The 4th annual Denver Bacon and Beer Festival, packed with bacon bites and bacon inspired beers, did not disappoint.
Beer
There were plenty of creative beers and newer breweries represented. Mockery Brewing brought a Bacon Coconut Stout. I really liked the idea but it had a lot of coconut and not enough bacon! π That kind of went for a lot of the porky beer attempts.
On the other hand, the incorporation of maple into the beer was delicious! The welcome beer had a yummy sweet flavor from the addition of maple and Renegade brought a Maple Porter.
Even the bigger breweries were getting clever with their beer pairings. Bittersweet was a new one for me. Its a big bold coffee stout from Left Hand. It definitely would pair well with that morning bacon! π
It is that time for the Oak Yeti Imperial Stout by Great Divide and it was an excellent addition to the beer pairings. Completely new brewery to me was Storm Peak Brewing from Steamboat. They did not bring anything maple or bacon related but they brought a few delicious additions- Dirty Shovel Double IPA and Chris Cross White IPA.
Food
The food looked amazing! The reason I say looked is because I did not try as much as I would have liked. I only ate breakfast that day and somehow was still full when the festival started at 2:30 pm!
The two bites that lured me back for seconds were the Duck Fat Crostini with beer and bacon apricot jam from Block and Larder and the Elvis Tater Tot with bacon and peanut butter, banana caramel, and bacon fat powder from Brazen Neighborhood Eatery.
Though I could not possibly eat a whole slider I was lucky to have someone share a bite of the incredible, juicy burger from HopDoddy. It paired nicely with the Darklands Hoppy Brown Lager from Ratio.
Though I love bacon served savory style, its salty, meaty self is a superstar when accompanied with sweet treats. That Sticky Icky Bread pudding from the Lobby did not fall short of expectations. It was a Challah Bacon Bread Pudding french toast bite with whipped Irish cream. This is something I want to try at home! The Bacon & Pecan Tart with Odell’s Cutthroat Porter and Avery’s Out of Bounds Stout were also scrumptious.
Vibe
The event took place at the Glitter Dome in the RiNo (River North) neighborhood. It was a very spacious venue for the amount of people attending. There was not much waiting in line except for Jax’s oysters and Hopdoddy’s sliders.
The smaller crowd could have been due to the timing conflict with the Broncos game but they did have the game streaming on a big screen. Though I did not stop to watch, everyone kept you informed with screams and hollers π
This Sunday afternoon event was filled with tasting new beers and yummy bacon bites!
The Take Away:
-Plan trip to Steamboat- any reason is a good one but a little brewery visit and Strawberry Hot Springs sounds great!
-Dine at the Brazen Neighborhood Eatery- need more tots!
-Block and Larder for a date night
-Check out Mockery Brewing, which is barely a year old
-Create a new beer dessert- maybe a version of those Bacon and Beer Pecan Bars?!
Cheers!
More To Love:
There is nothing better than bacon and beer – YUM! Thanks so much for sharing – Happy Day – Enjoy π
Agree! π
Looks like great food and a lot of fun.
There was so much good food! I’ll have to go back to some of the restaurants though to really enjoy them
Maple in beer – sounds interesting!
If you are into the darker malty beers I bet you’d like this maple Porter- it was very tasty!