Colorado Native - Pure Colorado

There's a new brew in town, and, considering the amount of beer that is produced in Colorado, it's very unique. Colorado is known as one of the biggest producers of craft beer in the nation. But of all those craft beers, none can lay claim to being completely comprised of Colorado ingredients, until now. Colorado Native is a new product from the A.C. Golden Brewery, a small brewery located within the Coors complex in Golden. Most everything from the water and barley to the glass and cardboard comes from Colorado (less than 2% of the package is comprised of non-native hops.) The Moravian two row barley is grown in the fertile San Luis Valley in southern Colorado, as are most of the hops (Chinook, Centennial and Cascade.) Other finishing hops are grown and hand picked on the western slope. The water comes from Clear Creek near Golden. Even the yeast is an American descendent of a Tuborg style strain that was introduced to Colorado in the 1930's, making it the oldest known strain of brewing yeast in the state.

Colorado Native is an amber colored lager that strikes a nice balance between lighter mass produced beers and the bold microbrews that Colorado is known for. It's not too hoppy (26 I.B.U.'s, a relatively low number on the bitterness scale) and offers a mild amount of roasted malt. The beer pours with a nice foamy white head, and goes down smoothly, with just a hint of citrus in the finish. Colorado Native comes in at 5.5% alcohol by volume, a bit stronger than the mass produced stuff, but not nearly as strong as many of the other microbrews in the state. The fact that the ingredients come from Colorado, and the beer is only sold in Colorado means that there are not a lot of transportation costs involved in producing and distributing the beer, giving it a small carbon footprint. A.C. Golden also donates a portion of the proceeds to charity. This is a beer that Coloradans can be proud of. So the next time you have a hankering for a true Colorado beer that is both flavorful and refreshing, try a Colorado Native.

By Chip Bartsch, Beer Buyer