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All Roads Lead to Colorado Breweries, Pubs |
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Thursday, 06 March 2008 |
Colorado has an honored place in the beer world, says the producer of a new beer map. The state has been a serious part of the craft-beer movement for nearly three decades and today is home to 101 breweries and brew pubs, according to Mike Laur of Colorado Springs. Laur's video-production company, Motion Pixel Lab, has just published the Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado and has an extensive Web site dedicated to beer appreciation and craft brewing.
The 36-by-48-inch, full-color map has information about Colorado travel and tourism as well as beer. It features a listing of all the breweries and brew pubs, with addresses, phone numbers and other details; information about Colorado State Parks; National Park Service parks, grasslands, monuments and historic sites; listings of Colorado ski areas and fourteeners; travel and tourism Web sites; driving distances within the state; Colorado beer facts; and beer styles. The front is devoted to a topographic map of Colorado, with the location of each brewery and brew pub pinpointed.
Laur says he produced the map because he recognized an opportunity "to showcase the great beer made in Colorado and to provide an alternative look at travel and tourism in the state.
"It's something I've wanted to do for a long, long time. I started with a map because I'm a map freak; I've always loved maps," he says/
Laur says he wasn't familiar with the impact of "beer tourism" before he started the map project. Much of the craft-beer advertising has been directed to the 21- to 29-year-old crowd -- college towns like Boulder, Fort Collins and Durango have their fair share of breweries or brew pubs -- but there actually are many older beer drinkers who can afford to travel outside their cities or states to visit pubs and breweries in Colorado. They also can more readily afford $8 to $10 a six-pack than most young people.
"It's a marketplace that's sure to be up and coming," Laur says. "Beer drinkers today are different from 10 years ago. They're more vocal and ardent aficionados. They're going to continue to drive the brewing business."
Southern Colorado is represented on the beer map by Shamrock Brewing Co. in Pueblo, McClellan's Brewpub in Canon City, Trinidad Brewing, Purgatory Brewing Co. in Las Animas, Amicas Wood Fired Pizza in Salida and San Luis Valley Brewing in Alamosa. Just up the road in Colorado Springs are seven craft-beer establishments.
The Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado also is full of information about beer -- including the difference between ale and lager. Ale is top-fermented and the yeasts that convert the wort sugars into alcohol work at between 55 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Lager is bottom-fermented and the yeasts work at cooler temperatures, 40 to 45 degrees.
The guide lists the 75 beer styles used by the Brewers Association in Boulder to judge beer in tasting competitions. Among them are American-style wheat beer, rye beer, wood- and barrel-aged sour beer, Vienna-style lager, German-style strong Bock, English-style India pale ale, Belgian-style abbey ale, oatmeal stout, and barley wine-style ale.
The map makers have thought of everything -- including a list of transportation services -- bus lines and cab companies -- in 17 Colorado cities or counties so beer drinkers who aren't accompanied by designated drivers can get home safely.
Historic bars, taverns and watering holes also are listed.
The Beer Drinkers Guide to Colorado is available online for $12.95, plus shipping, and sales tax for Colorado deliveries. Laur said it will be in retail outlets soon.
The Web site is www.beerdrinkersguidetoColorado.com .
Copyright (c) 2008, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
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