Strange Craft Beer Company has launched Traveling One Barrel Wednesdays with their friends at Black Sky Brewery, Chain Reaction Brewing Company and The Brew on Broadway. And right now they can’t get enough rye.
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Strange goes down as Denver’s first nanobrewery. When the brewery opened in 2010, the tiny production brewery produced one barrel of beer at a time on owner Tim Myers’ hodgepodge Frank n’ Brew brewhouse. They have since expanded to a 10-barrel brewhouse that they share with Wit’s End Brewing at their original Zuni Street location. Despite significant growth and evolution, Strange stays committed to small batches with the One Barrel Wednesday tradition.
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One Barrel Wednesdays
Each week for the last eight years, Myers and crew have crafted a one-barrel experimental batch that keeps the tap list at Strange interesting and the customers guessing. Myers would often extend the invitation for tasting room regulars, often homebrewers, to join him for these brew days. Some of these regulars were Lila and Harry Smith — now the owners of Black Sky Brewery— cousins Zack and Chad Christofferson — now the owners of Chain Reaction Brewing Company — and Paul Webster — now the owner of The Brew On Broadway.
To-date, these brewery friends have joined forces on Tim Myers’ original One Barrel Wednesday concept to craft a collection of beers that will be served at Rye Fest coming up on April 21 at The Brew on Broadway in Englewood, Colorado. For the last two months, these breweries have taken turns hosting Traveling One Barrel Wednesday collaboration brew days.
“This is the ‘Iron Chef’ of beer,” Myers jokes. “We usually look at each other and say, ‘What are we making today? What ingredients do we have?'”
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“Traveling One Barrel Wednesdays are a chance to collaborate on ideas,” says Harry Smith of Black Sky Brewing. “A great opportunity to go to other breweries and see how they do it.”
Collaborating for Rye Fest
In March, the breweries committed Traveling One Barrel Wednesdays to brewing their beers for Rye Fest on April 21 at The Brew on Broadway. They brewed the Red Rye IPA at BOB; the English Humidor, a dry-hopped rye ESB with added Spanish cedar staves from cigar boxes, at Chain Reaction Brewing Company; the Rye Knot?, a rye amber ale brewed with two pounds of pretzels in the mash; and a Russian “Kvass,” or table beer, brewed and fermented with house-made rye bread, at Black Sky Brewing.
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“Traveling One Barrel Wednesdays show we don’t have to do this alone,” adds Zach Christofferson of Chain Reaction Brewing Company. “We can grow the industry as a whole, together.”
The beers are available on draft at each respective brewery while supplies last. More than a dozen companies are brewing and pouring rye-inspired ales and lagers to benefit the Colorado Adaptive Sports Foundation at this year’s Rye Fest. Tickets cost $40 per person and you can find more details on the website.
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