Boulder Hazed & Infused Pale Ale

Boulder Hazed & Infused Pale Ale.

5% ABV. Boulder Beer, Denver, CO.

The Boulder Beer Company, now out of Denver, apparently, has been distributed in Minnesota for as long as I can remember, and I’ve always been happy to show them my support. I put a keg of Mojo IPA on at Acadia as recently as the summer of 2019. Then, they went away, and returned under a new distributor with all-new, all-boring trade dress. I’ll merely say that it’s the most drastic rebranding I’ve ever seen, and not in a good way. Gone away is color, style, and imagination, in comes black and white landscape photography and the most understated typeface imaginable. Sure, why not.

So, I bought the variety pack, which included one new beer, Bubbly By Nature, since reviewed, and three that I was already familiar with, two of them, Mojo and Shake, already here in the Nib. The last one, Hazed & Infused, not only hasn’t been reviewed here, I apparently never took notes on it at all. How is this possible?

I remember when this beer was introduced in 2002 and I remember tapping it at the Blue Nile. Back then, I took notes on every beer I tapped and shared them on BeerAdvocate & RateBeer, until I started this blog. It’s not on either one of them. The closest I could find was something called Hazed Hoppy Session Ale. A beer with this named is said to have been introduced in 2017. What gives? Oh, well, let’s write new notes. 

Hazy (as per the craze these days, although this beer preceded that by more than a decade), bright golden toned, small white head. 

In the nose: bold citrus zest expression, orange, lemon, grapefruit. Quite nice.

In the mouth: more bold, more citrus. Minor bitterness, mellow malt. Hop flavors ride high, lasting through the long finish. Medium bodied, easy drinking, refreshing, and highly likable. 

Still curious, I investigated further Hazed Hoppy Session is a renaming of Hazed & Infused. To position it for marketing purposes and tie-in to the trend of session ales? And now that unfiltered, dry-Hopped IPAs are all the rage? Yep.

I would share those old notes, but I can’t remember my password right now...

Boulder Bubbly By Nature IPA

 

Boulder Bubbly By Nature IPA. The Bubbly IPA. India Pale Ale. Lively. Tropical. Sunshiney. 

4.5% ABV. Boulder Brewing, Boulder, CO.

From the recent Boulder Variety Pack. Three beers I've had before, and one that is new to me. This one. And the dreadful packaging of their colorless rebranding. Ugh. 

A "Brut IPA", eh? I didn't know anyone was still making them. Thought that this style proved itself unnecessary and an unwanted experiment. Was I wrong? Let's find out.

Crystal clear, pale yellow hue, slim white head. 

In the nose: Crisp, fruity (apples, pear, grape), and a little funky. I'm anticipating something tart and dry appearing on the palate. 

In the mouth: My expectations have been founded. Crisp, clean, slightly tart, and very dry. I'm getting little from hops and wonder why it's even called an IPA. Marketing? Light bodied, effervescent. Minor hop bitterness, if any. Brisk and a little refreshing. 

I certainly don't taste anything close to an IPA. While I can certainly drink it, it's not the sort of thing that I enjoy. 

Tropical and juicy like an IPA, sunshiny like a lager, yet lively and bright like a hard seltzer. This curious intersection of brewing techniques creates its own naturally bubbly style.

I'm thinking that whoever wrote that had a different beer than I did. Not tropical or juicy in the least. And are those really the attributes of an IPA, or just the hazy style? I'm glad they still make Mojo. A pity there were only three in the box. Got one more of these left. Alas. 

Boulder Pulp Fusion Blood Orange IPA

Boulder Pulp Fusion Blood Orange IPA. 6.5% ABV. 52 IBU. Boulder Brewing, Boulder, CO.

Clear, bright gold coloring, big ivory head, leaving lace.

In the nose: citrus-y hop attack, Lemon, lime, grapefruit. Centennial, Cascade and Glacier hops doing their thing.

In the mouth: Starts out fresh and juicy, with moderate bitterness. Ends dry on the palate. Dry and refreshing. Medium bodied. Smooth and tasty, this one, and an easy drinker. Orange flavor continues to build it's presence on the tongue. The blood orange flavor, for me, though, doesn't go far enough. It's quite consumable, however, and it does taste quite good. Just wish it was a little more little more. As it is, it's but a whisper.

Boulder Shake Chocolate Porter

Boulder Shake Chocolate Porter, porter with natural flavors added. 12 oz. bottle, alc. 5.9% ABV. Brewed and bottled by Boulder Beer  Company, Boulder, Colorado.

Appearance: solid brown body, utterly opaque, with a rich, frothy tan head. Very tempting.

Aroma: bittersweet cocoa, and nothing but. If I added anything else, I'd be lying.

Taste: dark, rich, and slightly sweet. Full-bodied, and perfectly drinkable. Ever more so, with this delicious added chocolate flavor. We don't get too many chocolate porter, as the stout gets that treatment more often. This one does it all, holds it's own in the depth and body department, never quits on the flavor, lasts a long, long time.

I'm glad I bought a single of this, though. A little bit of cocoa goes a long way for this guy, and I might have grown weary of it if I had a whole 6-pack to go through.

Let's see what the label tells us: "Our twist on the traditional robust American Porter, Shake Chocolate Porter is black in color with rich, dark chocolate aromatics and flavors and subtle coffee-like notes. This unique beer blends five different friars, including Chocolate Wheat, that along with cacao nibs create e a devilishly delicious chocolate finish with a velvety mouthfeel."

Sure, I'd go for that. Chocolate fiends, get this one, it's good.

Boulder Mojo IPA

Here's a classic IPA from Colorado that I first sampled from a bottle back in February of 2004. Here are those notes:
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Cool, somewhat hazy golden color, with a bone-white head, attractive, big at first, though ultimately short-lived.

Aroma: oh, that's the stuff, like a deep breath in the heart of a primal forest, a crazy mess of spikey, sprucey, herbal hoppitude. Feels like it's dry-hopped. Piney, citrusy.

Continues on the tastebuds, bitter, yet sweetish and slightly fruity.

A bit light in body, a tad lacking in the malt department...it's all over, under and thoroughly about the hops (wish I could which ones). Taste never flags or sags, though that's for sure, if you want hops playing everwhere on your palate, though every inch your mouth, and ushering forth a case of the hop burps, Mojo is here for you.
Feels thicker on the mouth further in, sweeter, candyish.

Quite an interesting approach, bitter, yeah, but not too much, and still drinkable. Nice change of pace, though I think I like Hazed and Infused better.
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That comment remains odd, since I rarely purchase any Hazed and Infused, anymore. But it's not 2004 anymore, is it? There's a whole lot of other beers out there. I did this one on tap for a while some time after this review, and it was very popular. I took it off because sales of Bell's Two Hearted Ale were taking a nose-dive in comparison. Back when I could only get so many people to try the hoppy stuff. Ah, those bygone days of yesteryear...

Boulder Hoopla Pale Ale

Boulder Hoopla Pale Ale. I'm not copying the story on the side, it's far too long. But I'll summarize it. Jam band keyboardist/homebrewer and Boulder brewer collaborated…it's designed for hula hoop-ing hippies, apparently…dry-hopped with Glacier…American and German malt…blah, blah, blah….I'm going to drink it while listening to Lou Donaldson's "Alligator Boogaloo" and imagine the girl on the cover doing a hula hoop, slowly…

Anyway! The beer! Let's open it!

Clear, coppery color…huge head, milky toned, leaving lace. Nice.

Soft, but lively, floral aromatics, loaded with citrus notes. I'm wondering if there's more than Glacier going on here, but I don't know as much about that one as I'd like.

Taste: Zesty, spicy malt mouthfeel. Is it crystal rye malt? This really reminds me of SurlyFest, and it's malt profile. Whatever, it's clean, fresh, bright, slightly sweet, and delicious. Mmmm, mmm, mmm. Lightly tingly hop profile, lays long on the palate. Utterly pleasant, perfectly pleasing. Hops bump happily against sweet malt. Great drinking, great tasting.

I'll drink this with a hippie any ol' day.

Boulder Killer Penguin Barley-wine

First cracked open a bottle of this one in December of 2005. Drinking some now fresh on tap. Here are the original notes:

Wax-dipped 22 ounce bomber, baleful bird glares from the label.

Clear crimson color, with a thinnnish, cola toned head, that gently deteriorates.

Bright, bold, dark fruit beams in the nose. Cherries and berries melded with a mildly cognac-y feel.

Smooth and rich on the palate, sweet and luscious. Despite being a 10% biggie, it's not loud, nor brash. Velvety slick. Thick malt, mellow hops, hefty body, dreamy mouthfeel. Soft, solid finish, dries off gallantly.

A very convivial brew, a delight in the mouth.
This menacing bird turns out to be a pussycat, but a very tasty one. I like it, though it doesn't resemble my favorite barleywines, it's a refreshing change, and one still stocked with character. I'll enjoy this all night long.

Boulder Mojo Risin' Double IPA

I first created notations for my tastings of this ale back in May of 2007. It's back on tap now, for Imperial March. Let's look at those old words, now, shall we, and also turn our eyes to the picture I took of beer next to tap handle, mere moments ago....in real time, baby!

"Lightly hazed, golden/peach-y hue...1/4" of creamy head holds guard on top...

Lovely aroma: pine, grapefruit, lemon, lime, a small bit prickly, but just right, as far as I'm concerned.

Taste: BAM! Big blast of bitterness, great splash of hops, then fading, leaving some bitterness in the back of the mouth, staying on the tongue. Long, bitter finish, but flavorful...terrific balance, this isn't all hops and nothing but, nice, juicy malt base...delicate, and delightful, but juicy, too..Medium-bodied, but long on the hop flavor.

I eschewed the bottles I saw on sale, knowing I'd be able to have this on tap in a convenient venue...(???)...it's a nice Double IPA, not among the fiercest, but somewhere in the middle tier, I'd say. Still, a treat to drink, and easily downable, without too much of a threat from the 10 % abv.

I give higher marks to DIPAs with huger hops, bigger bitterness, and massive mouthfeel...this is very nice for being not one of those."

Boulder Obovoid Oak-Aged Oatmeal Stout

So, it looks like I took 3 days and nights off from posting, and it's true, but not from drinking great beer.
Tuesday, I covered the bar for a sick bartender, and when I was finally relieved it was off to Town Hall for the only night of Barrel-aged Week that I thought I would get to visit. Honey V was on, a honey wine barrel aged Belgian-style abbey tripel. Got a ($25!) growler of that, and I'll probably open it and write about it tomorrow night. Stopped by Acadia on my way home to find that they were doing a special on Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout, for $4 a 12 ounce pour. That price is insanely low, so, naturally I had to have three of them. That was enough for my evening.
Wednesday, I stopped at Harriet Brewing for some West-Side growlers and to drop off some jazz records for Jason. "A Love Supreme" will sound great played loud in the brewery! Of course, I didn't anticipate a possible dilemna. That comes up later. Off to Bryant-Lake Bowl to play sardine for a while at their Surly 5th Anniversary Party. Mole Smoke, Moe's Bender, Abrasive Ale, Cherry-wood Aged Abrasive Ale, and of course, at least 2 servings of Pentagram. It was there that I told Todd the bottle illustration should be Baphomet (he corrected my pronunciation) holding a malt shovel and a glass of beer. Told me he was getting that (or just the goat-headed idol?) as a tattoo on his cat. That is to say, calf. Now I'll always think of him getting a tattoo of a demon on his cat.
Dean and Rita gave me a ride home, with first a stop at Town Hall for some Wee Jack, the Scottish Wee Heavy in Jack Daniels barrels. Back home, where I foolishly opened a growler of Masala Mama for a pint before slumber. It was later that I realized my mistake.
I fully intend to visit Harriet tomorrow for their first sale of Dark Abbey growlers, but I had no empties, only two full ones. Do I want to get fills, without empties? And if I don't, I have two days to empty them. But it I do, that opened growler of Mama might go bad? So, my solution is this. I had the West Side growler after getting home from work (around 4 am!), while watching some missed episodes of the Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Thought about also tackling one of the ten beers in the fridge I haven't covered yet, wisely declined and off to sleep. So, I finish the Mama tonight, (leaving early today, before midnight!) and I'll pick up one growler of the Dark Abbey. I'm sure there will be some left for later purchase, but there will be plenty of beer to enjoy after Sunday's fun day, another visit to Dave's BrewFarm, if all goes well.

And that is why I didn't touch any other new brews, or do any new posts. My original goal of doing one a day has been supplanted by as many posts as there are days in the month. So, we've got that covered. And why should I worry, really, I've no one to disappoint but myself.

And today's...Boulder Obovoid, 8% abv, oak-aged oatmeal stout, from a keg filled in October 2009, tapped at the Blue Nile in October 2010, taken off after StoutFest 2010, now back on til it runs out, tasting great, not any worse for the wear. And the notes are from from first taste of a bottle, January 2008. Now that that's out of the way...

"Very black, with cocoa-tan head...nice lookin'...

Rich and roasty nose, loads of espresso & cream, bittersweet, with caramel & chocolate hints, too...

Creamy, chocolatey flavor, yum...Cadbury's chocolate easter egg, that's it! That's where the name comes from...LoL!
Milk chocolate. Delish! Fullish bodied, moderate length finish, and altogether pleasing....sweetish taste, but good texture, fine and easy drinking....and loads of smooth, reassuring oatmeal. A big, burly oatmeal stout. And at an abv reaching up towards an RIS. Love it, personally.
This one's right up my alley. Good stuff."