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Ron on Brews
Ron Simpson is the Beer Manager at Libations Wine & Spirits, Arapahoe Crossings
2002 was a tumultuous year in the world of brewing. We saw the rise (and fall) of sickeningly
sweet "malternatives," a closing of a major Colorado microbrewery (H.C. Berger,) and the beginning of
what can be termed as an invasion of out of state breweries.
With passing of time, the Colorado craft-brewing scene has started to experience entropy as the
stronger breweries thrive and the weaker start to fall off a bit. Names like Rockies Brewing, Oasis and
Tommyknocker now find themselves at a crossroads, deciding whether to try to serve the fickle tastes of
trends, or stay on the road that has driven them so far. Colorado's stronger breweries, such as New
Belgium, Odell and Great Divide, will pick up a larger share of the marketplace. This would leave the door
open for strong out of state breweries such as Deschutes, Alaskan and Stone to consider coming into the
state to take shelf space away from the smaller, struggling Colorado micros. Times are a-changing, indeed.
Thankfully, while shelf space might be lost to out of state breweries, it looks less and less likely
that "Malternatives" will continue to be a threat. With most of these products, a mind-numbing similarity
comes to the fore; how is Smirnoff Ice different from Stoli Citrona or Bacardi Silver from Skyy Blue?
Without stark differences, new products will be unable to find a niche. Not to mention that in the rush to
capitalize on the trend, companies put out wretched products, with industry giant Diageo leading the way
with perhaps the worst of the lot, the horrid Captain Morgan Gold. When companies spend more money on
hip, cheeky advertising than on a beverage that, y'know, actually tastes good, it does not bode well for the
future of the category.
NEWS AND NOTES: Dogfish Head and Allagash, two of the East Coast's most noted breweries
have arrived in Colorado. Dogfish Head is world renowned for its diverse and eclectic beers, from their
standard Shelter Pale Ale, the blissfully sweet Raison D' Etre, the caramel-y Indian Brown Ale, the coffee-
infused Chicory Stout, the incredible barley-wine style Immort Ale and their version of a trinity with the
hop lover's dream 90 Minute IPA, the ancient style ale Midas Touch and the second strongest beer in the
world (behind only Sam Adams' Utopias) World Wide Stout. Allagash is one of America's top Belgian-
style beer producers with authentic versions of a multitude of differing styles… New Belgium is ready to
roll with a varying degree of new products. Their orange hued masterpiece Biere de Mars and the
traditional Abbey Grand Cru are already on shelves, while their cooperative venture with Belgian lambic
producer Boon, Transatlantic Cherry will follow suit in the mid-spring. The 2002 gold-medal winning
Belgian-style La Folie is reputed to be available at the retail level sometime this year as well… Sam Adams
is releasing their Vienna Style Lager this spring as a year round product. Their deliciously malty Double
Bock is already available for the season…
Coors has finally decided to listen to the folks in their backyard. Blue Moon will once again be
available in 12 packs, the Pumpkin Ale might return as well, and most importantly, Winterfest will return
in six packs this year….
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