Visited on: Friday 1st June 2018
Bob Thompson
When does genuine experimentation finish and fantasy take over? Well, this brewery must be sailing very close to the wind around that boundary. Founder and brewer Nick Nunns says his company are “style blasphemers” when it comes to the beer they brew. He advises that its name should be pronounced as “TRUE”. I wonder why it isn’t spelt that way in the first place.
Sadly, there is more of this sort of thing. He says they look for new ideas by evoking Loki, a god in the old Norse religion. Are we to take this seriously, probably not? Yet there is no mention of it being a joke in their publicity, so you are left wondering if they are serious after all. By the way, Loki is the god that creates mischief and plays tricks on the other gods.
They use the myth of Loki to justify (honestly!) the choice of beers that are brewed here, some of which are quite experimental. I am left speculating whether this is a blanket that can be thrown over a brew that doesn’t make the grade. “Not our fault mate, Loki chose it!” As they say, they are “channeling (sic) Loki, and embracing chaos”.
There is a brewery in the pub and another somewhere else (location unknown). Because it produces a number of sour beers the pub brewery is known as “the Acid Temple”.
Thankfully the menu differentiates and there is selection described as “clean beers”.
I’m sure that’s not a distinction between them and unclean beers, just defining those brewed conventionally with brewer’s yeast along with malt and hops.
The other side of the menu lists beers that are described as “mixed culture”, which I assume is a combination of normally brewed beer and that by spontaneous fermentation.
There’s also some beers fermented solely with yeasts from the air, albeit flavoured with fruit, no doubt because of their sourness.
Well, what are they actually like? Linda and I chose three from the “clean beers” side of the list, and one other.
Cosmic Crypt Farmhouse Pale Ale (5.6%) was first. I don’t know what the farmhouse style actually is. It’s supposed to emanate from French-speaking Belgium or possibly, France. It was cloudy, light tasting with some lemon aftertaste. Not a bit like a beer with origins in Europe, but tolerable, nevertheless.
Next up was Exhumation (4.6%) described as a New England Pale Ale. Surprisingly, it was totally innocuous with a mild citrus flavour and aftertaste. It was also cloudy, yet passed the acceptability test. Final choice from the regular list was Stout OJJJ (5.8%), an American-style (?) stout. Even despite it having a dark colour, it seemed a bit clearer than the others. It had the usual Stout taste but with very little body for the style and strength.
Finally we had a special as it was only to be found on a small separate menu. It was Six Three Times (7.7%). this is described more widely as an Imperial Pale Ale. Cloudy of course, it had a medium hop taste yet was very slightly sour.
Even though it doesn’t appear on the main menu it was described as a Flagship beer, however we thought not.
Overall, we didn’t think the beers we had were in any way exceptional, not at all frightening and certainly not justifiable of all the hype.
A major feature of the pub on Broadway is the management’s love of heavy metal. The imagery of that genre of music is evident in the brewery’s publicity with many skeletons, grim reapers, men with goat’s heads and all the rest of that sort of stuff. Naturally it is the theme music in the pub which is long and dimly lit. We took a seat near the front window on the end of a very long wooden table that took up a lot of space on the left side.
Opposite, on the right, were a series of high tables protruding from the wall. There were no stools so this side is dedicated to upright drinking.
About halfway down on the right is the bar counter with lots of stools in front. Beyond the counter is the brewery itself along the left wall.
At the front of the pub there are framed black and white photographs of derelict houses. A theme that somehow fits in with the surroundings.
Although they do supply other pubs, this is probably the best place to drink TRVE’s beers. However, you need to possess a thick skin and a sense of humour to avoid all the distractions that are placed in your path.
Important Information:
TRVE Brewing, 227 Broadway #101, Denver, Colorado 80203.
Web: www.trvebrewing.com Tel: 303 351 1021.
Monday-Wednesday: 15.00-23.00; Thursday-Saturday: 12.00-24.00; Sunday: 12.00-22.00.
TRVE 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 1st Avenue stop.
To get to the pub you walk one and a half blocks back towards north. It is on the right opposite Key Bank.
Returning to the city centre you turn right then left on East 2nd Avenue. Go one block east to Lincoln Street. At the intersection you see the bus stop on the right. The 0 route goes north on Lincoln Street.