In the spirit of election season, in an effort to promote Colorado’s craft breweries, and in celebration of fresh hops season, the Colorado Brewers Guild presents Hop The Vote.
At the end of August, representatives of the Colorado State Senate and the Colorado House of Representatives brewed beers at Dry Dock Brewing Co. in Aurora and Denver Beer Co., respectively. These craft beers will be on tap at the Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG) booth at each session of the 2014 Great American Beer Festival. Guests will be encouraged to vote for their favorite beer, and the winning beer will be announced the evening of October 4. “The winning team gets medals, bragging rights, and omnipotent power,” said the Denver Post.
“Vote for the Representative Saison!” says Denver Beer Company in its latest beer description. At GABF, the new saison, brewed from Citra and whole leaf Simcoe hops, will go up against the Upper Chamber Fresh Hop Pale Ale. The Upper Chamber Ale was brewed with fresh, organic Cascade hops from High Wire Hops’s farm in Paonia, Colorado. The fresh hops went into the beer less than 12 hours after harvest.
"Every year at GABF, the Brewers Association creates the Support Your Local Brewery Pavilion where state guilds from around the country sample beers from their home states,” says Steve Kurowski, the manager of the Colorado Brewers Guild. “Each year the CBG participates in this pavilion to help spread the word about the importance of state guilds and the role we all play in our local craft beer communities. . . . Our mission is to protect and promote Colorado beer. We protect our brewers by working with our state legislators to ensure a positive legal landscape for brewers to work under. We wanted to show what we do at GABF instead of just talk. So, we created a challenge for these legislators to formulate and brew a beer for GABF and ultimately serve their beer at the world's best craft beer event. Each team member will be involved in all phases of this project to give them the ultimate GABF experience.”
Photo: Colin Bridge