Paradox Beer Releases the Heralded Nocturnes Line Up
Last night was the grand release party for Paradox Beer Co. It was a snowy evening, which made the backdrop for the event quite beautiful. Paradox brought along the three beers that have been available for the past month or so (Paradise Nines, Kandid Kaiser, and Bandeau Artiste) as well as two brand new beers that will be available in liquor stores soon. The new beers are part of their Heralded Nocturnes line up, certainly more Autumnal and Harvest characteristics with nuttier and more caramely malt flavors.
From the new line of beers I got to try the Autumnus and the Harvest Apple Saison. The Autumnus had been aged in Bourdeaux barrels and was served out of a firkin. The Harvest Apple Saison was a fun one, a really thick and dirty beer with strong flavors of nuts, oak, apple cider, and peppery Belgian yeasts. This one was perhaps my favorite of the night due to its unusualness and heartiness. The two beers have the same base recipe, but the yeast and post-fermentation additions changed. The Harvest Wet Hop beer will also be available soon but hadn't finished conditioning in bottles yet.
I spoke with Jeff, Brian, and Carol about the Paradox beers because I was curious if the beers we've seen around town are going to last long. As it turns out, they make the wort up at Pikes Peak Brewing and then ferment the beer at their own place in Woodland Park. They do 10 barrel batches, which would traditional yield about 18-20 kegs of beer. So the Belgian IPA (Paradise Nines) was a double batch and there's still a good amount of that left but the other two original beers are almost gone. Once they're gone, they're gone. They may remake the beer under the same name but the batch number will change, the wood that they're aged in will change, and the recipe will change so you'll never get that same beer again. If you haven't tried their first beers, you should go get a bottle while you still can.
It was great to try the next round of Paradox beers and we're all really glad to have such a fun and experimental brewery in the region. If you haven't tried the beers yet you really should go grab a bottle. Part of the fun of Paradox will be to try the same beer but with the variations in yeast, fermentations and barrels. Looking forward to that in the near future!
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