Beer of the Week! 02/27/23
A Couple of Flagship Beers
Cerebral Rare Trait
Regularly $18.99 / Now on Sale for $17.96
New England Style IPA
Back in the early teens, a Denver homebrew club gave birth to more than just beer, for it was there that physical therapist Sean Buchan, microbiologist Chris Washenberger, and Chicago financier Dan McGuire started with conceiving recipes only to end with conceiving a new Denver brewery.
Keep in mind, this is Denver. By 2013, there were already half a dozen craft breweries in the city, and two of them were Oasis and Great Divide! Who doesn’t think it’s risky to open a new craft brewery in that market? (Still, today there are twice as many downtown breweries, so what do we know about how much beer Denver can support?). Regardless, in 2015 the trio opened Cerebral Brewing.
Cerebral touts a “scientific approach to beer.” They boast that they use “precise” methods to ensure consistent quality and went so far as to open with their own in-house Quality Assurance/Quality Control lab. Buchan has lined the shelves of the Cerebral taproom with beakers, test tubes, and jars of formaldehyde and has inlaid their center table with petri dishes.
When Buchan started brewing, a Denver IPA was a West Coast IPA. Hazy and juicy New England IPAs were a refreshing variation to the local scene. The desire to innovate led to Cerebral’s own New England Style IPA, the Rare Trait. Now Cerebral’s flagship IPA, the Rare Trait features a surprisingly light malt background allowing Cerebral to really foreground the hops that sit high on the palate. Citra, El Dorado, and Mosaic give off a delicate mixture of citrus and fruit flavors (mango, banana, and even paw paw). We won’t go so far as to say that Cerebral has blinded us with science, but they’ve definitely made us open our eyes and look twice at their beers.
Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause if we had a Bonus Tear of the Week, we’d be crying in our beer — and that guy always makes everyone else uncomfortable.)
Schilling Alexandr
Regularly $12.99 / Now on Sale for $11.96
Czech-Style Pilsner
Founded in 2013 in Littleton, New Hampshire, Schilling Brewing Company has a very focused mission. They get their Euro-philic jollies by brewing Belgian-inspired ales, European-Style wheat beers, and Russo & Scandinavian-inspired ales (!). However, we know them mostly for their German-inspired ales & lagers and their Czech-inspired lagers. Seriously, Schilling are lager fiends!
The Alexandr was Schilling’s first Czech-Style Pilsner. Brewed from “authentic raw materials,” the Alexandr remains a year-round offering, and there’s a reason for that — they totally peg the style. This brew presents a slight breadiness that’s immediately curbed by the crisp hops, tipping their hats with a touch of green fruit at the end. Light, sharp, and clean, the Alexandr is a super solid Czech-style Pilsner.
Remember!
You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!