By Dylan Hochstedler

Last time we had a beer with Kay Witkiewicz, he was a mere five days into his head brewing gig at 10 Barrel Brewing Co. in RiNo. With a few months under his belt, we thought it would be a good idea to catch up and see what’s brewing.

Witkiewicz was previously the head brewer at Twisted Pine Brewing Co., a Boulder brewery that is widely known for its experimentation. He explained that since transitioning to 10 Barrel, he hasn't had to veer away from his exploratory brewing style.

Witkiewicz periodically visits the original 10 Barrel location in Bend, Ore., for conferences. There, he has the opportunity to collaborate with other 10 Barrel brewers.

“We all kind of feed off each other. All of our pub and production brewers are bad ass, so to be able to exchange ideas, brew different takes on a certain style, and then taste them together has been invaluable” he said.

Since starting in January, Witkiewicz has developed the Secret Sauce Series, which features IPAs. He explained how his first brew at 10 Barrel was supposed to be a pale ale but he didn’t have the correct hops or grains, so he brewed an IPA with the ingredients they had on hand.

“I thought I would make a random series and kind of switch up the hops whenever I feel like it,” said Witkiewicz. “The point of the series is to explore different hop combinations that elicit intense, pungent, tropical flavors while remaining very approachable. It’s new school, but not ‘New England-style’ IPAs.”

In addition to the Secret Sauce Series, Witkiewicz just released LaLa Land, a honey lavender saison that was brewed with Colorado clover honey. It’s the perfect beer to enjoy on their spectacular roof-top patio.

“It’s a basic saison recipe, brewed to about 6%. I wanted to play around with lavender and do something summery,” he said. “The saison yeast is citrusy so I picked citrusy yeast to go with the lavender.”

As for the next few weeks, we can expect 10 Barrel to release its Goodie Gumdrops, Snake Joose and Fly Vixen.

Goodie Gumdrops will be a dry-hopped Belgian Blonde with flavors and aromas of bosc pears, lemon zest, fresh apricot and pineapple. Snake Joose will be an unvarnished hop bomb with big notes of papaya, grapefruit, red pears and raspberries. Fly Vixen will feature large amounts of preserved lemons, cured in house by 10 Barrel chef Kiel Ard. It is a saison that will taste more like a cheese curd than tart lemon juice, and according to Witkiewicz, it’s fried chicken’s best friend.

Overall, Witkiewicz says his first seven months with 10 Barrel have been nothing short of incredible. “The people I get to work with on a daily basis, whether directly or indirectly, are definitely my favorite aspect of being part of the 10 Barrel family.”