Ever wondered what goes into making beer…besides the actual brewing? There are so many additional pieces that go into brewing, all that require additional partners. Kris and I had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Collaboration Fest, and the evening prior to the festival we stopped by the Great Divide Barrel room to see what other players were there representing local beer.
First, hops! The High Wire Hops farm may be out in the mountains, but they are supplying brewers all over Colorado, and the rest of the country, with Cascade, Crystal, Chinook, Nugget, CTZ, and Willamette hop pellets. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be able to create a beer knowing you’ve included locally grown hops. For those readers that are not as familiar with the brewing process, hops can provide a bittering flavor to beer, but can also add floral, citrus, and spicy aromas to any beer. Most brews include hops in their wort, the mixture of water, malt, and other grains of choice, to give an underlying bitterness. Many brews these days are also dry-hopped, meaning hops are added later in the fermentation process to give a stronger aroma. The guys at High Wire hops run a large farm of all different hop varieties that you can order and then include in your beer.
High Wire Hops
Next, yeast! Inland Island Yeast Laboratories was also part of Collaboration Fest, providing knowledge on another central ingredient to the brewing process. Once your wort is finished boiling and your hops are added, you need to add yeast in order for the beer to ferment and become alcoholic. Yeast, like hops, can come in all different varieties, each of which adds different characteristics to a beer. Yeast can often make the difference between a beer tasting sour, bitter, or sweet. Inland Island brings a wealth of knowledge and products to the table and is a great resource for any brewer.
Last, carbonation! Often when we think of carbonated beverages we think of soda and the ever popular, La Croix. However, beer is also quite carbonated. For any homebrewers out there that bottle their beer, carbonation happens in each individual bottle as residual yeast eats up the last of the fermentable sugars. For larger scale productions, as most of the Collaboration Fest beers were, beer is carbonated in kegs so that breweries don’t have to wait for a beer to carbonate over time. In order create carbonation in a keg, you need Co2, which is where the ladies from General Air come in. This company, also a large presence at Collaboration Fest, provides commercial Co2 to breweries all over the country. Another essential component to making the brews we all love to enjoy.
General Air
Although Collaboration Fest is about beer, it’s also about partnership and the communal nature of beer. It’s only fitting that the other players are present both in our minds and in our recap of this fantastic festival. Beer is about a community. It’s about creating a connection between flavors, art, and science. Each of these companies provides a key ingredient to the beverage we love to rave about. So, if you ever decide to venture out and create your own brew, consider checking out these wonderful folks and remember, it takes a village to create a well-balanced, drinkable beer.
