Scientific Methods

THE SCIENCE BEHIND CEREBRAL BREWING

By Erica Buehler

Apopular brew spot since its infancy in 2015, Cerebral Brewing just seems to know good beer. Constantly winning among a plethora of competition in Denver, and sur viving a pandemic that took aim at bars and breweries, Cerebral is clearly sticking around for the long haul.

You might already be familiar with Cerebral’s intriguing and varied tap list, comprising ever ything from New Englandstyle IPAs, barrel-aged porters and smoothie-esque sours. But if you haven’t yet made it to the 1477 Monroe St. taproom, you’re in for a treat.

As the name suggests, the brewer y takes “a scientific approach” to ever y one of its beers. Two of three founding members — Head Brewer Sean Buchan and Founding Member Chris Washenberger — initially started out as a doctor of physical therapy and a microbiologist, respectively. While running the brewhouse became their primar y objective (Washenberger is no longer with the brewer y), most of the beer names pay homage to the field of science. “No matter what style, we take a scientific approach,” says marketing manager Matt Mendini. “ We’re ver y calculated with our yeasts and have our lab, which we utilize to check our beers and propagate in-house yeast.”

This uber-technical approach to highquality (and good tasting) beer certainly makes for an interesting tap list. “[It’s a] pretty varied list. We are IPA heavy, with Rare Trait being our house IPA,” Mendini says. “Our Here Be Monsters double barrel-aged stout is also a big hit. Whether it’s a lager or something sour, there’s something for ever ybody. We aim to ser ve beer that’s approachable for ever yone.”

One of the most interesting Cerebral explorations is its dual approach to sour beers. The popularity has grown exponentially in the last several years, prompting many breweries to take notice and take a shot at their own versions. For Cerebral, that means highlighting both the “wild side” and the “clean side” of sours.

“There’s quite a bit of variation in the sour realm and two main sides of sours: the wild and the clean. So we really explore a lot of both of those,” Mendini says. “ We’re releasing one of our single barrel wild ales. We have an off-site storage area with a bunch of different barrels where we go through and test for taste. (The) single barrel bottle series (is unique) as a lot of sours are blended. Single barrel means a lot of specific notes.”

It also means a lot of work. Recently, Cerebral featured the Hereditar y Title Fruited Wild Ale. If it sounds a bit complicated, it is. Here’s part of the brewer’s description: “Brewed with spelt and wheat and hopped with Citra and Nelson Sauvin. Aged on second-use Palisade Viognier grapes, third-use Colorado apricots, and third-use California nectarines for four months. Notes of Meyer Lemon, Peach Blossom, Hay, and Sweet Tarts.”

As for the “clean side” of sours, the team in the Cerebral lab continues to figure out a selection of different series. In mid-March, they released Ultra Modern as part of the Smoothie Sour Series, which includes

Owner and head brewer Sean Buchan.

pre- and post-fermentation variations. “Ever ybody here enjoys sours,” notes Mendini. “The sours world has blown up, and the smoothie-style, post-fermented fruit has been a big part of that. People still appreciate old classic wild yeast sours, which are not as thick as smoothie-style.”

Another upcoming sour series is the Chromosphere, for those dying for summer and good beer-drinking weather. This series will be a lighter, crushable, and fruity, sour brew that is highly drinkable on warm days and nights. Plus, the brewer y recently put out an open-call to Denver artists to (initially) do a sticker collaboration. But due to the high volume of killer art, Cerebral decided to pivot to something even cooler. There will be

a rotating IPA series in which each iteration will have a design done by a different local artist, with merch available in the taproom to go along with it. “ We love involving the community,” Mendini says. “ We’re hoping to do this rotating IPA once a month.”

And last but certainly not least, don’t forget to catch the brewer y’s annual release of its barrel-aged porter scheduled for May. This year, expect a slight rebrand: “In the past, it’s been called Work from Home, which has been a little touch-and-go,” Mendini says. “This year, we’re rebranding it to be Work from Anywhere. There will likely be some kind of photo competition with that to encourage people to bring bottles on their adventures where they work from anywhere, and a waffle breakfast to accompany it, too. We’re really looking for ward to that release.”

“We love involving the community.”

— Matt Mendini Marketing Manager

IF YOU GO

Cerebral Brewing is located at 1477 Monroe St., just off East Colfax Avenue in Denver. CerebralBrewing.com

Erica Buehler is a freelance writer living in Littleton with her two dogs and plenty of coffee.

Photos by Neill Pieper

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