Ep. 16 - Ashleigh Carter and Bill Eye of Bierstadt Lagerhaus

Here's a note on this episode from host John Holl:

"I love lagers, especially well made ones. I haven’t been shy about my bias for crisp, malt forward, slightly spicy hopped lagers and pilsners in the past and one of my favorite places to imbibe them is at the Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver.

Tradition is the rule of the house at the brewery, just down the road from Coors Field. Ashleigh Carter and Bill Eye, the owners and brewers spent a career brewing the beers that other people wanted, so when they opened their doors a few years ago they decided to focus on what they wanted to drink: traditional lagers.

That can be a tough sell for some beer consumers who walk into a brewery and expect to get an IPA or a stout or something from a barrel. For others it is nice to walk in and know you can get a mug of Helles or a Slow Pour Pilsner. There are seasonal lagers that show up a few times a year and some collaborations as well, and those can verge into the hoppier territory, but still never really break the IBU scale.

I visit the brewery whenever I’m in Denver and during big events like the Craft Brewers Conference or Great American Beer Festival it’s not unusual to see brewers from around the country lining up for lagers. Most will, at some point, shake their head in disbelief that a small brewery can survive on just lagers and others will wistfully say they wish they could do something similar.

For Carter and Eye there’s no other way, and in this conversation recorded at their brewery in early January 2020 they are open to saying that it’s this path or nothing. They don’t want to go back to working at a brewery that doesn’t match their passion."

This episode, by the way, is about as long as ten rounds of Slow Pour Pils.

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• Hosted By: John Holl
• Guests: Ashleigh Carter & Bill Eye of Bierstadt Lagerhaus
• Sponsor: Cigar City Brewing
• Tags: beer, craft beer, Denver, Colorado, lager, pilsner, slow pour, traditional brewing, Germany, hops, malt, baubles.
• Advertising: Ryan Newhouse, Ryan@beeredge.com