Boulder Beer Company - Buffalo Gold Ale

Buffalo Gold Ale is brewed using 3 different hop varieties including nugget, Willamette, and cascade to give this beer it's multi-tiered—yet subtle—hop character. Another winner recommended by the Beverage Testing Institute, this beer is deep golden in color, medium-bodied, and lively thanks to full carbonation. Note a distinctively hoppy nose with lemony & subtle tea-like notes as well as a slight mustiness from the yeast. The flavor presents moderately bitter-citrus hop tones mingled with toasted pale malts. As it warms, look for subtle notes of cherry skins to develop—giving a very subtle baked cherry bread character. Pair with a fully loaded Cobb salad or a Chicken Parmesan sandwich.

Colorado: A great place for microbrewed beer—no doubt. Wonder where it all started? The Boulder Beer Company, established in 1979, was (and is) Colorado's first microbrewery. As one of the oldest in the country, they paved the way for others to follow. Founded by two college professors, David Hummer and Stick Ware, their primary goal was to produce beers in the traditional style of the robust ales of Europe. And they weren't afraid to move a few goats around in order to achieve that dream, neither! (The original brewery site was a small farm northeast of Boulder, and the brewhouse did in fact share space with a few goats—the "goat shed" they called it. Lucky college-town goats! We can hear them now… "bleat… the bleatin' freeeee beeeeeehhhrrr's o-oveeer heeeeere, buuuuudddy…") Five years later, as a result of increased popularity (with people, not goats), they moved their one-barrel brewing system to their current facility in Boulder. In 1990 the publicly traded Boulder Brewing Company was purchased by Gina Day and Diane Greenlee, who renamed it the Boulder Beer Company. These two local ladies, along with Brewmaster David Zuckerman, decided to upgrade the entire brewery. Among other things, this included expanding their small tasting room into a full service restaurant and pub. In 1993, the brewery acknowledged the regional influence of its brands by officially changing the company name to Rockies Brewing Company. In 2005 they decided to return to their roots by officially changing their name back to Boulder Beer Company and launching their annual birthday party slash fundraising event: "The Goatshed Revival!". If you're anywhere near Boulder on August 23rd this year, get there for a great time and a great cause (among other charities, proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity). For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (303) 444-8448 or check out their web site at www.boulderbeer.com .