Telluride, Colo. – Telluride Brewing Company is re-releasing one of their most coveted draft-only creations, Face Down Bourbon Brown. This small batch, barrel-aged version of their three-time gold medal winning Face Down Brown will hit select taps throughout Colorado in mid-September. After four months, top-notch bourbon barrels have imbued the brew with all of their inherent goodness, and Face Down Bourbon Brown ready to drink, but it won’t be around for long, as it is only available twice a year in limited releases.
“The barrels bring the obvious strong notes of bourbon which I love,” says Chris Fish,Telluride’s Brewmaster, “but even better is the slight vanilla and wood that pairs perfect with the dark chocolate and roasted notes of the Face Down!”
As competition in the beer world reaches an all time high, one way breweries continue to push the creativity envelope is through their barrel-aging programs. Telluride Brewing Company’s co-founder and brewmaster, Chris Fish, saw the potential for augmenting his delicious,true-to-style beers when he first began barrel-aging in 2014. Since then Telluride Brewing has developed and released numerous brews aged in the former homes of everything from buttery chardonnay to smoky whiskey, but each year the most highly anticipated of these is FaceDown Bourbon Brown, which begins with the beer that first put Telluride Brewing Company on the competition stage.
In May of 2012, just five months after launching Telluride Brewing, Fish along with co-founder and president, Tommy Thacher, sent Face Down Brown to the World Beer Cup in San Diego.Although the beer was sent in cans labeled for their pale ale, as they didn’t have Face DownBrown cans made at the time, it was sent with hope and the knowledge that it was delicious,balanced, and true-to-style. Needless to say, Fish and Tommy were overjoyed and humbled when Face Down Brown took home the gold cup for American-style brown ale.
“It was an unbelievable feeling when Face Down hit gold that first World Beer Cup we entered, remembers Fish. “I think I jumped higher than I ever had when they announced it!”
Face Down Brown’s appearances on competition stages did not end there. Just five months later in October of 2012, still within the Telluride Brewing’s first year as a company, Fish andTommy took home another gold for their brown ale at the Great American Beer Festival(GABF). Two years later in 2014, Face Down took home another gold medal at GABF as well as a bronze last year in 2016.
After Face Down Brown won its third gold medal and shortly after starting Telluride’s barrel-aging program, Fish knew his brown ale needed to meet the flavors of the bourbon barrel.
While Face Down Brown has made its name balancing the sweet and nutty flavors of roasted malts with the bittering power of Magnum, Tettnanger, CTZ, and Cascade hops inspiring toffee, chocolate, and roasted nut flavors and aromas, bourbon barrels are known to impart oak, butterscotch, vanilla, caramel, raisin, and brown sugar flavors on their contents. It was a match made in heaven, well actually in Telluride.
Today, Fish ages his award winning Face Down Brown in Breckenridge and Knob Creek bourbon barrels for three to four months. While in the barrels, the beer takes on new characteristics, picking up traits from both the delicious Colorado and Kentucky bourbon andAmerican oak, while concentrating its inherent flavors and increasing in alcohol. Fish then mixes the aged beer with freshly brewed Brown smoothing out the flavor and bringing the ABV back down to a manageable 8.4%. The result, Face Down Bourbon Brown, is bold yet delicate on the pallet and perfect for bourbon fans and colder weather.
“With brown being lower in abv than most beers we age in barrels, I think the shorter aging time is key. Less oxidation and more bourbon, woody goodness!” explains Fish.
Fish only releases this special brew twice a year, the first batch of which hit Colorado taps in mid-September, just as the weather starts to get cold hinting of ski season around the corner and just in time for Great American Beer Festival. Face Down Bourbon Brown is available now at select beer bars throughout Colorado, and will run out fast. Ask your bartender or come by the brewery if you want to get your hands on barrel-aged perfection before it’s gone.
Telluride Brewing Company founders Chris Fish and Tommy Thacher continue questing to make an ever more perfect beer for all to savor. For more information, contact Chris Fish at970.708.1475, or Tommy Thacher, at 719.510.1334. To service all your brewing needs visitwww.telluridebrewingco.com.
Telluride Brewing Company crafts gold-medal beer in the heart of the Rocky Mountains inTelluride, CO. Brewed with premium malts and worthy hops, the beers it produces are distinct yet classic. In just six years, the brewery has grown from a local favorite to a state-wide sensation, serving up its beers in kegs and cans throughout Colorado. Telluride BrewingCompany has earned accolades for its Whacked Out Wheat at the World Beer Cup (2015) andGreat American Beer Festival (2015) and for its Face Down Brown at the World Beer Cup(2012) and the Great American Beer Festival (2012 & 2014, 2015). For more information, visitwww.telluridebrewingco.com, and follow @telluridebrew on Twitter and @Telluridebrewing on Instagram.