Smoke Jumper Revels in the Depth and Elegance of Smoked Malts

When you think of a summertime beer, a description like "dark, rich, robust" doesn't usually come to mind. With its limited release beer, Smoke Jumper, Left Hand Brewing Company shows that these qualities and the complex flavors associated with them really can make perfect sense on an evening in July. Smoke Jumper is a Smoked Imperial Porter - a style that can sound both intriguing and daunting to the usual craft beer drinker. While smoked beers have been around for centuries, a beer like Smoke Jumper is an innovative and delicious take on smoked malts.

Left Hand is an iconic Colorado craft brewery that was founded in 1993 in Longmont. It brews Smoke Jumper as a tribute to brave firefighters called Smokejumpers, those who parachute into wildfires to combat the fire on the ground. Smoke Jumper is the official beer of the National Smokejumper Association. Colorado, a state hit hard in recent years by wildfires, knows all too well the importance of Smokejumpers' contributions. These professionals deserve an excellent beer in their honor, and Left Hand delivers on many levels. Left Hand's brewers take the time and effort to hand-smoke the malted barley themselves, making sure it'll meld perfectly with the rest of the grain bill and all other ingredients used.

Smoke Jumper is a fuller-bodied beer, but maintains a thinner mouthfeel that doesn't quite coat the tongue like an imperial stout might. In the aroma, dark roasted malts and smokiness comes to life, almost like a campfire. The smoked malt presence blends very well with other flavors of chocolate, espresso and spices. It's a complex, smooth flavor profile that packs a punch but stops well short of overwhelming the palate. Left Hand also recommends enjoying this beer at 55 degrees, which helps unlock everything that's happening in it. At 8.8 percent ABV, Smoke Jumper is most appropriate as a sipping beer, but could pair very well with a variety of foods like grilled meats, aged cheeses and some desserts.

The recent cool, often rainy evenings we've experienced in Colorado create the perfect opportunity to enjoy Smoke Jumper. It would also make a great beer to share with friends around a campfire in the Rocky Mountains. Pick up a bottle and raise a glass to Smokejumpers everywhere!

Firestone Walker Double Jack: American Hops at Their Best

Like many American craft beer drinkers, I'm a huge sucker for the complex, flavorful, often fruit-like characteristics of American hop varieties. It's no surprise that some of the highest rated American craft beers are very hop-heavy IPAs. Summer weather especially makes me want to grab an American IPA with enough hop crispness and complexities to satisfy my palate. There also has to be a balanced malt presence for it to be a really well-crafted beer. Many big IPAs fit this profile, and the latest one I enjoyed is Double Jack from Firestone Walker Brewing Company.

Double Jack, a dry-hopped double IPA, is just one fantastic entry in a large lineup filled with innovative, intriguing and very high-quality beers. Firestone Walker, located in Paso Robles, California, was founded in 1996 by Adam Firestone and David Walker. It's grown into a very well-regarded and notable craft brewery known for being on the leading edge of positive brewing trends and creativity. One example of such creativity is the system of oak barrels Firestone Walker uses to ferment many of their ales. They've also won their share of awards, including one for Double Jack, which took home a bronze medal in the Imperial IPA category at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival.

Double Jack, part of the Firestone Walker Proprietor's Reserve series, is a truly special and world-class beer. In addition to bittering hops used early, then hops added for flavor late in the boil, the beer is also dry-hopped during fermentation with a great blend of American hop varieties. Dry-hopping adds a ton of flavor from the hops and their oils without imparting much bitterness. In the glass, huge aromas of grapefruit, tropical fruits, and light, bready malts come alive. The flavors in the beer match the aroma, with so many complexities of the hops and malt playing on the tongue. To say this beer is incredibly drinkable doesn't quite do it justice. At 9.5 percent ABV, look out for how smoothly Double Jack goes down.

In the grand scope of American craft beer culture, are IPAs dominating the market a little too much? That's a debate left for another day. As long as craft brewers like Firestone Walker continue to elevate the standard for quality and creativity, keep the excellent IPAs coming!

Brewing in Colorado? That's Just Living the Dream

Summer is in full swing in Colorado, with brewery anniversaries and openings dotting the calendar, in addition to a slew of beer festivals all around the state. The latest craft brewery to open its doors is Living the Dream Brewing in Highlands Ranch, just east of Chatfield State Park. Living the Dream, which held its grand opening on Saturday, had somehow eluded my watchful eye on soon-to-open breweries. I read about the brewery last week, and decided to check it out.

Living the Dream sits in a somewhat remote industrial warehouse space off Santa Fe Avenue, and includes a taproom in front and production space toward the back. Reclaimed wood, metal, old skis and snowboards comprise the decor around the taproom and bar. The owners, Jason Bell and Carrie Knose, are Colorado transplants who share a love for the mountains, the outdoors, and beer. According to the LTD website, both have extensive experience working in and around the craft beer industry and brewing many different styles of beer themselves. LTD brews on a seven-barrel system, a nice size to help keep the taplines and beer coolers fully stocked. They served five beers on Saturday, with two of them available on nitro as well.

Two of the selections are Belgians, a wit and a dubbel. The wit is brewed with New Zealand hops, has a nice balance of flavors, and makes a very refreshing summer beer. The dubbel is quite impressive, with the rich dark fruit flavors that are expected, without being overpowering or too sweet. Next is the dry-hopped pale ale, a beer that exudes more complexity and bright, crisp hop flavors than most American pale ales. A brown ale is also featured, and this one is a bit stronger and slightly more bitter than most. It's also available on nitro, and I'd suggest trying this version as the nitrogen really brings out the nutty, caramel and chocolate flavors from the malts. Last is the Helluva Caucasian Stout, a cream stout brewed with chocolate, espresso, and peanut butter, and it's available on nitro as well. A reference from "The Big Lebowski," The Dude's Helluva Caucasian aims to resemble a White Russian drink with its flavors, and it just about pulls it off. It's a roasty, complex and full-bodied stout with a bit of sweetness and high drinkability.

The LTD website lists a lot of different intriguing beers Bell and Knose plan to offer at the taproom. From this opening day experience, I can certainly say they brew some darn good beer, and I look forward to trying more in the future. Living the Dream definitely adds quality and character to the booming south Denver metro area beer scene.

Exploring Alaskan Beer, Part Two

My Alaskan vacation is at an end, but I have so many memories of the amazing things I did and the people who experienced them with me. One day toward the middle of the trip was jammed full of fun that included touring a glacier, viewing wildlife at a preserve, and hiking seven miles through an Alaskan rainforest. We capped it off with dinner and beers at the Glacier Brewhouse in downtown Anchorage.

Known for its wide variety of meat, fresh seafood and great craft beer, Glacier Brewhouse is a very popular upscale brewpub. I love all kinds of fish and seafood, so I made sure to order something that represented a broad taste of Alaska. Glacier Brewhouse offers about ten beers at any given time, with a wide spectrum of flavors that go well with the food they serve. Several I tried that impressed me were the black rye bock, the double IPA, and the barrel-aged eisbock. With rich, strong flavors of caramel and oak, the 10 percent ABV eisbock makes a nice sipping beer for after dinner. The black rye bock is an extremely easy drinking, velvety dark lager with big flavors of chocolate and roasted malts. The double IPA, pictured below along with the eisbock, delivers big citrus hop flavors with a nice balance of malts.

The second weekend of the trip featured a visit to the town of Homer, located on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula on the Kachemak Bay. With mountain and glacier views across the bay, boat rides, fishing charters, art galleries, beautiful hikes, and so much more, this part of Alaska is an absolute gem to experience this time of year. Upon our return to Anchorage Sunday evening, we headed to Midnight Sun Brewing Company, a brewpub we also visited on our first day of the trip. Founded in 1995, the award-winning Midnight Sun has gained a reputation for creative, bold, and always excellent beer, along with a great menu of fresh, flavorful food. They keep a large selection of beers on tap, frequently rotating seasonals and specialty beers in and out. Pictured below are two I enjoyed, the Sockeye Red IPA and a nitro smoked stout. Midnight Sun is especially good at brewing Belgian styles as evidenced by the spot-on quality of the wit, golden strong ale, tripel, and Belgian double IPA.

Alaska is the type of enchanting place that satisfies the souls of those seeking adventure, tranquility and nature. There's no shortage of ways to explore its wonders, whether you're looking for a rugged challenge or want to take it in more leisurely. Fortunately, there's plenty of great Alaskan craft beer available to complement all those things that make this state so special.

Exploring Alaskan Beer, Part One

For an active adventure seeker, Alaska has it all: mountains, rivers, glaciers, vast wilderness, and great beer. I'm on a ten-day vacation in Alaska at the moment with my wife, Kris. We're spending lots of quality time with my brother, Jon, who's an Army captain stationed at Ft. Richardson in Anchorage, and his girlfriend, Sarah. So far, we've had an amazing time hiking and making the 250-mile drive into Alaska's interior to tour Denali National Park and Preserve. No great vacation is without great beer, however, and we've sampled some excellent craft beer from Anchorage breweries and beyond.

All the breweries we've visited have been brewpubs, with full bar and restaurant service. Craft breweries with only taprooms focusing on beer may exist in Alaska, but I haven't found them yet. The beer is the star of the show at these brewpubs, but the delicious food makes them even more popular with families, tourists and locals. It's hard to beat extremely tasty, satisfying grub and a great selection of craft beers after a day spent traveling, hiking, biking or fishing. One brewpub in Anchorage that regularly draws large crowds with long waits is the Moose's Tooth, known for creative, mouth-watering pizzas and close to 15 beers on tap. Thirsty adults can find something they like, from lighter fruit beers like the raspberry wheat, to IPAs, to darker porters and stouts.

On the way to Denali, we stopped in the funky little town of Talkeetna, which is close to the halfway point when heading to the park from Anchorage. Talkeetna has the look and feel of a counter-culture mountain town, with only main street about three blocks long. Denali Brewing Company resides there at the Twisted Creek Restaurant, where I enjoyed some of the best fried cod I've ever had along with several taster glasses of great beer. The schwarzbier, sour ale, and double IPA are all fantastic choices. Denali Brewing is proof that fine craft beer can be found in the smallest of places, but it also helps that many travelers heading to the national park stop in Talkeetna along the way.

Denali National Park and Preserve was an incredible place to tour and see for myself. We took a seven-hour bus tour about 60 miles into the park before turning around, viewing a couple of grizzly bears and about a dozen caribou along the way. Unfortunately, the dense cloud cover prevented us from viewing Denali, also known as Mt. McKinley, which, at 20,320 feet, is the tallest peak in North America. Most of the return trip was rainy, but it didn't dampen our spirits for long. We warmed up by stopping at the 49th State Brewing Company, about 10 miles north of the park entrance in the town of Healy, where we stayed.

49th State definitely stands out as a pleasant surprise. As pictured below, the walls are a celebration of all things beer and Alaskan charm. Empty bottles from around the world line the walls, with heads of Moose and other wildlife. In the middle of the brewpub sits a large fire pit made from an old brew kettle. The beer was fantastic, showcasing a wide variety. One beer that really captured my attention was the Blonde de Sharif, pictured below. It's a collaboration with Yonkers Brewing Company in New York, and blends together pilsner and wheat malts with American hops and a Belgian yeast strain. The result is huge lemon citrus flavor from the malts that's enhanced even more by the choice of hops. The yeast adds a peppery flavor to the finish. The total package is a crisp, refreshing and intriguing beverage.

There's still plenty of adventure left on my trip, so I'll check in again soon to share what I experience, see, and taste next.