5 Colorado Beers for Non-IPA Drinkers

Lager

Bierstadt Lagerhaus’ Slow Pour Pils, 4.9 percent ABV
Crisp, aromatic, and crushable, this traditional German pale lager is worth the four- to six-minute wait it takes to achieve the proper pour—resulting in the perfect head—at Bierstadt’s massive, two-level, game-filled RiNo taproom.

Belgian-style

Primitive Beer’s Harbored in the Fuzz, 6.2 percent ABV
First, this Longmont brewer’s two-year-old spontaneous, lambic-style beer is refermented for 10 months on Red Globe peaches from Hotchkiss’ Deer Tree Farm and Agroforest; then it’s bottle-conditioned (refermented inside the bottle with added sugars) for six months on local alfalfa honey. The result? A dry-as-a-bone brew with funky stone-fruit aromas, deep peach notes, and a bit of blue cheese intensity.

Fruited Sour

Casey Brewing & Blending’s Funky Blender Preserves–Laroda Plum, 7 percent ABV
Glenwood Springs brewer-owner Troy Casey aged this farmhouse ale in oak wine barrels with more than four pounds per gallon of ripe Laroda plums grown in Palisade. It’s got big candy acidity and notes of sweet, jammy plums.

Barrel-aged

Banded Oak Brewing Co.’s Norwegian Tripel (Syrah Barrel), 8 percent ABV
This hybrid style from the Speer neighborhood’s Banded Oak marries the malt-forward sweetness of a Belgian tripel with Norwegian kveik yeast’s pear-and-honey profile—and tons of oaky vanilla notes from five months of aging in Syrah wine barrels.

Pastry Stout

Mountain Sun’s Chocwork Orange Stout, 6.5 percent ABV
During the Colorado icon’s 27th annual Stout Month—happening in February at Mountain Sun, Southern Sun, and Under the Sun in Boulder; Vine Street Pub in Denver; and Longs Peak Pub in Longmont—you’ll find more than 30 house stouts and about 20 more from area guest beer makers. This beauty is brewed with milk and dark chocolates, orange peel, and blood orange purée.