Beer Buff: Twisted Pine Brewery

The Twisted Pine Brewing Company is a favorite among Boulderites that never ceases to please.

Saturday night was no different, and the brewery’s Ale House was packed until close at 9 p.m. Twisted Pine is tucked away in typical Boulder brewery fashion, located in a sparse industrial park just a few minutes east of the CU campus on Walnut Street.

A seasonal chocolate stout made with cocoa nibs at the Twisted Pine Brewery in Boulder. (CU Independent/Andrew Kaczmarek)

The Ale House is quaint and resembles a mountain cabin. Behind the wooden bar is a beautiful custom carved tap tower with 15 beers on draft. Twisted Pine has a number of seasonal beers on tap including a 7.5 percent Baltic Porter, the highly awarded 9.1 percent Northstar Imperial Porter, and a beer blend of the brewery’s raspberry ale and coffee stout.

Twisted Pines has hit the ground running in 2012. The brewery will follow the craft canning revolution and can its Hoppy Boy India Pale Ale in 16 ounce cans, know as tall hoppy cans.

Twisted Pine also began the year brewing its most famous beer, the Ghost Face Killah. The Ghost Face Killah is an American wheat beer that will kick your ass. The beer is deemed the “hottest beer this side of hell.” It is conditioned with six different types of peppers: Anaheim, Fresno, Jalapeño, Serrano, Habanero, and Bhut Jolokia, which is also known as the Ghost Face Pepper. The beer’s intensity gets the blood flowing a little faster and warms up the face. Like all things in life, this beer deserves a sample at least once. The Ghost Face Killah is now available at the brewery and sold in single 12 ounce bottles at various liquor stores.

On my trip to the Twisted Pine Ale House, I enjoyed the Razzy Xpress. The beer is a house blend of the brewery’s Espresso Stout Truffle and Raspberry Ale. This lovers’ stout has dominant aromas of chocolate malt and coffee, with hints of fruit and raspberry. It is an incredibly creamy beer that is perfectly crafted. It combines rich dark malt and subtle hints of tart raspberry that stout and fruit beer lovers can enjoy. This velvet-like beer is perfect to quaff on a cold February day in Colorado.

Beer Notes:

Winter seasonals to try before the spring beers start to roll out: Odell Brewing Company’s Mountain Standard Double Black IPA, a Special Edition Foreign Style Stout from Boulder’s own Upslope Brewing Company, and Great Divide’s Hibernation Ale.

For more wintery beers visit The Mountain Sun Pub for stout month, running to the end of February. The Southern Sun Pub has 11 stouts on tap including Nitro Coconut Cream Stout and Nitro Dark Harvest Pumpkin Stout.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Andrew Kaczmarek at Andrew.Kaczmarek@colorado.edu. 

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