Mt Massive IPA. Whiskey Barrel Quandary. Buffalo Peaks Brown. Elephant Rock IPA. Devils Head Red. Colorado’s over 400 established breweries have long celebrated the state’s diverse topography by naming beers after its iconic mountains and monoliths. This is hardly surprising as Colorado’s unique geology provides the architecture for some of the most dramatic natural landscapes in the world including the bizarre rock gardens of the Pikes Peak batholith, the jagged peaks towering over glacial cirques and crystal-clear alpine lakes, and canyons that carve through time to expose billion-year-old rock. The state’s geology is certainly worth celebrating!
(Wheeler Geologic Area)
Close your eyes and imagine these geologic wonders without plants. The adjectives desolate, monotonous, naked, eerie, and haunting may come to mind. A Colorado without plants is difficult to envisage.
A floristically diverse state, there are around 2,800 taxa of native plants which hone architecture, create texture, and provide an artist’s palette of color. As a result, picture-perfect scenery abounds: mountain meadows abloom with paintbrush all warm shades of the color wheel; Brightly colored, oversized alpine flowers including billowy Hall’s penstemon (Penstemon hallii) and sunny-dispositioned old man of the mountain (Hymenoxys grandiflora) vying for pollinators on a rocky slope; The shortgrass steppe of the eastern plains glimmering with a galaxy of blazingstar (Mentzelia sp.) backlit by a setting September sun. Plants are, along with geology, the sine qua non to the state’s natural beauty.
(Middle Park Wildflowers)
Given our state’s cast of charismatic plants, I began to wonder: How are Colorado breweries celebrating Colorado native plants? I also had a second burning question that is probably on every beer-loving botanist’s mind: are native hops (Humulus neomexicanus) being used in any of Colorado’s beers? I set out to answer the above questions.
After evenings spent perusing beer menus on the internet, followed by emails and a few phone conversations, followed by necessary fieldwork in breweries and the occasional trip to a liquor store, the results are in. The beers are arranged in order of when you might find and drink them.
(Picea engelmannii, Brainard Lake Recreation Area)
As the Rocky Mountains become blanketed in snow, look for the first beer featured, Pine Bough Pale Ale, at Tommyknocker Brewery (Idaho Springs). According to the crew at Tommyknocker, this ale was initially brewed for Loveland Ski Area’s 75th anniversary (the beer is also on tap here). Intended to be a one-time small batch, it was so popular that it became a mainstay during ski season. Each year, employees handpick Engelmann or Colorado blue spruce (Picea engelmannii var. engelmannii or P. pungens) tips from trees that grow along a ski run. The tips are chopped until granular before they are steeped in a pale ale beer and four days later the beer is kegged. The result is delightful: an American pale ale with an unmistakable aroma and flavor of the young spruce tips one might nibble as a trail snack.
The above beer is only on tap so if Idaho Springs is not within your radius, Upslope Brewing Company of Boulder has you covered. During November and December of 2019, Upslope will release a limited edition, Spruce Tip IPA, which will also be available in select liquor stores.
(Rubus idaeus var. strigosus, Ptarmigan Trail near Silverthorne)
When spring sunshine starts to melt the snow and the first wildflowers begin to bloom, look for seasonal and limited releases of raspberry beer such as Elevation Beer Company’s (Poncha Springs) Raspberry Gulch Imperial Saison. Although Elevation leaves the native trailside raspberries for bears and other wildlife, it successfully recreates the flavor of our native red raspberry (Rubus idaeus var. strigosus) with European cultivars: it “plucks that high altitude tart trailside raspberry and puts it right in your glass. So, how about a hike on the beer’s namesake trail, Raspberry Gulch, a section of the Colorado Trail between Salida and Buena Vista known for wildflower displays, stunning views of the Chalk Cliffs and the Arkansas River Valley, and of course, wild raspberries. Then, go drink a raspberry beer. You’ve earned it!
If the above beer is not offered in 2020, drive across the state to Glenwood Springs. Here, Glenwood Canyon Brewpub offers Grizzly Creek Raspberry Wheat, a sour beer that is also named after a hiking trail and wild raspberries. Or, if you live in the Front Range, visit New Terrain Brewing Company in Golden and try their Rubus deliciosus, a tart raspberry wit that is, perhaps thankfully, not made with Rubus-not-so-deliciosus.
(Opuntia polyacantha (plains pricklypear), Pawnee National Grasslands)
As the daytime temperatures grow warmer and the sun lingers into the evening, the green carpet of the short-grass steppe of eastern Colorado lights up with the lemon, lime, orange, and magenta colored flowers of prickly pear cactus (Opuntia spp.). This is a glorious time of year to botanize the morning away at Pawnee National Grasslands and then to spend the remainder of the day sampling prickly pear cactus beer. 2019 saw its fair share of brews celebrating this iconic southwestern plant: Perilous Prickly Pear Wheat (Boulder Beer Co.), Prickly Pear Gose (Copper Kettle Brewing Company, Denver), Prickly Pear Maceration (New Image Brewing, Arvada), and Guns ‘N’ Rosé, which is made with hibiscus and prickly pear (Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont).
A cactus beer that will likely be offered next year is Sanitas Brewing Co.’s Prickly Pear Sour Ale. This kettle soured beer uses prickly pear purée which contributes to a beautiful rosy pink pour and a refreshingly tart taste with notes of bubblegum and watermelon. Michael Memsic, Co-Founder and CEO of Sanitas Brewing Co., reports that this beer has quickly become one of the fastest selling beers for the Boulder-based brewing company. As a side note, this beer pairs very well with Mexican street tacos.
(Juniperus monosperma, Comanche National Grasslands)
Next up is a juniper-flavored beer that is available year-round at Wild Woods Brewery. This brewery does an all-around good job celebrating nature and has a menu that boasts an array of beers inspired by backpacking trips in the high country, smoky campfires, wildflowers, wild berries, and ponderosa pine. Wild Woods’ most produced beer, Treeline IPA, is a piney, citrusy beer conditioned with juniper berries (Juniperus spp.) sourced sustainably from organic farms under the name “common juniper.” This beer pairs well with a stroll in the juniper-dotted foothills above Boulder or a hike to treeline in the Brainard Lakes Recreation Area where you may encounter common juniper (Juniperus communis), dwarfed by its harsh environment.
For readers who reside in southwestern Colorado, you can experience juniper beer at Smuggler Union Restaurant and Brewery in Telluride. They offer Juniper Rye Pale Ale, which, according to their website, has “a subtle yet intriguing juniper finish.”
(piñon pine nuts, photo: Mary Menz)
For a taste of piñon pine (Pinus edulis), try Bristol Brewing Company’s (Colorado Springs) Cheyenne Canyon Pinon Nut Brown Ale. Available from June through September, this seasonal beer combines piñon nuts, hops, and malt. The result is a nutty, hearty, roasty brown ale. Part of Bristol’s Community Ales series, 100% of the profits from this beer are donated to Friends of Cheyenne Cañon, an organization whose mission is to protect the natural resources of North Cheyenne Cañon Park. This park features granite rock formations, several cascades, waterfalls, and native flora; a hike or picnic here would be a great prelude to a pint (or more since it goes to a good cause) of Pinon Nut Brown Ale.
(New Mexican hops - female flowers, photo: Mary Menz)
If you’ve hiked along rivers, in shady canyons, across rocky slopes, and through alluvial woods in the western United States, you’ve likely encountered Humulus neomexicanus. This species scrambles rambunctiously over boulders, up shrubs and trees, and even races up signposts as fast as its bines will carry it. The presence of native hops growing in the wild, along with Colorado’s long history of beer brewing and the current, experimental trend towards wild and sour flavors, made me hopeful that somewhere in the state there might be a brewery using New Mexican hops.
In fact, as of 2015, there were only a couple of breweries across the country that had used H. neomexicanus in their beer. One of these breweries is Crazy Mountain Brewing Company in Denver, formerly Edwards. The beer, Neomexicanus Native Pale Ale, was first brewed in 2015. Although it is made with hops that were grown in Washington state, the hops are indeed H. neomexicanus from New Mexican rootstalk. When asked about the flavor, John Allshouse, an employee of Crazy Mountain, responded that there is a hint of tropical fruit -- some have reported tasting pineapple, papaya, guava, mango, and citrus. He added that there are also surprising flavors such as pez and biscuits that develop.
(New Mexican hops - male flowers, photo: Mary Menz)
If your curiosity has been piqued, mine certainly has, note that Neomexicanus Native Pale Ale can be difficult to come by: Crazy Mountain’s 2020 specialty releases will be finalized soon so keep an eye on their social media pages for regular updates or visit their taproom to see what is brewing.
Too excited to wait? Make a beeline to the town of Angel Fire, NM, more specifically to Enchanted Brewing Company, where they serve their own version of neomexicanus beer, Wet n Wild RyePA. The hops used in this beer are harvested in the wildlands of New Mexico. Another option closer to home for Front Rangers is Wild Woods Brewery. On September 21st of this year they released a Native Bines IPA which will be on tap until it sells out. This beer was brewed with 100% Humulus neomexicanus hops (the varieties Zappa & Medusa™). When asked if they had plans to brew more Native Bines IPA the answer was an emphatic yes: Likely in the spring, although the recipe will be slightly different.
In summary, Colorado native plants including spruce, wild raspberries, prickly pear cactus, juniper, piñon pine, and native hops are providing both inspiration and ingredients for a handful of beers on the market. While some of these brews are mainstays, others are seasonal, and still others are one-time special releases: they are here today, gone tomorrow. This was the case with several beers I wanted to write about, including Saison Aux Baies Amères, a chokecherry (Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa) saison from Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont. Part of a series brewed with Colorado native ingredients that also included Saison Au Genièvre (juniper saison), I missed this by a year. It seems that if you are enthusiastic about beer with native ingredients, you must keep your eyes open.
While enthusiastic about the potential for more beers brewed with native plants -- I’ll keep looking for a golden currant (Ribes aureum) beer -- I must clarify that I am not advocating for the foraging of wild plants that are already under a tremendous amount of pressure from development and its associated habitat loss, invasive species, recreation, and climate change. There is another solution. What if native plants were planted in beer gardens and in pocket gardens in parking lots? (Props to breweries who are already landscaping with native plants!) Not only would this provide native and local ingredients for a taste of place, but it would also create a stronger sense of place and contribute to an unmistakable Colorado brand. Furthermore, it would benefit our diverse native pollinators, who buzz around looking to sip nectar while we sip our brews. Local nurseries growing the native plants would also benefit. Finally, what if these breweries, in consultation with native plant societies, also included interpretation in their gardens to introduce a potentially new audience to some of Colorado’s 2,800 species of native plants? These are ideas to ponder while enjoying your favorite Colorado brew…
Cheers!
Reprinted with permission from Aquilegia, Colorado Native Plant Society's quarterly.
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