Brewing to create Nothing Too Fancy pale ale, inspired by rockers Umphrey’s McGee

The sessionable, “light-bodied pale ale is brewed with pale barley malt and malted wheat for a soft mouthfeel,” the brewery reports. The Equinox hops provide aromas and flavors of fresh tropical fruits. It comes in at just over 5% ABV and 36 IBU, which makes Nothing Too Fancy an everyday ale that goes down easy.