City Star Brewing
American Stout aged 22 months in Spirit Hound whisky barrels. Available in bottles and on draft.
Homegrown Fresh Hop IPA release today at 2pm (growlers welcome)! We know many of you are just as excited as we are to taste one of our beers featuring our homegrown Centennial hops. There’s something special about watching these bines (not a type-o!) grow through summer and then literally enjoying the fruits of their labor. John pulled hops before last weekend’s snow to wet hop two American IPA kegs for release in the taproom only. That’s under an hour from bine to beer! Definitely a dream of John’s. We are excited to share this special beer!
City Star Brewing is releasing 5 magically delicious beers this Saturday, March 17th for St. Patrick’s Day. Guests can Taste the Rainbow for $10/flight.
In this craft beer climate where brewers are pushing envelopes of styles and what can go in beers, the City Star brewhouse dove into the task of crafting a line-up of outlandish brews that Lucky the Leprechaun would enjoy. Adjuncts range from hibiscus, oak, cucumber, soursop and even a bit o’ glitter. A handful of breweries across the country have recently made a splash with this edible food grade adjunct. Beer purists have no need to worry, sparkle won’t turn up regularly in City Star beers.
“More traditional approachable beers are at the core of our mainstay line-up, but experimenting and pushing boundaries with specialties and special event infusions is just fun” says co-owner Whitney Way.
Summit Tacos will be out front at 3pm serving a special St. Patrick’s Day menu, and Longmont duo The Prairie Scholars will perform at 7pm. Lucky Charms flights will be available to enjoy Saturday and Sunday while beers last. City Star won’t be filling growlers of the Lucky Charms beers, but full pours may be enjoyed in addition to the beer flights.
The latest in the City Star Zoller Barrel Aged Series will be released in the taproom on Wednesday, February 14th: Scarlet is a sour stout aged 9 months in oak barrels finished with cherries. She rings in at 7% ABV.
We absolutely love this darling! Soured with both lactobacillus and pediococcus bacteria as well as brettanomyces yeast (big words for excellent souring agents!). A blend of Bing, Lambert, Van, and Royal Anne sweet cherries were added to this beer… approximately 50lbs of cherry per barrel. The beer has a velvety smooth mouthfeel. Luscious waves of cocoa roll along the tongue, and the cherry sweetness rounds out the sour flavor profile. Bottles will be for sale in the City Star taproom, and on tap for sampling. Each bottle is dipped in wax and hand stamped with the City Star Brewing seal.
City Star will also be hosting their 6th annual Chocolate & Beer Pairing for Valentine’s Day that evening. If you are interested in reserving a pairing, you can do so at citystarbrewing.com/chocolate-beer
As the sun hangs lower in the sky each day City Star head brewer John Way tracks how far it shines inside through the taproom’s new huge south facing windows. Solar noon is celebrated daily and well known by all those who work in the brew house mid-day with John. Fascinated by the Winter Solstice John Way originally crafted Widow Maker, his darkest beer of the year, with the darkest day of the year in mind. The sun won’t be shining tomorrow during the Winter Solstice (yay snow!) but Widow Maker will be as it flows from the taps. At 2pm Widow Maker Imperial Stout will be released on draft and in 22oz bottles, side by side with French Roast Widow Maker and Vanilla Bean Widow Maker. Bottles will be for sale at $12-15/bottle with a 1 case limit per person of each beer. 10oz pours, tasters, and flights of all three imperial stouts will be available to enjoy in the taproom.
More about the beers…
Widow Maker is a colossal Imperial Stout. This nod to the Winter Solstice boasts a big, bold and complex flavor profile of dark roasted malt, chocolate and dark fruit. Smooth, rich and ready to sip and savor.
The French Roast variant of Widow Maker Imperial Stout is infused with Denver based Dazbog’s French Roast coffee. Two pounds of coarse ground coffee per barrel are added to the conditioned beer for a robust 24 hour cold brew. Bold coffee mingles with the imperial stout’s dark roasted malt, chocolate and dark fruit flavors. Not for the faint hearted. Caffeine included.
The Vanilla Bean variant of Widow Maker Imperial Stout is infused with organic Bourbon vanilla beans from Madagascar. The conditioned beer is dosed with a tincture made in house of the scraped vanilla pods and tiny seeds. Sweet, dark roasted malt, chocolate and dark fruit notes showcase the delicate vanilla flavor and aroma.
To date City Star Brewing has only bottled barrel aged beers. The bottle release of Widow Maker is the brewery’s first non-barrel aged beer to be packaged. As supply is very limited bottles of Widow Maker and variants will only be sold out of the downtown Berthoud taproom. More specialty bottle releases can be expected in 2018.
Cheers to darker beers and longer days!
Ahoy: Buccaneer has crashed ashore in land locked Berthoud, Colorado. Buccaneer is the next release in City Star Brewing’s Zoller Barrel Aged Series and will be available at the City Star taproom in Berthoud, Colorado on Saturday, December 9th at noon.
The 2017 vintage of Buccaneer is an American Strong Ale brewed with wildflower honey and aged 20 months in rum oak barrels. The alcohol by volume for Buccaneer finished at 12.7% with a flavor profile that is malt forward with notes of caramel, toffee, raisin, vanilla, and of course honey. This strong ale goes down pleasantly smooth in contrast to its abrasive name and will steal away your worries and make your stress
walk the plank at the end of a hard day. (Is that too many pirate references?)
Bottles will be available for sale at $18/22oz bottle and Buccaneer will be on draft for sampling. City Star will also have a limited supply of 2015 Buccaneer bottles available for a side by side vertical tasting during the December 9th release.
City Star releases the 2017 Outlaw Imperial Stout in bottles
By Michael J. Casey – November 2, 2017
Most savvy beer drinkers will tell you the same thing: The fresher the better. While true for the vast majority of American lagers and ales, some beers do benefit from a pit stop in a barrel and a little lag time in the bottle. It takes a little patience and some experimentation, but Whitney Way, co-owner of City Star Brewery, says she is enjoying “digging into the barrel-aged side of craft beer.”
Located in Berthoud and operating with a 3.5-barrel brewing system, City Star began playing around with barrel-aged beers in 2012 — it was a raspberry brown ale aged in a cabernet sauvignon barrel. It soon started bottling barrel-aged concoctions, starting with Outlaw, an imperial stout aged in whiskey barrels from Breckenridge Distillery.
“The response was overwhelming,” Way says. “Since then, we’ve been releasing a barrel-aged beer in bottles ever two to three months.”
If the response was overwhelming for the 2015 Outlaw, then City Star’s latest bottling, the 2017 Outlaw Imperial Stout, ought to garner even more enthusiastic acclaim. Aged in Heaven Hill Kentucky Bourbon barrels for 14–18 months, the Outlaw is loaded with dark chocolate, dried red fruit, black strap molasses, vanilla and plenty of boozy bourbon. It’s thick and rich, but drink it slow; at 12.75 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), the Outlaw packs one hell of a wallop.
“It was brewed to be a high-ABV imperial stout, brewed for those barrels,” Way explains. “In barrels, there is a little bit of evaporation that occurs, especially when you’re keeping beer in there for over a year.”
Not too mention the residual liquor absorbed by the barrels.
“We like to use barrels that are still pretty wet,” Way continues. “We really like the flavor [it] provides.”
The aroma of bourbon whiskey greets you once you chip through the black wax sealing Outlaw’s bottle cap and pry the beast open. It’ll come out swinging, but give it a minute or five to open up in the glass and let the air smooth out those edges — a solid indication the brew will only improve over time.
“This particular beer will definitely age well,” Way says. “We’ve had several different people who had a 2015 [Outlaw] and are drinking them side-by-side with the 2017 now. [They say] right now is the sweet spot for 2015.”
Do an Outlaw side-by-side comparison and you’ll taste what can be achieved by cellaring: the aggressiveness and heat diminish while the flavors deepen into a mellow, nuanced taste.
“That’s kind of the beauty of aging those big imperial stouts,” Way says. “A lot of those key flavors hang out and the beers just improve over time.”
Twenty-two-ounce bottles of 2017 Outlaw Imperial Stout can be acquired at City Star for $18. Grab one for the holidays and one for the cellar; 2019 will be here before you know it.
Original article source: http://www.boulderweekly.com/cuisine/new-brew-stout-worth-saving/
City Star doubles size of brewery with barrel room and beer garden
Posted by editor on October 12, 2017
By Shelley Widhalm
The Berthoud Surveyor
John and Whitney Way of Berthoud, co-owners of the brewery they opened five years ago, expanded the 2,500-square-foot brewery and taproom by adding a barrel room, an additional seating area, and a beer garden in back – as well as another set of restrooms and room for an office.
“We’re a community fixture here,” Whitney said. “It wasn’t long before we realized the seating area and taproom space was smaller than we’d like it to be.”
Three years ago the Ways purchased the building to the east of the main brewery when Chris Gischel, co-owner of Simply Shabulous, temporarily closed her business before reopening it on Massachusetts Avenue in May. The Ways did much of the work to the building, remodeling it to be a separate space connected to the brewery by a large, open doorway.
The additional space meant the brewery could more than triple its seating capacity. Originally there were 50 seats in the taproom. The barrel room adds another 25 seats, the indoor seating area 24, and the beer garden more than 50.
The Ways built the barrel room to have a double purpose, to store oak barrels to age their beers and to provide seating at two long tables. They called the room the Zoller Barrel House to reflect the building’s history – a man named Jake Zoller had owned a shoe shop and had his living quarters in the same space from the 1930s to the 1970s. The building which had multiple purposes, but the shoe shop was the most well-known, had been moved from old Berthoud to another location before being moved to its current location.
“That’s really an iconic building in Berthoud’s streetscape,” said Mark French, president of the Berthoud Historical Society, adding he appreciated how the Ways retained the building’s front facade. “The owners of a local business respect the heritage and understand how important it is to improve it while you repurpose it.”
The room, which spans 1,000 square feet, will serve as a space for private parties and events. Of course, the owners have considered the security of such a large space. According to some sources, they probably have installed business security systems inside the room to avoid any occurrence of mishaps.
“Having the additional space available provides greater flexibility in the events we can offer and the groups we can accommodate,” Whitney said.
Across from the barrel room is an indoor seating area with large windows facing out onto the beer garden, essentially a patio with more seating, a stage that will be used for musical entertainment in the warmer months, and a fire pit in the colder months. In colder months, since having live music could prove difficult, a satellite radio system from the likes of Cloud Cover Music or similar companies can be added instead. That way relevant music can be played, depending on the vibe and ambiance desired by the crowd.
“The beer garden is going to be a real draw,” Whitney said. “It will be more of a destination with the outdoor space.”
The Ways commissioned graffiti artist Gamma Acosta of Longmont to paint a mural of a poker scene, entitled “All In at City Star,” on the west side of the beer garden and outside of the main building. Acosta began work in March and is finishing the project.
Opposite the mural along the fence the Ways plan to plant a row of hop vines, providing what John describes as a “green fence.” The Ways may use the hops, which they purchased from a hydroponic hop farm in Fort Collins, to make some of their beers, but that depends on how the plants turn out. “We’ll have to see what the quality is like,” Whitney said, adding the hops will serve a second purpose. “The way the hop vines grow creates shade and ambience. It’s fun to have the ingredients of our beer growing right there. … It’s an enjoyable atmosphere to imbibe in a beer.”
Having the patio is appealing and the main focus of the Way’s expansion project, John said.
“It’s going to be a great, beautiful space to hang out with friends and family and enjoy some great beer,” he added.
John and Whitney opened the beer garden for Labor Day and plan to have the finishing touches completed by the end of the year, though they had wanted to open it two years ago, according to Whitney.
“We’ve learned from the first building,” she said. “We have been able to do more in terms of décor. We know more about … the finishing details not everyone notices but we appreciate.”
The Ways continue to lease the main part of the brewery from Whitney’s parents, Dan and Rudi Taylor, who in 2011 purchased a 10,000-square-foot, 100-year-old building they turned into retail and storage space. They operate two businesses there, Wishful Living and Happy Mango Beads.
The Ways named the brewery after the building’s original use, once the City Star Barn livery stable. The livery stable was torn down and rebuilt in the early 1900s as Jefferes Auto Co., one of the town’s first auto dealerships, before becoming Jefferes Garage and later Dean’s Furniture, a used furniture store in operation for about 30 years.
“We learned that and ran with it,” Whitney said about the brewery’s name, adding she and John created a walking tour of the brewery with a listing of the historical photos of Berthoud hanging throughout that they printed from historical society images.
The Taylors remodeled the entire building, and the Ways focused on their area, spending a year doing the work. They redid the façade, scraped the ceiling to have a rustic look, added new walls and installed a new concrete floor and interior systems. They were able to retain historical aspects of the building, such as the ceiling and interior brick, and constructed tables and the front of the bar out of some of the original structural wood beams and wood flooring. They used some of the windows to serve as chalkboard menus.
“Anytime we could reuse aspects of the building we did,” Whitney said.
To add to the historical feel, the Ways created four tables out of oak barrels that are in the tap room and a barrel chandelier John made out of another barrel. They used corrugated metal along the wall and incorporated wood, metal, brick and concrete elements throughout, using rustic earth tones.
“Anything we could do ourselves, that’s how we made it possible,” Whitney said.
The Ways completed the remodel by the time of the brewery’s grand opening on May 4, 2012.
City Star Brewery is open 2-9 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, 2-10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday and noon-9 p.m. Sunday.
“We put a lot of hard work, time and energy into building and creating the space,” John said. “On Fridays and Saturdays there’s nowhere to sit. We have more seating capacity to hold all the people that come in, so everybody can enjoy City Star’s delicious beer.”
Original article source: http://www.berthoudsurveyor.com/city-star-doubles-size-of-brewery-with-barrel-room-and-beer-garden/
Gamma Gallery’s latest mural will be unveiled this Thursday at City Star Brewing in downtown Berthoud. “All In at City Star” is a commissioned painting that was created completely free-hand, using only spray cans (no stencils or etching) on the 700 square foot concrete canvas. Gamma will be putting the final touches on his masterpiece throughout the day, and the official unveiling will take place at 5pm. Guests can order a pint of “All In” from the beertenders, Curbed Hunger food truck will be serving on site, and Clandestine Amigo will perform on the beer garden stage at 6pm.
Gamma developed the concept for the mural inspired by City Star’s historic roots and the general brewery vibe, which aims to maintain Berthoud’s history. He has taken inspiration from artifacts unearthed during this year’s taproom expansion and incorporated the wood grain on the concrete wall from wood forms used to construct the building in the early 1900’s. It is an incredible honor to feature Gamma’s work at City Star Brewing.
Gamma Acosta grew up in Longmont, Colorado. Drawing since before he could remember, creativity and problem solving were always on his mind. After graduating from school, Gamma did not pursue art for quite some time; it wasn’t until years later and perfect circumstances that he found a new expression, public art. The world was his painting surface, he discovered, and he had a way with a spray can that took him beyond the hardened parameters of street writing.
Painting large-scale projects of his own design, month after month, his unintended career began to gain speed. Today, he’s working all the time: creating murals inside and out for businesses. Gamma almost exclusively uses spray cans to create the photo-realistic pieces he has become known for. View Gamma’s portfolio online at http://gammagallery.co.
For Immediate Release:
City Star Brewing Releases Outlaw in Bottles: Imperial Stout Aged in Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Barrels
The latest in the City Star Zoller Barrel Aged Series will be released in the City Star taproom on Saturday, October 21st, Outlaw. The 2017 vintage of this imperial stout was aged 14-18 months in Kentucky bourbon whiskey oak barrels and weighs in at 12.75% abv. Flavors of rich chocolate, toffee, dark dried fruit, oak, vanilla and of course American whiskey. A rich and creamy mouthfeel leaves you lingering for another pour.
“This is a very special release for us. Though we began barrel aging beer in 2012, our 2015 vintage of Outlaw was our first bottling of any kind at City Star. It is exciting to see where City Star was at the time of our 2015 release in comparison to this release, as it coincides with the opening of our long awaited beer garden and Zoller Barrel House.” – co-owner Whitney Way.
Bottles will be available for sale at $18/22oz bottle, AND Outlaw will be on draft for sampling. Each bottle is dipped in wax and hand stamped with the City Star Brewing seal.
City Star will be hosting an Outlaw Preview in the taproom on Monday, October 2nd to kick off GABF festivities! More details about this event can be found at: citystarbrewing.com/outlaw-preview. For those attending GABF swing by our booth R7 for a limited release of Outlaw during each session.