Colorado Mountain Brewery January 2020 Visit

January 13, 2020 Mike

This week we went back to our rotation of local breweries, and ended up at Colorado Mountain Brewery. This week we were joined by Dave, and newcomer Brian. Jesse kept mentioning that he was inviting his friend Brian, but Brian hadn’t been able to make it up until now. Frankly, I was starting to think he may have been one of Jesse’s imaginary friends 🙂

Just kidding Brian 🙂 Glad you were able to make it, and hopefully you’ll be able to make it again soon.

On our last video episode, we drew the style Irish stout from our “Hamster Ball Select-o-matic, and I mentioned that Dave had a very tasty one, and I was wondering if he would mind sharing. Well he was, and we made the trade on this visit, so look for it in an upcoming episode (probably episode 8).

Colorado Mountain Brewery always has some pretty solid examples of the styles they brew, and this time was no exception. I have to admit though, contrary to the name, I think the focus is more on their food rather than the beer. They have one seasonal every month, and in this case there were at least 2 seasonal beers available, but they didn’t seem too terribly exciting. Maybe this is saying more about our (my) tastes being accustomed to chasing what’s new and exciting, and less about their brewing aspirations.

Also, to be fair, we’ve only been to the south location, and never visited the Interquest (original) location. Maybe they have some more variety there. We’ll have to make a point to go there next time.

I’ve heard that many brewers feel like they need to come up with something new and exciting every single week, and I can see that trend in most of the breweries in Colorado Springs. Maybe that’s where we are now, and I’m so accustomed to it, that if a brewery doesn’t have a lot of new choices, then it doesn’t seem as interesting to visit them over and over.

In any case, here’s what I had this time around:

Marshmallow Stout – 7.5% ABV – As stouts go, it was pretty solid. Roast and malt dominated the flavor profile, with a bit of a dark sugar flavor to it. The mouthfeel was creamy and full.

Cinnamon Apple Saison – 6% ABV – I was pretty impressed with this saison, and it was my favorite of the night. The cinnamon wasn’t overdone at all, and it provided a really nice contribution to the sweetness and apple flavor. It was like drinking a glass of apple pie.

The body was light, and the apple cinnamon combo was the main flavor. Finish was slightly more dry than sweet.

Roller Coaster – Red / Amber Ale – 6% ABV – Light and malty, a pretty good example of a amber or american take on an Irish Red. Not as malty as I would have liked, but still a tasty drink.

To be honest, Jesse and I ordered at the same time, me the Amber, and he the Red, and we’re pretty sure that the beers were mixed up. Being so similar, I’m not 100% sure that we reviewed the correct beer 😉

[Jesse] I don’t think I had much luck choosing beers this week. I hate to say it, but I wan’t really “wowed” by any of the beers that I tried. I didn’t dislike any of them, but I don’t know if I would order any of them again.

I seem to remember being impressed with some of their monthly beers that I’ve had in the past – I may have to stick to them in the future.

Monumental Stout – 7.9% ABV 14 IBU – This was a decent stout that had a slight roasty malt flavor and a smooth finish. I felt that it had a pretty thin mouthfeel.

Double IPA – 10% ABV 98 IBU – I like the IPAs that are a bit on the sweet side, I appreciate how that balances with the hops really well, making for a smooth drinkable beer. This is kind of one of those IPAs. Sweet start with the hops following at the end. Unfortunately, I found that there weren’t quite enough hops for it to really balance really well and I was left with and impression of it being just a tad too sweet.

Ole 59er Amber Ale – 5.7 ABV 24 IBU – Probably my least favorite of the evening. I was expecting a LOT more malt. And, according to the style guide, it could be hoppy as well and this was not that, either. I found it to be pretty lackluster.

I may just be “spoiled” by the breweries, and, by extension, beers that we have in Colorado Springs and that may have really tainted my visit to Colorado Mountain. Or, maybe I was just unlucky and picked the few beers that may not have been up to their normal standards. I don’t know. I’ll certainly be happy to give them another try. Maybe next time, I’ll have dinner or lunch as well.

Beer’s we’ve reviewed at Colorado Mountain Brewery:

Beer’s we’ve reviewed here: