Root Shoot Malting Spearheads Craft Malt Seal in Colorado

Photo at Woods Boss Brewing Company

LOVELAND, CO— As an advocate and Member Malthouse for the Craft Maltsters Guild’s Craft Malt Certified Seal program, Root Shoot Malting is excited to announce Colorado’s twelve new craft malt certified breweries. 

City Star Brewing, Comrade Brewing, Grist Brewing, Iron Mule Brewery, Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery, Joyride Brewing, Launch Pad Brewery, Mockery Brewing, Station 26 Brewing Co., Timnath Beerwerks, Woods Boss Brewing Company, and Guanella Pass Brewing Co. are the newest Member Breweries in the Craft Malt Certified Seal program, which allows brewers and distillers to communicate their use of and support for distinctive, locally produced raw materials. 

These breweries have demonstrated their commitment to locally grown and roasted barley by joining this membership program, and they’re proud to do so. “We joined because we buy malt from Root Shoot Malting. It's important to support our local economy and a fellow manufacturer like ourselves,” says David Lin, Chairman & Founder at Comrade Brewing in Denver. “We were impressed with their dedication to quality, along with their malting facility. Root Shoot helps differentiate our beer while meeting the customers’ desire for local products.”

Photo at Comrade Brewing

Jordan Fink, Co-Founder and Head Brewer of another Denver brewery, Woods Boss Brewing, is another advocate for the Craft Malt Seal. “We have a deep and abiding commitment to sustainability, community, education, personal relationships and of course, making amazing beer,” he says. “To that effect, we developed a partnership with Root Shoot Malting pretty much right out of the gate and at this point, almost all of our base malt is supplied by them. Given the opportunity to join the Craft Maltsters Guild and be able to showcase our participation through the use of the Seal was a no-brainer for us. It allows us to promote the folks who supply our grain, what they do, and showcase our beer all at the same time.”

Another of the country’s leading maltsters and craft malt membership crusaders, Riverbend Malt in Asheville, North Carolina, has also encouraged 12 breweries to join the Craft Malt Seal. Learn more about the Seal at craftmalting.com.  

Contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com with media inquiries about Root Shoot Malting.

ABOUT ROOT SHOOT MALTING 

Root Shoot Malting’s family of farmers grow, harvest and malt the finest grains to give brewers and distillers high-quality taste in every glass. Opened in 2016 on 1,500 acres of Olander Farms’ irrigated land in Loveland, Colorado, Root Shoot harvests alfalfa, wheat, corn, rye, and barley. Root Shoot gives breweries and distilleries the ability to procure local, consistent and high quality craft products. Find this craft maltster online at rootshootmalting.com.

Comrade Brewing To Tap Fresh Batch of GABF Winner More Dodge Less RAM

DENVER, CO— Off the tails of their 2019 GABF® Small Brewing Company of the Year recognition, Comrade Brewing will release a fresh batch of its Great American Beer Festival®-winning More Dodge Less RAM IPA, at noon on Saturday, November 9.

More Dodge Less RAM is a stronger triple-dry hopped sister of Superpower IPA that took gold in the second most-entered category of this year’s GABF competition. More Dodge Less RAM is hopped with Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic, and the hop formerly known as Denali. It weighs in at 7.8% ABV. 

Named after that one time a Dodge Ram plowed into the brewery three years ago, and now Comrade brews More Dodge Less RAM twice each year. “We’ve been overwhelmed with requests to try the gold medal winner, we’ve decided to brew it a third time for 2019” saya David Lin, founder of Comrade Brewing. “It was a serious crash that caused over $50k in damage and prevented us from brewing for more than 2 weeks. I remember saying that we’d look back on it one day and laugh about it. Funny how things work, because if that truck never crashed into the brewery, we would have never brewed this beer.” 

The much anticipated of this More Dodge Less RAM is going down at Comrade Brewing this Saturday, November 9. This award-winning beer will be on draft while supplies last. 

For more information about Comrade Brewing or More Dodge Less Ram IPA, contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com. 

ABOUT COMRADE BREWING

2019 Great American Beer Festival® Small Brewing Company of the Year. Launched in 2014 by David Lin and Marks Lanham, Comrade Brewing is often noted as one of Denver and Colorado’s masters of the India Pale Ale style, home of the flagship Superpower IPA. Comrade also brews the award-winning Yellow Fever Chile Beer, the Koffee Kream Extra Coffee Milk Stout, and the REDCON Irish-Style Red Ale year-round, as well an array of rotating seasonals and lots of collaboration beers with fellow brewing companies. Comrade’s trophy case now sports 5 medals from the Great American Beer Festival® and a 2016 World Beer Cup® gold award, among others. Find the brewery online at comradebrewing.com.

Comrade Brewing Named 2019 Small Brewing Company of the Year; Earns Two Gold GABF Medals for IPA Categories

DENVER, CO— Comrade Brewing was named 2019 Small Brewing Company of the Year by the Brewers Association at the 33rd Great American Beer Festival® awards ceremony at the Colorado Convention Center after receiving gold medals for two of its India Pale Ales. These are the fourth and fifth medals the brewery has won since opening in 2014. 

Superpower IPA  was awarded a gold medal in the American-Style Strong Pale Ale category, which had 131 entries. Superpower IPA is an American IPA with loads of Pacific Northwest hops that lend huge pine and grapefruit hop aroma and citrus flavors. Its bitterness is balanced with a crisp, light malt character and is available year-round at the Comrade Brewing tasting room. Just a few days prior, the Denver Westword called it one of the most important beers in Colorado history. 

More Dodge Less RAM, a triple-dry hopped sister of Superpower IPA, took gold in the second most-entered category, American-Style India Pale Ale, which had 342 entries. More Dodge Less RAM was the first beer that Comrade brewed after a Dodge Ram plowed into the brewery three years ago. 

“We still can’t believe it” said Chairman and Founder David Lin. “It’s an incredible honor to take home these awards with so many other great breweries and proud of our brewmaster Marks Lanham and brewer Rio Urioste."

The 2019 GABF® competition winners were selected by an international panel of 322 expert judges from 9,497 entries, received from 2,295 U.S. breweries, plus 113 Pro-Am and 70 Collaboration entries.

For more information about Comrade Brewing or its internationally recognized IPA brewing prowess, contact Emily Hutto at coop@radcraftbeer.com. For more information about the 2019 Great American Beer Festival competition and its winners, visit greatamericanbeerfestival.com.

ABOUT COMRADE BREWING

Launched in 2014 by David Lin and Marks Lanham, Comrade Brewing is often noted as one of Denver and Colorado’s masters of the India Pale Ale style, home of the flagship Superpower IPA. Comrade also brews the award-winning Yellow Fever Chile Beer, the Koffee Kream Extra Coffee Milk Stout, and the REDCON Irish-Style Red Ale year-round, as well an array of rotating seasonals and lots of collaboration beers with fellow brewing companies. Comrade’s trophy case now sports 5 medals from the Great American Beer Festival® and a 2016 World Beer Cup® gold award, among others. Find the brewery online at comradebrewing.com.

Comrade Brewing Donates Over $8K to Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund

DENVER, CO— Comrade Brewing Company is proud to announce a $8,818.50 donation to the Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund to support general community relief efforts for the catastrophic wildfires that roared through Butte County in Northern California on Nov. 8, 2018.

In November, Comrade Brewing joined over 1,400 craft breweries across the United States to brew Resilience IPA with the intent to donate 100 percent of sales to support victims of the Camp Fire.

“We jumped at the opportunity to support Sierra Nevada and their national fundraising campaign after learning about the devastation and thinking of all those affected,” explains Comrade Brewing founder, David Lin. “Reception has been tremendous from the Colorado community. There were numerous people, who don’t drink beer, that heard about this collaborative effort and came to the brewery to “buy” pints and just donate without taking the beer.”

Comrade’s iteration of Resilience IPA was tapped at the brewery on December 15 and was available for just over 2 months.

Marks Lanham, Comrade’s Brewmaster, stated, “This beer wouldn’t have been possible without the logistics from Sierra Nevada Brewing and the generosity of our raw materials suppliers. BSG CraftBrewing, and Yakima Chief Hops donated ingredients and Lightning Labels donated supplies.” Comrade also donated yeast and hops for the beer.

Make your donation at: https://www.goldenvalley.bank/Community-Foundation.aspx

ABOUT COMRADE BREWING

Launched in 2014 by David Lin and Marks Lanham, Comrade Brewing is often noted as one of Denver and Colorado’s masters of the India Pale Ale style, home of the flagship Superpower IPA. Comrade also brews the World Beer Cup® winning Yellow Fever Chile Beer, the Koffee Kream Extra Coffee Milk Stout, and the REDCON Irish-Style Red Ale year-round, as well an array of rotating seasonals and collaboration beers with fellow brewing companies. Comrade’s trophy case now sports 2014 & 2015 silver medals and a 2018 bronze medal from Great American Beer Festival® and a 2016 World Beer Cup® gold award, among others. Find the brewery online at comradebrewing.com.

Comrade Brewing Company Celebrates with Bronze Medal from 2018 Great American Beer Festival

DENVER, CO— Comrade Brewing, an internationally acclaimed brewery, collected a bronze medal for DEFCON Red Irish-Style Red Ale at the 32nd Great American Beer Festival® (GABF®) earning their third medal at the competition since 2014. The top three winners in the 102 beer-style categories were announced at an awards ceremony held September 22 at the Colorado Convention Center.

The award winning Irish-Style Red Ale underwent a name change in 2015 to REDCON. The beer is brewed with a blend of English crystal and chocolate malt and hopped with East Kent Goldings and presents a llight caramel sweetness, fruity esters and just a hint of chocolate with a light citrus nose. The beer is available year-round on draft and in Crowlers® and growlers to-go.

“We get a lot of recognition for our hoppy ales,” said chairman and founder David Lin. “We’re incredibly proud to bring home another medal for a brew with a lot less hops. There are thousands of exceptional beers in this year’s competition and this win is a testament to the quality, talent and consistency of our brewmaster, Marks Lanham and brewer, Mike Durland."

The 2018 GABF competition winners were selected by an international panel of 293 industry professionals judging from 8,496 entries submitted by 2,404 U.S. breweries along with 101 Pro-Am and 49 collaboration entries.

For more details on the GABF competition, including the 2018 winners list and photos, visit GreatAmericanBeerFestival.com.

For more information about Comrade Brewing and their award winning Irish-Red Ale, DEFCON, email contact@comradebrewing.com.

ABOUT COMRADE BREWING

Launched in 2014 by David Lin and Marks Lanham, Comrade Brewing is often noted as one of Denver and Colorado’s masters of the India Pale Ale style and home of the flagship Superpower IPA. Comrade also brews the World Beer Cup® winning Yellow Fever Chile Beer, the Koffee Kream Extra Coffee Milk Stout, and the REDCON Irish-Style Red Ale year-round as well an array of rotating seasonals and lots of collaboration beers with fellow brewing companies. Comrade’s trophy case now sports silver medals from the 2014 and 2015 Great American Beer Festival®, a 2016 World Beer Cup gold award, and a bronze medal from the 2018 Great American Beer Festival. Find the brewery online at www.comradebrewing.com.

Comrade Brewing Registers 'Superpower' Trademark After TTAB Rules Beer and Fruit Juice Not Related

DENVER, CO— On Thursday, August 2, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) ruled that Comrade Brewing Co. LLC could register its “Superpower” as a trademark for beer, shooting down a challenge filed by the company behind POM Wonderful and Fiji Water. This came with the ruling that consumers will not confuse a juice called “Antioxidant Superpower” with a beer called “Superpower,” rejecting the argument that the two types of beverage were closely related for trademark purposes.

In past cases, the board has held that wine and spirits are closely related to beer in the minds of consumers, but it said The Wonderful Co. had failed to show that a soft drink such as fruit juice had the same kind of connection. “Simply put, opposer has not submitted sufficient evidence that consumers are accustomed to encountering these goods under the same mark,” Judge Peter W. Cataldo wrote for a three-judge panel.

Comrade Brewing has been brewing its flagship Superpower IPA since they opened in 2014, and have since won silver medals at the 2014 and 2015 Great American Beer Festival® for their wet-hopped versions of this beloved Colorado IPA.

The Wonderful Co. uses “Antioxidant Superpower" as a slogan for its POM Wonderful pomegranate juice. It has had the phrase registered as a federal trademark for fruit juices since 2003.

“Particularly in light of the differences between the goods but also because the two marks had key differences in appearance,” Cataldo wrote, “the board sided with Comrade Brewing.”

"The result is what we expected and contended from the start," explains Comrade Brewing owner David Lin. "We're pleased with the result and appreciate the passion and efforts of our lawyers at beerattorney.com in defending this matter."

Comrade Brewing has filed for the ‘Superpower’ trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is currently waiting for approval.

“Operating this brewery has thrown us a lot of curveballs,” explains Lin. “If I’m being completely honest the potential confusion between antioxidant juice and craft beer was more surprising to me than the day someone crashed their truck through our front door. We’re going to laugh this one off over a couple of Superpowers.”

Superpower IPA is an American IPA with loads of Pacific Northwest hops that lend huge pine and grapefruit hop aroma and citrus flavors. Its bitterness is balanced with a crisp, light malt character. Superpower is on tap year-round at the Comrade Brewing tasting room.

For more information about Superpower IPA, or with questions about this TTAB ruling, email contact@comradebrewing.com.

ABOUT COMRADE BREWING

Launched in 2014 by David Lin and Marks Lanham, Comrade Brewing is often noted as one of Denver and Colorado’s masters of the India Pale Ale style, home of the flagship Superpower IPA. Comrade also brews the World Beer Cup® winning Yellow Fever Chile Beer, the Koffee Kream Extra Coffee Milk Stout, and the Redcon Irish Red Ale year-round, as well an array of rotating seasonals and lots of collaboration beers with fellow brewing companies. Comrade’s trophy case now sports silver medals from the 2014 and 2015 Great American Beer Festival® and a 2016 World Beer Cup® gold award, among others. Find the brewery online at comradebrewing.com.

ABOUT BEERATTORNEY.COM

Beerattorney.com is a Drumm Law brand, focusing on meeting the legal needs of craft breweries, including trademarks, business law, distribution, licensing, among other areas.  Learn more about the Beer Attorneys at beerattorney.com. 

Bierstadt Lagerhaus & Rackhouse Pub Present Brewers Verbally Punching Each Other In The Face at the Second Annual Ho Ho Ho Slapdown

Photo by The Brewtography Project

DENVER, CO—  On December 3, six brewers will compete for one of the most prestigious and ugliest trophies in all of brewing at the Second Annual Ho Ho Ho Slapdown.

Hosted by Bierstadt Lagerhaus and The Rackhouse at 2875 Blake Street, the Ho Ho Ho Slapdown includes six brewers—Greg Moore of Barrels & Bottles, Jake Gardner of Hogshead, Jon Cross of Call To Arms, Marks Lanham of Comrade Brewing, Brett Williams of Little Machine, and Ashleigh Carter of Bierstadt Lagerhaus-all fake and secretly backstabbing friends compete in this no-holds-barred event. This competition features the winter brews made by each of the contestants with a popular vote deciding the outcome. Shenanigans and smacktalk are not only encouraged, but mandated.

After sampling all of the offerings, the public is invited to vote for their favorite-but it is encouraged to wait for the stump speech delivered by each of the brewers. Getting in the spirit early was Jon Cross of Call To Arms. “Jake Gardner is a talented brewer with an excellent palate, but on December 3, the only thing he’ll be tasting is the back of my hand.”

Tickets are $25 on nightout.com or the day of the event at Bierstadt Lagerhaus/The Rackhouse and includes a 5oz pour of all six (6) beers, voting rights and watching the smack-talk. Event goes from 1:00-4:00pm with smack-talk at 4:00pm and final votes in by 4:45.

For more information contact Bill Eye at bill@bierstadtlager.com.

ABOUT BIERSTADT LAGERHAUS

Bierstadt Lagerhaus is a Lager Brewery specializing in German Style Lagers, located in the heart of Denver’s RiNo Art District – and also the winner of last years’ Slapdown. bierstadt.com