Wynkoop Brewing Company

 

Brewery:  Wynkoop Brewing Company

Location: Denver, Colorado

 

Something a little different today….

 

On a recent trip to Denver, Jonathan and I visited the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Lodo. We watched a special about the brewery on the Food Network a few months ago. This brew pub was founded by Denver’s current mayor, John Hickenlooper in 1988. On the Food Network special Hickenlooper very simply explained the brewing process. Jonathan and I were impressed by the simplicity and ease of his explanation. We knew we’d have to stop if we were ever in Denver.

 

Beer is not my specialty, but I did a little research to understand the abbreviations and beer terminology. Here are a few definitions I found helpful. O.G. (original gravity) tells you how much malt sugar the beer started with. The higher this number the stronger the finished beer will be and will have a more intense, malty taste. T.G. (terminal gravity) is a synonym for specific gravity. This is a measure of the density of a liquid or solid compared to that of water. A.B.V. (alcohol by volume) measures the amount of alcohol in a beer. IBU (international bittering units) is the measure of how much hop bitterness is in the beer. Anything less than 20 is barely noticeable.

 

Now, on to the fun part….tasting! Jonathan and I shared a sampler of the Wynkoop beers; they had over 10 on tap. After tasting all of what they had to offer, we picked out two of our favorites for a pint. I chose the B3K Schwarz bier, a traditional German blackbier. While it appeared dark in color, it was extremely light in body. It smelled of caramel and toast. The B3K was extremely smooth and easy to drink; it tasted of dark roasted espresso. Here are the statistics for the beer: A.B.V.: 5.3%, IBU 20, O.G. 13.1 and T.G. 3.0.

 

Jonathan chose the Patty’s Chile Beer, a light German style beer with Anaheim chilies and smoked Ancho peppers. Wynkoop brewery adds 3.5 pounds of Anaheim chilies to each barrel and the drinker can smell and taste the chilies! The chilies present a strong presence in the taste of the beer, however not in heat and intensity. Patty’s Chile Beer was a 2006 Great American Beer Festival Bronze Medal Winner.

 

Edward W. Wynkoop arrived in Denver in 1858, at the time it was still part of the Kansas Territory. Wynkoop was named the first sheriff of Arapahoe County. In 1860 a local newspaper published these words about Wynkoop, “Ned is considered by his personal friends a warm and genial companion, true as steel.” This is one of the reasons the founders chose the pub to bear his name. Wynkoop Brewing Company is housed in the J.S. Brown Mercantile Building. The basement houses the Impulse Theatre, an improve theatre company with shows Thursday through Saturday.