The Year in Beer

Name: Lucky U IPA

Brewer: Breckenridge Brewery, Denver, Colo.

By the numbers: About 180 calories per 12 oz.; 6.2 percent alcohol by volume

Notes: This is a new beer from the Breckenridge Brewery. I’ve tried two of their other beers so far this year, Avalanche Ale and Pandora’s Bock, and I put both of them in the “good, but not great” category. Lucky U is another beer in that vein, but it’s probably the best of the three. As India Pale Ales go, this one is pretty well-balanced and drinkable. Some IPAs try to smack you over the head with bitterness, but Lucky U doesn’t do that. It pours a hazy gold color, with some sediment. It gives off a flowery sweet hop smell and the flavor of seven hops varieties (yes, seven: Amarillo, Magnum, Perle, Cascade, Apollo, Fuggle and Goldings) comes through in the taste, but the malt flavor holds its own.

Try it with: Being a sucker for a good beer story. The label for Lucky U says it pays homage to the Tivoli Brewery and Denver’s brewing heritage. A little digging turned up a story on a student website from Metropolitan State College of Denver about the beer. It seems that Tivoli Brewing Company was a beloved maker of beer in Denver from 1866 to 1966. In 1994, the Tivoli Brewing Company building was renovated into a student union for Metropolitan State, Community College of Denver and the University of Colorado-Denver. Not only does Lucky U pay tribute to the Tivoli brewery (it carries the brand’s logo), but 5 percent of sales of the beer goes for upkeep of the building.

    — Posted by Mike Freimann