The Great American Beer Festival is just around the corner, which means it's time for the 2019 and 11th annual Denver Rare Beer Tasting. This incredible gathering of specialty beers coincides with the GABF on October 4th and raises funds for Pints for Prostates. This tasting event includes an array of barrel-aged, vintage, fruit, spiced, one-off limited releases and the organizers have just released an early, but incomplete look at the beer list which is posted below.

More from a press release:

“The Denver Rare Beer Tasting is a unique atmosphere where beer fans get to try rare, exotic and vintage beers, while rubbing elbows with the men and women who brewed them,” said Rick Lyke, founder of Pints for Prostates. “We appreciate the support we get from the craft beer community at this annual celebration of beer passion and we’re proud of what it helps Pints for Prostates accomplish. We’re reaching men through the universal language of beer to fight prostate cancer.” 

The prostate cancer awareness event takes place in Colorado during the same weekend as the Great American Beer Festival. Tickets for the event are now and sale and moving rapidly. The first 10 Denver Rare Beer Tastings sold out in advance. The beer list is truly a once in a lifetime collection of unique beers. The only other way to try some of these beers is to visit brewery tasting rooms from Alaska to New Jersey and score tickets to festivals from Indiana to Florida. In some cases, the beers being poured have never been sold to the public and are from brewmasters’ private cellars or brewery club offerings.

The provisional beer list for the event is nearly complete. Breweries have announced plans to bring these beers to the Denver Rare Beer Tasting 11:

·       Alamo Beer, San Antonio, Texas*, Russian Imperial Coffee Milk Stout

·       Alaskan Brewing, Juneau, Alaska, Barrel-Aged Cinnamon Amber

·       The Ale Apothecary, Bend, Ore.*, Purple Rain

·       Amalgam Brewing, Denver, Colo., Landscapes: Balaton Cherry + Vanilla

·       Atom Brewing, Erie, Colo., Still Here!

·       Avery Brewing, Boulder, Colo. Flavus Cattus & Promiscuus

·       Bell’s Brewery, Comstock, Mich., Bourbon Barrel Aged Expedition Stout & Wild One

·       Big Sky Brewing, Missoula, Mont., 2015 Old Bluehair Barleywine Ale

·       Blind Faith Brewing, Littleton, Colo.*, Chardonnay Barrel-Aged Sour    

·       Bottle Logic Brewing, Anaheim, Calif.*, Fundamental Theorem

·       Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City, Mo., Sherry Puncheon-Aged Sour Ale with Blueberries   

·       BrewDog USA, Columbus, Ohio*, Cosmic Crush - Boysenberry

·       The Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, N.Y., Coup de Foudre

·       Burns Family Artisan Ales, Denver, Colo.*, Solar Eclipse  

·       Cape May Brewery, Cape May, N.J.*, The "Z" is Silent

·       Cascade Brewing, Portland, Ore., Oregon’s Own & Dapper Plum

·       Central Waters Brewing, Amherst, Wisc., Maple Barrel Stout

·       Cerebral Brewing, Denver, Colo., Single Barrel Vanilla Rye Here Be Monsters

·       Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, Fla., Xquic

·       Cloudburst Brewing, Seattle, Wash.*, One of Our Wet Hop IPAs

·       Coronado Brewing, Coronado, Calif., Ginger Julep Barrel-Aged Pilsner  

·       Departed Soles Brewing, Jersey City, N.J., Rum Barrel Aged Pepper's Peppers

·       Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Ore., Historic Oregon Super Juice & Black Butte³

·       Drekker Brewing, Fargo, N.D.*, Supreme Bee

·       Ecliptic Brewing, Portland, Ore., Wine Barrel-Aged Rastaban Oud Bruin with Raspberries and Cherries

·       FiftyFifty Brewing, Truckee, Calif.*, Cognac Old Digs 

·       Firestone Walker Brewing, Paso Robles, Calif., Los Leñadores  

·       Forager Brewing, Rochester, Minn., Millerzzzzz

·       Fremont Brewing, Seattle, Wash., Barrel Reserve Blend & 2018 The Rusty Nail  

·       Funky Buddha Brewing, Oakland, Fla., Coquito

·       Great Divide Brewing, Denver, Colo., Big Yeti Imperial Stout, Wood Werks #5: Spiced Sour Ale & TBD Sour

·       Hair of the Dog Brewing, Portland, Ore.*, Matt

·       Hunters Point Brewery, San Francisco, Calif.*, Three Out Of Five

·       Jessup Farm Barrel House, Fort Collins, Colo.*, 2018 UB Funky finished on Amburana wood

·       Kane Brewing, Ocean, N.J., Barrel-Aged Mexican Brunch

·       La Cumbre Brewing, Albuquerque, N.M.*, Ryeot on Rye

·       The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, Calif., Zinners and Saints 

·       Moksa Brewing, Rocklin, Calif., Barrel-Aged Pastry Method

·       Monkish Brewing, Torrance, Calif.*, TBD

·       New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Colo., Guava Sour

·       New Realm Brewing, Atlanta, Ga., Barrel-Aged Apricot Saison

·       NoDa Brewing, Charlotte, N.C., Port Barrel-Aged Monstro & Citranomicron

·       Odyssey Beerwerks, Arvada, Colo., Winter Solstice Saison

·       Prison City Pub & Brewery, Auburn, N.Y., Cherry Poppins

·       The Rare Barrel, Berkeley, Calif., Summer's Gonna Hurt You & The Kind You Find

·       Rhinegeist Brewery, Cincinnati, Ohio, Kilonova Sixth Anniversary Cuvée

·       River North Brewery, Denver, Colo., Barrel-Aged Double Avarice

·       Rogue Ales, Newport, Ore., Barrel-Aged 20,000 Brews by the Sea

·       Rowley Farmhouse Ales, Santa Fe, N.M., Grandissant - Black Raspberry

·       Samuel Adams Brewery, Boston, Mass., Utopias Aged on Cherries & Barrel-Aged Double Bock

·       Scratch Brewing, Ava, Ill., Barrel-Aged Chanterelle Turmeric

·       Side Project Brewing, Maplewood, Mo., 5 Candles

·       Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico, Calif., Up Stout Kriek

·       Societe Brewing, San Diego, Calif.*, The Swindler

·       Speciation Artisan Ales, Comstock Park, Mich.*, Spontaneous Generation

·       Stone Brewing, Escondido, Calif., Water Lily Barrel-Aged Sour Ale

·       Sun King Brewing, Indianapolis, Ind., Magpie Muckle 

·       Surly Brewing, Minneapolis, Minn., 2018 Bourbon Barrel-Aged Cherry Vanilla Darkness & 2008 Barrel-Aged Smoke

·       3 Floyds Brewing, Munster, Ind., 2018 Dark Lord

·       Uinta Brewing, Salt Lake City, Utah, Alpenglow Golden Wild Ale

·       Vonseitz Theoreticales, Smithville, Tenn.*, Ghoul de Jour

·       WeldWerks Brewing, Greeley, Colo., Coconut Brandy Medianoche & Medianoche is My Safe Word

·       Westbound & Down Brewing, Idaho Springs, Colo.*, Double Barrel Louie & Blender's Insurance + Nectarines   

·       Wiley Roots Brewing, Greeley, Colo., Anonym & Funk Yo Couch - Nelson

·       Yazoo Brewery, Nashville, Tenn., Brett's So'Hem Adventure 

·       Zillicoah Beer, Woodfin, N.C.*, State Fruit

(* First Denver Rare Beer Tasting appearance.)

Breweries bring some of their rarest brews to the annual tasting.  Some changes have been made to the event format this year. There will be a single class of ticket for the tasting and the total number of tickets being sold has been reduced by 24 percent, with just 650 tickets available to the public. Additionally, a third floor of breweries in the McNichols Civic Center Building is being added. Each of these moves will create less crowding and open more space for people to relax while sampling the beers. Tickets are $200, including all service and credit card fees. The event will run from 12-4 p.m.  Each attendee receives beer samples, buffet lunch, collectible tasting glass, t-shirt, program and pen. Included in the ticket price guests will have the chance to meet the brewers, be entered in a drawing to win an amazing beer trip, bid in an exciting silent auction that includes a variety of unique beer experiences and collectibles, and participate in the Brewers Health Initiative, a free men’s health screening.

In addition to the beer and silent auction donations made by participating breweries, Craft Beer and Brewing is the media sponsor for the Denver Rare Beer Tasting 11 and logistical support is being provided by MicroStar.  Additional sponsorship packages are available for companies that wish to take part in this boutique tasting.

Pints for Prostates is a 501(c)3 non-profit charity and all net proceeds from Denver Rare Beer Tasting go towards the group’s awareness mission and help to fund the education and support programs of the Us TOO International Prostate Cancer Education and Support Network, and free prostates cancer screening programs provided by the Prostate Conditions Education Council.

About Pints for Prostates 

Pints for Prostates reaches men through the universal language of beer to encourage them to take charge of their health. The group was founded by prostate cancer survivor and beer writer Rick Lyke in 2008. The grassroots effort raises awareness among men about the importance of regular men’s health screenings by making appearances at beer festivals, social networking and pro bono advertising. According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 165,000 new prostate cancer cases were diagnosed in 2018 in the U.S. More information is available at www.pintsforprostates.org. Pints for Prostates also has a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@pints4prostates).