When a friend invited me to try some blue mountain beers for dinner one night, I was surprised by the sheer number of ingredients.
I didn’t expect to taste any at all.
It was so easy to get my hands on.
Blue mountain beers have been around for almost 50 years and there are now around 1,000 different brands.
The name Blue Mountain Beer is a misnomer as most are made with barley, which is a little bit different to barley malt, but it tastes just like malt.
The original Blue Mountain beer is called the Blue Mountain IPA, but they now produce the popular Blue Mountain Wheat Ale, a hoppy ale with a similar flavour profile.
The original recipe calls for 60g (1lb) of barley malt (about 5% of the original recipe) and 4.5 litres of water, while today it’s made from 8.5kg (22lbs) of dry hops.
“It’s just like a light beer,” said Josh Cope, who is currently the beer-maker behind the popular Black Mountain Brewery in Boulder, Colorado.
When you start with a single hop, it’s a very different beer.
It’s dry and has a very fruity aroma.
Then you add the other hop in, which adds a floral hop character.
For this beer, they were experimenting with a variety of different hops.
“They’re a little different, and they’re going to be changing that,” said Cope.
“They’re going for a slightly dry, herbal aroma.”
Blue Mountain has a long history, going back to the 1800s when a family in Vermont named their beer after their favourite blue mountain.
But today, they’re trying to make beer that is a bit more traditional, more Western, and has more hops than the hops of the past.
A few of the breweries that are working on new beers include: Black Mountain Brewing in Burlington, Vermont, and Redhook Brewery in Boston, Massachusetts.
Another big beer brewer is Rogue Ales in Chicago, Illinois, where they’re making a seasonal Blue Mountain Ale.
There’s also a local brewery called the Black Mountain Brewhouse in Boulder.
Other local breweries that have made some of their own Blue Mountain beers include Blue Mountain Brewing, Black Mountain’s Blue Mountain Imperial Stout and Black Mountain IPA.
It’s a pretty small batch.
But Cope said that they are experimenting with brewing their beers with local ingredients, and it’s possible that they could go a few steps further than their current recipe.
“If we can find local hops and hops we can get more hops and more malt,” he said.
If the hops are local, then we could probably make a beer that’s a bit stronger than our current beer, he said, and could also be better for those with lactose intolerance.
Cope is also thinking about making a pale ale and a red ale.
I think it would be a really good beer for those that have lactose intolerances.
“That would be good, and that’s the next step.”
If you’re interested in buying Blue Mountain’s beers, you can contact them online at www.bluemountainbrewing.com, or by phone at (303) 892-5677.
Follow Bryan McKeown on Twitter: @bryanmckay or @BryanMcKeown
