Elevation Beer Company is Colorado's newest microbrewery, well at least I think it is. Their grand opening was May 19th, while I wanted to go to their grand opening, I was in Boulder spending some quality time with
Asher Brewing that weekend. But as the newest brewery in the state a visit to Elevation was near the top of my 'to-do' list. And one of the owners of Elevation Beer Co is from my hometown and actually went to elementary school with my brother so that made me pretty excited to visit too.
When I walked in to Elevation Beer Co, I was a little surprised by how empty it was as there was only one other customer there when I walked in. Granted it was the middle of the afternoon, but it was a Saturday afternoon. It still always makes me a little sad when a bar or brewery is empty when I walk in because it is always great to get to talk to other beer lovers and share beer stories and find out about some brews you haven't tried before.
Elevation Beer is a little bit tricky to find, even though I am familiar with the area I had to google map it before I headed out. They could definitely use some better signage to lead you there, however I am hoping that because they haven't even been open for 2 months yet that this is planned for the future. However once you find yourself at the brewery, the interior is cute and charming. I must note that the bar stools were far from my favorite bar stools I've ever sat on and I couldn't see myself spending an evening sitting there having a few drinks. While old tractor seats may be cute visually, they are not comfortable for extended amounts of time.
Luckily they do have a few tables as well, but while visiting a bar or brewery solo sitting at the bar is customary.
After trying the
Mount Blanca Belgian Saison and the
Signal De Botrange, I fell for with the Mount Blanca and decided to enjoy a glass.
When I was about half way through that drink a couple came in raving about how they had heard so much about the
Apis IV (with a long 'A'), buying several 750ml (wine bottle size) bottles of it. And well after that I just had to sample that as well.
'Apis, the genus of the honeybee, is in homage to the hardworking honeybees of Colorado that provided the caramelized honey we use in making this fantastic beer.' - http://www.elevationbeerco.com/
Now as much as I enjoyed the Mount Blanca Saison, Apis IV quickly took its place. Much like
Bristol Brewing's Beehive Honey Wheat, it had just a tiny hint of sweetness, even less than Beehive, but that touch of sweetness dare I say *may* have changed my opinion just a little bit on dark beers.
*Yes, I am drinking beer out of a wine glass*
Because as anyone who has read much of this blog knows, dark beers aren't usually my forte. Despite the fact that I am not usually a dark beer lover, I ended up walking out of Elevation Beer with a bottle of the Apis IV which I enjoyed immensely a few nights later (out of a wine glass).
