Renegade Brewing: Una Mas
I had been hearing some bad things from many of my beer geek or maybe beer snob friends about the new Renegade Brewing Company, so I visited to see what all the hubbub was about. After my visit, however, I am not sure why everyone was being so critical. I had heard everything negative, even down to people not liking the architecture! Anyway, let’s get to the important part: what about the beer?
5 o’clock Blonde:
A really light and refreshing blonde ale with a smooth but not heavy mouth feel. It was sweet and had a little bit of malt character to it. This great summer session beer was easier to drink than your average blonde ale.
Ryeteous IPA:
Grab a tulip of this IPA and stick your nose in it to get a face full of Cascade and Amarillo based citrus goodness. Once the beer hits your lips, things get a little interesting. My first impression was to ask myself “hey, what happened to the hops?”, but I soon realized that I was expecting it to taste like the 500 other American IPAs that exist. No, this beer doesn’t punch you in the face 
like most 100+ IBU IPAs do, but you can still taste all that floral goodness after the rye backbone leaves. On the other side, all those hops make it so that you don’t have to chew your beer like I do with other rye beers that I’ve had. The result of these two very different styles is a very drinkable and still complex IPA.
Una Mas Roasted Pepper Mexican Amber:
This is one of those beers that, for what it is, just has everything right. The name is a mouthful but the beer’s perfect balance of malt, hops, roasted pepper flavor and mouth feel really make up for it. If you have never thought of roasted pablano peppers as being refreshing, this beer will change your mind. It’s got a bit of slickness on the tongue from pepper oils but it’s not spicy at all. I sampled all three of these beers but had an extra pint of this one.
Brian and Khara O’Connell started the brewery up after discovering a love for home brewing. They both work day jobs at the Auraria Campus but can be found every night back at the brewery doing what they love. The 15 barrel system they are running should be pumping out some more tasty brew shortly and they plan to release an Imperial Baltic Porter and a hopped up Red Ale on July 15th.
Don’t take my word for it, go an check out the brewery, which is located at 9th and Sante Fe in the art district, or go to an event they are participating in. They will be at the Summer Brewfest, Winter Park Brewfest, GABF and are planning to do special tappings for their small batch beers (smoked Ryeteous and rotating barlywine taps for Winter, among others).
Keep up with them at:
Tags: 5 o'clock, beer, GABF, renegade brewing, renegade brewing company, ryeteous, sante fe art district, summer brewfest, una mas, winter park brewfest
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 2:00 pm by Josh Rapp
Beer