Turkey or Tofu, These Beers will Tickle Taste buds on Thanksgiving

By Steve Graham

We are always thankful for great Colorado craft beer, especially the breweries that are constantly innovating new ways to tickle our taste buds. In this season of thanks, and in no particular order, we offer gratitude for these Colorado brews that debuted this year. Tell us what you think, and share your favorite new beers in the comments and on our Facebook page.

1. Deck Daze Wheat
It didn’t take long for Vail Brewing Co. to perfect a refreshing summer quencher. The Deck Daze Wheat debuted this spring and has already earned a North American Brewers Association award. The wheat ale is infused with passionfruit white tea, in collaboration with Vail Mountain Coffee and Tea Company.

2. Cloud Catcher
Milk sugar. It’s not just for stouts anymore. It’s also an option for helping make the belovedly bitter IPA more hazy and juicy. While milkshake IPAs were popping up all over, few did it better than Odell Brewing Co. with its creamy orange-hued Cloud Catcher. Yeah, it tastes like a creamsicle, and yeah, it’s still an IPA. Not sure how they do it, but it sure tastes good.

3. Big Bad Baptist Reserve
Epic Brewing lived up to its name again this year with a limited release of, well, epic proportions. The Big Bad Baptist is a heavy and complex barrel-aged imperial stout brewed with cocoa nibs and coffee from various area roasters. Epic’s most celebrated and coveted beer was in especially high demand in April, when Epic cofounder Dave Cole hand-selected the best barrels and blended them. “We found the perfect blend that’s balanced, silky and mind-blowingly good,” Cole said. Only 600 cases were sold, so it was hard to get your hands on more than one, but at 11.7 percent ABV, you didn’t need more than one.

4. Inti Chicha
We’re thankful that Dos Luces opened this year on South Broadway, bringing new styles of beer to Denver, including the corn-based Chicha. The unique gluten-free brew is made with malted blue corn, mixed with whole kernels of Peruvian purple corn. The Inti name comes from the Incan god of the sun. At only 5 percent ABV, it’s a mildly sweet and crushable companion to tacos or … anything, really.

5. Copacabana Bock
Little Wibby Brewing is not so little anymore, with its cans of Helles and Dunkel available all over the Front Range. But Wibby is not too big to invite in an amateur brewer Tiago Verdini from Brazil to help them make a tasty, toasty and smooth Bock beer. It’s not in cans yet, but look for it in a few bars around Denver and Boulder.