May 12th, 2010
Boulder Beer Company, Brewpub, Microbrewery, Boulder, Colorado, Mary Rippon Theatre
If you are visiting Boulder, you will probably be taken to a tour of the Boulder Beer Company.
Well, it was the perfect tour after a really fantastic Commencement at the University of Colorado. Let me tell you a bit about it.
The University holds the general commencement exercises at a certain time. After that, then the different Colleges will hold individual commencements and that is where I found myself. Specifically, at the English-Literature commencements.
It was held at the Mary Rippon Theatre inside the University. It is an outdoor theatre in a gorgeous setting. The perfect commencement for English and Literature. On summer evenings, Colorado Shakespeare Festival performances take place here.
The theatre was named in honor of Mary Rippon, who in 1878 arrived at CU and was the 3rd faculty member; it is believed the first woman to teach at a state university. Pretty impressive. She was described as quiet, low-voiced, attractive, full of energy, and wholly devoted to her work.
Since we had finished with graduation, we had the afternoon off and we were on our way to the Boulder Beer Company.
This was Colorado’s first microbrew and the 43rd licensed brewery in the United States. There are 1,500 licenses at the present time. Founded in 1979 by physics professors at University of Colorado who were home brewers, as well. The brewery started on a farm in a “goatshack”. They are no longer the owners, but they do visit regularly.
The company is very civic minded. In 2008, it became a sponsoring partner in Boulder’s “10 for a Change Challenge” and is already PACE Certified (Partners for a Clean Environment). It also participates in “Beer 4 Boobs), a nationwide charity program raising money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. And, they also host an annual “Goatshed Revival” Beer Festival in honor of their first brewery that was in a shed shared by goats. Proceeds are donated to the Community Food Share, a non-profit organization feeding the community’s poor.
Overflow
Boulder Beer Company is located at 2880 Wilderness Pl. Tel. 303-444-8448. Website is www.boulderbeer.com.
Quality Control
They had a lot of people in attendance. It is not just a microbrew; it has a restaurant called The Pub. It serves pub grub and has indoor and outdoor seating. Full bar, of course, offering all their beers. They also offer Gluten Free Beer, not brewed by them, but up the road. During this trip, it was amazing to see how progressive this town is in regards to food allergies.
The tour started in the Brew House with full explanation of how everything worked. Then, inside to tour the facility. You can see it from the pictures. On this particular day, they unveiled their first canned beer. Not their goal but needed for when bottles are not allowed. Hazed & Infused is one of their most popular ones and they started with that particular one.
First Canned Beer
The list of beers are:
Hazed & Infuzed – Dry Hopped Ale
Mojo – India Pale Ale
Flashback – India Brown Ale
Sweaty Betty Blonde – Kefeweizen (Bavarian style)
Cold Hop – British Style Ale
Mojo Risin’ – Double IPA
Buffalo Gold – Golden Ale
Pass Time – Pale Ale
Singletrack – Copper Ale
Sundance – Amber Ale
Planet Porter – 2007 Bronze Medal. Smooth with a hint of coffee.
Soon the Kinda Blue will be out. It is a Blueberry Wheat (American Wheat Beer).
After the tour, we were all invited to a Beer Tasting and my top 3 were the Hazed & Infused, then Mojo and then the Singletrack.
It was very nice and enjoyable. Definitely, worth it.
From there we took off to eat Tibetan food…..will tell you later about that one.
Note: Information for this post was taken from www.boulderhistorymuseum.org/rippon.asp and http://en.wikipedia.org
Tags: Activities, Boulder, Boulder Beer Company, Brewpubs, Colorado, Events, Full Bar, Gluten free awareness, Mary Rippon Theatre, Microbrewery, Things to do in Boulder
