Tommyknocker Brewery - TK Haze

As we expect from the name, this golden-hued, unfiltered New England-style IPA delivers a ton of haze on the pour, per the style. In the aroma, look for citrus and fragrant notes of citrus blossoms, along with a bit of tropical fruit character and some stone fruit. We also picked up a touch of wheaty tang in the underlying malts. Look for lots of stone fruit and floral character to come through on the palate, backed by citrus pith and a hint of earthiness. The malts come through quite wheaty with a bready quality while remaining light on the palate, keeping this brew quite drinkable. There's some oat malt character here too, which contributes to the haziness. Tommyknocker definitely went for a more sessionable take on the NE hazy IPA trend as TK Haze is on the lighter side of medium-bodied and low in alcohol, with a moderate bitterness level. Refreshing on its own on a warm summer afternoon, this brew will also pair readily with a wide range of foods. We'd go with grilled teriyaki chicken with grilled pineapple, or a pizza with Canadian bacon. A dessert of peach cobbler or shortbread with lemon curd sounds good to us too. Cheers!

The Tommyknocker Brewery was founded as a brewpub in 1994 (which coincidentally is also the year we started The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club) at an elevation of about 7500 feet in the old mining town of Idaho Springs, CO. The town, which is about a 40 mile drive west of downtown Denver, was founded in 1859 during the Colorado gold rush, and it is this mining history that the brewery latched on to when crafting their brand identity. Tommyknockers are mythical creatures, a bit like leprechauns, that are purported to live underground and signal to miners when a collapse is imminent by making knocking sounds in the rock. They also get blamed sometimes when tools malfunction or go missing.

We can’t verify if tommyknockers are responsible for swiping miners’ tools when they aren’t looking, but we can tell you that they do know how to make some good beers in their spare time. In fact, they’ve been collecting awards since 1995 from both the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup – over 100 thus far. If you’re ever traveling through the Rockies on I-70 near Denver, it’s well-worth stopping at the brewpub for a buffalo burger and a fresh brew on draft. Harnessing pure snow melt water from the Rockies, the brewery produces a very broad range of year-round and seasonal beers (over 20 by our count) as well as a line of sodas including orange, strawberry, and almond cremes as well as root beer. We'll let you discover those on your own and stick to what we do best: Beer! For more information about the brewery and brewpub, call 303-567-4419 or check out their web site at www.tommyknocker.com.