Congrats Great Storm Brewing
I'm late on this but I lost my camera, and now it's found! Saturday night was the opening for Great Storm Brewing. We arrived to a packed house, there was a line at the bar about 20 deep and there were a few new beers on tap that hadn't been available during the soft opening. Overall, I enjoyed the Nitro Seven Wolves IPA, which was very mango-y, and the roasty Black Bear Zwartbier. A lot of people said they liked the Rum Raisin Stout, but there was too much alcohol heat for me. Another favorite with our facebook readers was the Shine On Belgian Golden Strong Ale, which was aged with oak. Here's a review from our pals at the CS Indy. Most of the beers overall had sweet, fruity esthers that were distracting, something that I think will get worked out in time.
Jeff Jacobs, the brewer is still just figuring out his system, so some of the beers for me were hit or miss. There's a lot of equipment he's still trying to familiarize himself with. But I do believe that once he dials it down, Great Storm will have a ton of fun and exciting offerings. Part of the enjoyment of this place is that it is a one barrel nano-brewery, a term describing a brewery that has a very small operation. Some folks define nano-breweries with an annual number output, like a brewery with less than 200 barrels produced per year, or a 1 barrel brewery, or 3 barrels, some even say up to 10 barrels. I would hesitate to say that. Here's a discussion on the topic with a quote from Natian Brewing in Oregon, "...But I think this un-official (nano) classification has been brought on by the industry "patrons" not by the industry regulators. So it totally means something more than mere numbers or annual production. Nano is in essence the embodiment of "mom & pop" brewing." Mom and Pop is exactly how Great Storm talks about themselves.
The joy of this size system is that you can experiment and have fun, and if it turns out not-so-great, you've only made a barrel of it, or about two full kegs of beer. And Great Storm has eight fermenters, so there's the possibility of having quite a few different beers going at any one time. Keep visiting this place and keep them busy!
Great Storm Brewing is located at: 204 Mount View Lane, Colorado Springs
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