Big Feed and Beer in Yuma

An artwork created by CU Boulder students in Yuma

On Saturday I headed up to Yuma, Colorado where I gave a presentation about some of the beer related events I've organized. The talk was a part of an event called The Big Feed, organized by the art group M12, and brings together voices from artists, musicians, and some of the local Yuma group. Topics ranged from beer to interventionist art to 4H. My favorite part was that my talk was on a panel about beer with head brewer Ro Guenzel of Left Hand Brewing.

Ro talking about beer.

Ro actually made a beer specifically for this event - Yuma County Ale. The beer was a hand-malted farmhouse ale, containing 80% wheat from the local Rutlage Farm. Yes, I did say hand-malted AND I did say 80% wheat. The beer was fantastic, quite drinkable, medium bodied saison with somewhat smokey and peppery notes. I would seriously be happy to drink it on a regular basis. There was only a 1/6 barrel though so it went pretty quickly. I also provided some beer, some heather ale, which is the beer I regularly bring to art-related conferences or festivals that invite me to participate. I like the history of the heather beer, as told by Williams Bros, and I like the way it is a representation of an indigenous beer (to Scotland). The Williams Bros. Brewery was a major inspiration for Beers Made By Walking and I thought it was very nice that Ro made a beer with ingredients that came from a farm in this rural community. Seemed like a good conceptual connection to me.

Ro's presentation was called "From Farm to Glass" and he talked all about how this specific beer was made, what it mean to malt everything himself, and he generally described what happens when you brew beer. I'm including an image below from the slideshow. He's malting the grain with his son. My talk was about four projects I've organized recently. I was a bit nervous but ended up doing fine and I think people were genuinely interested in understanding how beer can be looked at as an art. Besides that, it was nice to be able to drink Left Hand beers all night long!

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