Who Said Mud Season Sucks?

Certainly not us at Broken Compass, where we do our damnedest to make your mud season and our mud season some of the best times of the year. 

The highlight of the fall offseason will be the first ever

Broken Compass LostOberfest

(not lobsterfest, there will be no lobsters) on Oct. 28th! As a thank you to all of our fans and patrons, we're throwing a massive party that's essentially a combination of our anniversary parties (ask anyone who's attended how much fun they had. Every answer: all of the fun) and an Oktoberfest party. There will be live music all day long, free sausages and sides for 400-500 people, specialty beer tappings, both dog and human costume contests, potentially a cornhole tournament and much, much more! Mark your calendars, you won't want to miss this town party. 

Other Notable Events You Should Probably (Definitely) Not Miss

Great American Beer Festival (Oct. 5-8, Denver): For the second straight year, we're pouring in the Meet the Brewer section of GABF! Come pay us a visit and try some of our delectable and award winning brews, and cross your fingers for more hardware coming back to the mountains! 

SCUBA (Summit County United Brewers Alliance) Tap Takeover (Oct. 4, Southside Bar Kitchen, Denver): To kick off the Great American Beer Fest festivities, all the Summit County breweries are hosting a tap takeover on Wednesday night at Southside Bar Kitchen on Colfax in Denver. We're all bringing down some of our classic and specialty brews to for the evening. Take this opportunity to get some of the best beers you can find in the mountains on the front range! 

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Stout release: Every fall, we tap this Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Stout. Every year, people lose their fucking minds over it. We brewed it yesterday (Sept. 25). It will almost certainly be tapped as our One Off Wednesday special release on Oct. 11th. You want this beer. You need this beer. 

LostOberfest Märzen: To help celebrate or first ever LostOberfest throw down, we've brewed our first ever German style Marzen that is lagering away as we speak! Look for it to be on time sometime in early October.  

Pumpkin Themed Monday Night Potluck (Oct. 16th, 7 PM): It wouldn't be a proper October without a proper pumpkin-flavored feast at the Broken Compass Monday Night Potluck. Bring a pumpkin-inspired dish (or honestly, whatever dish you want to eat and share, pumpkins be damned) and win free growlers and beer! Potluck starts at 7 PM. 

Halloween Themed Monday Night Potluck and Tuesday Night Trivia (Oct. 30th & 31st, 7 PM): Join us for special editions of our weekly events, where costumes win you bonus points and bonus points win you prizes! More details forthcoming. 

Broken Compass Staff Chili Cookoff (Nov. 6th, 7 PM): For the second year in a row, come on down for our staff chili cookout, where we take our normal Monday Night Potluck and twist it on its head - this time, we're cooking for you! Come sample all our staffs chilis and vote for your favorite and least favorites (undoubtedly Lyndsey's). Don't worry about bringing any food (ok, you can bring a side if you want), we're hosting this event as another way to say thanks to our regulars and regular potluckers! 

Keep an eye out for more fun events as they come up, and make your mud season the least muddy possible! 

Broken Compass Instagram Photo Comp Kicks Off This Week!

Calling all Broken Compass lovers, adventurers and photography connoisseurs!

Broken Compass is kicking off our brand new Instagram photo competition this week beginning Monday, Sept. 18th. In the spirit of the brewery's origins and, we're encouraging all of our adventurous fans to get outside and get lost. We want to see all of the badass stuff fans of BC take on, and the incredible places you guys go, especially when you rep your Broken Compass swag while you're doing it! Here's how you participate in the "Get Lost" competition: 

Post a picture or video on your own Instagram of you, or your friends or really anything or anyone at all, getting "lost" somewhere awesome with some sort of Broken Compass apparel. It could be you with a BC shirt on a beach in Thailand, or with one of our insulated Klean Kanteen growlers on top of a 14er or your dog rocking a Broken Compass beanie in the snow. Anything works! Check out some of our examples below.

Tag the Broken Compass Instagram account @brokencompassbrewing and hashtag #brokencompassphotocomp and #getlost in your post. Every Thursday, we'll take the three most liked posts, plus our two other favorites unrelated to likes, and collectively choose a favorite pic of the week. We'll share the winning post on our own Instagram feed, and the winner will receive a free beer plus the glass! Since we're just kicking it off this week for the first time, we're going to give you guys a little extra time to get out there, so the first winner will be announced and reposted on Thursday, Sept. 28th.

The prizes aren't just limited to a weekly basis! Starting in October, we're giving away a free growler plus the fill for our favorite Instagram photo entered over the course of the entire month. This selection will take place on the last day of the month and will be reposted again on the Broken Compass Instagram. 

Last but not least, keep your eye out for further details on a grand prize for our favorite picture of the year! So get out there, get lost and have some fun adventures. We can't wait to see where you guys and gals can get your BC swag on!

Here's a few examples of our staff gettin lost, use them for inspiration or create your own awesome ideas!  

Good luck to everybody! 

Wet Hop Pale Ale Specialty Tapping on Wednesday, Sept 13th!

In one of our favorite annual traditions, Broken Compass is releasing a Wet Hop Pale Ale on Wednesday, Sept. 13th. 

All the members of the brewery are even more excited about this year's batch, which for the first time ever was brewed with ingredients entirely from Colorado. One hundred pounds of the freshest, most delectable Cascade and Chinook hops from Highwire Hops, in Paonia, CO and almost 700 pounds of yummy grains from our pals at Root Shoot Malting in Loveland, CO were used in the brewing process to create the most locally sourced beer you can find! Cascade and CTZ hop pellets from Highwire were also used in the dry hopping of this brew, which will be particularly pungent as a result of those freshly picked hops used in the initial brewing.

For a little more background about wet hopping, or fresh hopping, we're going to turn you over to our bearded brewer Robert O. Wallace, a handsome hunk of a man whose beard actually increases his brain capacity for beer knowledge as well as his body capacity for beer consumption. It's science. 

Join us Wednesday for this specialty tapping and get it the Wet Hop while it's at it's freshest and most flavorful! 

Specialty Releases of Locally Sourced Beers!

Broken Compass will be tapping three locally sourced brews in the next two weeks, utilizing ingredients from all around Colorado. With harvest season upon us and Labor Day around the corner, we're thrilled to be able to show our appreciation for the awesome hard work all the farmers around the state put in year round with some delicious brews. Here's what we're tapping!

FARMER'S LAGER

A local twist on our classic Munich-style lager, finished with local ingredients from around Colorado. With cucumbers and basil from Palisade and a kiss of Colorado honey from Paonia added in secondary, it's the perfect one off to finish off the dog days of August!

When's it on tap? Wednesday, August 30th at 11 AM

How much do we have? One half barrel, aka, not very much.

PEACH IPA/DOUBLE IPA

Help us celebrate Labor Day Weekend with a delicious infusion of fresh Palisade peaches in our IPA and Double IPA! 

When's it on tap? Friday, Sept. 1 at 11 AM

How much do we have? Three half barrels, aka, we will probably run out before the weekend is over

WET HOP PALE ALE

This year's hop harvest has rolled around and we're thrilled about our newest entry into our annual fresh hopped pale ale (brewed with hops harvested within 48 hours of the harvest). This year's version was brewed with all Colorado ingredients, with grains from Root Shoot Malting out of Loveland, CO and 30 pounds of Chinook hops and 70 pounds of Cascade hops from Highwire Hops in Paonia, CO. 

When's it on tap? Watch for me the first or second week of September

How much do we have? 10 barrels, aka, lots and lots of delicious yummy beer that will hopefully last the month.

Best of Summit 2017 Voting is Open!

Calling all Broken Compass friends, beer lovers and family! It's that time of year again, when you get to share your voice and opinions with the rest of Summit County in the 2017 Best of Summit awards! 

The 2016 awards were an unexpected success for Broken Compass, as we took home awards for Best Brewery, Best Beer Selection, Best Bar and Best Apres Ski! We're hoping to replicate that success in 2017, but we need your help! The brewery is nominated for six categories this year, including Best: Bar, Beers on Tap, Brewpub/Brewery (all three under the "Food" category), Apres Ski, Late Night Scene, and Place to Impress Out-of-Towners (all three under the "Arts and Entertainment" category)! We're a little upset (ok, more than a little) that we weren't nominated for "Best Card and Board Game Selection", or that in fact, there is no category for "Best Card and Board Game Selection", but we'll get over it eventually.

Please support our ongoing bid to be amazing by voting for us at summitdaily.com/bestofsummit. Voting is open through September 15th, so vote early and often! Follow the link and you'll have the chance to vote for any of the numerous Best Of categories all around Summit, and as always, please vote responsibly!

(just kidding, make sure you're voting as much as possible for Broken Compass)

Thanks for all the love and support! 

The Broken Compass Team

15 Colorado Mountain Breweries Worth The Drive

There are so many breweries in and around metro Denver that we tend to get into our beer routine and forget to explore. The brewery scene in the mountains is growing and it is offering up special beer if you are willing to make the drive. It’s a great excuse to escape the heat as summer comes to a close, or you can plan to make a stop when you head up to check out the fall colors. Year-round, each of these breweries is taking what’s going on in Denver and adding its own special mountain flare. We want to help you plan your next trip — whether it’s just for the the day or the entire weekend, there is a drive and a brewery for you.

Click here to read on!

The best breweries in the US, according to Yelp reviewers

Anyone care for a nice cold beer?

Finding the best draft beer, IPA or ale out there can be a fun and, at times, overwhelming task for beer lovers. The variety of options has grown so much that the game feels more like a treasure hunt for brewery fans.

To help you find your way to some of the best breweries in the country, The USA TODAY NETWORK asked Yelp to provide a list of the top breweries, determined by their reviewers. Yelp determined the "best" ones using an algorithm that looks at the number of reviews, star rating and other factors.

Find the one closest to you or plan a trip to the most random one. Enjoy!

Click here to read on.....

Companies Join Forces to Support Cancer Research

CancerBlows fundraiser features breweries, chefs, coffee roasters

Companies from across Colorado came together recently for an annual event that provides cancer awareness, funding for research and unique food and beer pairings.

During the third annual Brews for CancerBlows fundraiser on July 7, Lone Tree Brewing Company and Broken Compass Brewing Company, from Breckenridge, paired their beers with a five-course meal prepared by Chef Paul Worley.

The money raised from the event, with each ticket costing $70, was donated to CancerBlows and The Ryan Anthony Foundation.

CancerBlows is a foundation started by cancer survivor Ryan Anthony to raise awareness and funds for research focusing on blood cancers and multiple myeloma. The foundation’s fundraisers focus on “exciting and unique” events that feature brass musicians.

Live music from the H2 Big Band filled the Lone Tree Brewing Company’s taproom, 8200 Park Meadows Drive #8222 in Lone Tree, as its attendees enjoyed an evening of entertainment.

Anthony, principal trumpet for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, performed at the event.

“Brews 4 CancerBlows was an incredible evening filled with delectable food and music from some of Denver’s top musicians … just for a few hours, we were able to have some fun and let cancer take a back seat,” said Christine West, Lone Tree Brewing Company’s charities manager.

CancerBlows Coffee IPA was given to each attendee. It was a limited-edition beer that used coffee from Denver’s Boxcar Coffee to add flavor to the brew.

In a press release, the brewer described the beer as having a “light grain bill — comprised of 2-row malt, biscuit malt, crystal malt, and oats.” It’s flavor was described as making way for “bold and juicy Mosaic hop additions,” to enhance the flavor of “lightly roasted, fruit-forward coffee.” Lactose was added for a creamy mouthfeel.

Worley, head chef at the event, has lost grandparents, neighbors and close friends to cancer. Preparing the meals to pair with the beers at the event was important for him.

“Cooking for this event was emotional for me,” said Worley. “It was nice to give back and to help others sit and enjoy themselves and to hear the laughter and the music performed while they ate. My perfect moment that night was when the Ennio Morricone piece was being played — “The Mission Theme.” That song has meant a lot to me for 30 years. To be able to plate the dinner while it was being played live in the next room let me know I was in the right place, at the right time, for the right people. It was perfect.”