SATURDAY Beer Post: 2015 Gameday Beer-o-the-week - UofA Edition

Each week throughout the football season I'm going to suggest a good beer for the ubiquitous pre-game tailgate. Let's be honest, with tailgates it's not always top quality that you're looking for. To steal a phrase from the heinous beer terrorists at Budweiser, you want "drinkability." (or what a real beer connoisseur calls "a session beer") So, be warned, these may not be "the best" beers around. But, in the words of Dave Chappelle as Samuel L. Jackson "IT'LL GET YOU DRUNK!"

It's Homecoming Week, so I'll be damned if I'm going to leave Boulder Valley for a beer pick.  Just down the road from my house - a short walk, in fact - is a pretty cool little brewpub called Fate.  Only open for a few years, they've quickly become one of the heavies in the Boulder brewing scene.  In fact, they recently won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for one of their core styles.  That beer, their Laimas Kölsch, is this week's gameday beer-o-the-week.

Fate came into being in 2013 as a collaboration between the former manager of West End Tavern and a brewer from Golden City Brewing (the second largest brewery in Golden!).  If you've never been, they've got great barbecue, suds, and atmosphere.  On Thursday afternoons, they even host the Buffaloes Primetime radio show.  It's entirely Boulder and entirely great, if a little pricey.

Their Kölsch, an old German ale style that stands apart from the region's typical lager fare (and, like champagne and bourbon is supposed to be geographic-specific), is named after a Baltic goddess of fate. Light and crisp, it pours with a telltale straw-yellow clearness and thin hoppy character.  Malty-sweet and dry on the tongue, this beer is entirely sessionable.  They've also brewed it with watermelon in the past, which makes for a very tasty combination come summertime.

Fate has even started canning Laimas, and Hazel's lists it on their website if you feel the need to grab some in traditional tailgate form. For me, however, it's worth the trip to the brewery-proper for a growler or two. That'll set you right for the long wait til tonight's kickoff.


Happy FridaySATURDAY!  Go Buffs, beat the Wildcats!