Visited on: Friday 1st June 2018
Bob Thompson
“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is a particularly apposite comment when it comes to this likeable pub on the edge of the Speer district in south Denver.
Located in a small strip mall just off Broadway, it’s sandwiched between an Asian bistro and a tax accountant’s office, the exterior is a bit nondescript and could be passed by unnoticed. Once inside however, it was found to be a warm and welcoming little brew pub.
It first opened its doors on Saturday 5th July 2014 by its co-owners Kevin Greer and Ryan Skeels. Even by brew pub standards the equipment is quite small, being of 2.5 barrels (bbls) capacity.
That’s no real constraint on the amount of beer produced as there many different styles with a few surprises thrown in.
When it comes to unusual styles Baere is up there with the most experimental of Denver’s producers.
Once in the door we noticed the bar counter in front of us with a flat screen above displaying the menu. There is a wooden bench-type seat along the right wall which was displaying some colourful paintings depicting the sunshine state. To the right of the counter is a fridge with potential take-way bottles and cans, then a small area displaying merchandise and next to that was stack of shelves with many indoor games.
Finally At the back of the main room is the brewery itself. As mentioned this is quite small, yet the most visible feature is the division between it and the public room. This is where they store the barrel-aged beers. There were twenty-one wooden barrels on racks with another nine facing them. To the far right of the room are some more wooden fitted benches. The wall above displayed paintings of jazz musicians.
We seated ourselves at one of the loose wooden tables and chairs in the middle of the room. From a choice of sixteen possibilities we tried five of the beers offered and not the most extreme either!
This is what we thought of them: GLeeMONEX (4.6%) was an excellent session IPA with a good IPA taste with a very bitter aftertaste; Totes Redux (6.7%), in the New England IPA style we thought had the typical US IPA citrus body and after taste. It uses Citra, Simcoe and Montauka hops.
The sampling continued with C3(I)PA (6.9%), an American IPA with Centennial, Chinook and Cascade hops. It had the US IPA taste but was not over the top and was balanced. Then we had Strip Mall Pale Ale (5.4%) which was smoother than the other beers yet was also well balanced. Our final beer was Love is Blind Porter (6.5%) which tasted a bit of coffee and was not very bitter.
As mentioned earlier there is a large range of beers brewed. The others on the menu that day are shown below, some are very unusual indeed.
There was a Belgian Saison, a Saison with Southern hemisphere hops and lemon peel, a Belgian Single, Imperial Stout with coffee and vanilla, a Brown Ale made with Northern Brewer and Cascade hops, a Berliner Weisse, a Berliner Weisse aged with plums and cherries, Gose with tangerine, guava and sour sap, a golden sour beer and finally, a sour Brown Ale with blackcurrants.
So there are plenty of beers to make this a very worthwhile visit and it’s easy to get to from downtown Denver or Union Station.
Important Information:
Baere Brewing Co, 320 Broadway, Unit E, Denver, Colorado 80203.
Web: www.baerebrewing.com Tel: 970 910 4810.
Monday-Wednesday: 16.00-22.00; Thursday: 14.00-22.00; Friday-Saturday: 12:00-23.00;
Sunday: 12:00-20.00.
Baere Brewing is on North Broadway. This major road is served by Bus 0.
This route starts at Union Station on the Bus Mall underneath the platforms.
After negotiating the Downtown area it runs south along Broadway.
To reach the pub from the North you should alight at the Broadway / West 4th Avenue stop.
You will see the strip mall on the opposite side. Cross over the road and you’re there.
Returning to the city centre you turn left then right on East 4nd Avenue. Go one block east to Lincoln Street. Look left at the intersection you’ll see the bus stop. The 0 route goes north on Lincoln Street.
