We figured that our loyal readers may be getting a little tired of reading reviews for the same breweries over and over, so we’re going to start trying to mix it up a little bit more. The first thing to spring to mind, Taphouses! There are a bunch of them in the area, and it’s about time we start visiting some of them.

Our first stop was N3 Taphouse, and I have to say, I hope this is going to set the tone for the rest of them, because it was awesome!

N3 has 30 taps featuring craft beer, meads, and ciders, and I couldn’t be happier with the selection. Heck, the biggest problem was deciding what to order. They have a very unique way of organizing their menu, as I believe Jesse mentioned in the venue post, “Native” consists of Colorado Beers, “The other 49” is stuff from around the country, and “Water” is Bud and Coors. 🙂

I mention it a bit on the venue page we have for N3 Taphouse, but I just wanted to say again, the service was absolutely terrific. This time out, we were joined by our semi-regulars Scott, Jerry and Dave. We grabbed the corner of the bar, and it was almost like the bartender was part of our group.

So, onto the beers!

Lawyers Guns and Money – Barleywine – Crazy Mountain Brewing Company – 10% ABV 56 IBU Rich and velvety in flavor and mouthfeel, the hops and sugars really blend well together. I picked up a slight maple flavor, and a bit of a boozy finish. In short, everything you could want from a barleywine.

I think the more barleywines I have, the more enamored I am with them. Sure, they aren’t a session beer, but you just can’t beat the flavor and richness, it’s worth the time to savor one.

1554 – Dark Lager – New Belgium Brewing

6% ABV 21 IBU

New Belgium says “Not a Porter, not a Stout — it’s 1554.”

I have to admit, I haven’t had many 1554’s, and frankly, I don’t know why. It’s a whole lot of flavor with a really light body. It’s basically everything I like in a brown, mild, or schwarzbier, and pretty sessionable for many at 6% ABV.

[Jesse]

I had been itching to try a taphouse for quite sometime. As much as I really enjoy trying as any of the different beers at the local breweries as I possibly can, I have to admit, I was guilty of having a “wandering eye” on many an occasion. I’d happen across one of the tap houses tap lists online and see all of these terrific beers from far away breweries (well, far away as in “not in Colorado Springs”) and I’d pine for them. Taphouses seem to be the perfect place for me in the sense that I can try all of these great beers and not have to drive very far.

I kept true to trying Colorado beers and stuck to the “Native” list. One thing to note is that I have no photos of the beers I drank. I tried, but I think that my phone may not be up to the task of taking decent pictures in a low-light environment (and, yes, I’m familiar with the saying “it’s a poor craftsman who blames his tools”, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).

CTRL-ALT-DEL – Altbier – Resolute Brewing Company – 5% ABV 22 IBU

When looking over the printed menu, I thought this was listed as an amber, but Untappd identifies it an an altbier. Very similar, but considering the name, it being an altbier makes the most sense.

Regardless of the style, this was a great, easy drinking beer. It’s the best of both worlds – malty start, but it has enough of a hop presence at the finish that they stand up to the sweetness and shine on their own.

Freaky Fish – Belgian IPA – Telluride Brewing Co. – 8.5% ABV No IBU

I was really disappointed in this beer. I don’t know if it was an issue with me or an issue with the beer, but I really thought the beer had a “fishy” flavor to it at the start. A few of the other tried it and, while they didn’t seem to be very impressed with it, they didn’t get the same weird flavor as I did. It was very off-putting.

As Mike mentioned earlier, the bartender was great and “made it right” (by taking the beer of my tab). I drank the beer and was more than willing to pay for it, but I guess that’s what great customer service looks like.

Here’s all the beers we’ve had at N3 Taphouse: