I thoroughly enjoy attending the Crafty Ladies Beer Club monthly events at Highland Tap & Burger (or HTB).  For April, the featured brewery was Upslope Brewery from Boulder.  And they brought some wonderful surprises with them for all the ladies.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a can of Craft Lager as an appetizer.  While I personally do not care for lagers, I was really impressed by one thing: Upslope donates 1% of revenues from sales of this beer to a program called 1% For Rivers.  “In honor of their upstream roots, they are donating one percent of the sales of their Craft Lager to protect watersheds statewide. Protecting snowmelt at its source is not only good for trout, it’s also good for Colorado beer.”  Very nice.  Drink this beer, help Colorado’s watersheds!

Henry from Upslope brought along his wife’s homemade sweet beer bread to go with their Pale Ale.  This pairing was sooooo good, I’ve been thinking about it every day since!  And his wife, MK, was kind enough to provide us all with her recipe, “MK’s Sweet Upslope Beer Bread.”  The bread was served with honey butter and went well with the Pale Ale, brewed with Patagonian Cascade hops, which I learned are more earthy than American Cascade hops.

Next up was the Brown Ale.  To be honest, I was expecting to not like it so much, as that’s how I normally feel about brown ales.  However, this one had somewhat of a smoky taste and was very similar to a porter.  Brewed with 7 malts, 3 hops, and brown sugar added during the boil, it was the perfect combination to make a unique and desirable flavor.  Manchego cheese and fruit with wheat crackers went with this beer–yum.

The IPA had a nice balance of hops and malts and came with Chili-Rubbed Steak. Being vegetarian I passed on the steak, but it looked tasty for those who appreciate meat.

The final beer of the evening was Upslope’s Foreign Style Stout.  I had this on draft recently and really liked it.  What could go better with it than chocolate bread pudding with stout reduction?!  Such a great way to end the night.

As an added bonus, everyone in attendance received a coupon for a free pint at Upslope’s taproom!  And, even more exciting–they invited the Crafty Ladies to brew with them!  The ladies will be giving their input as to what type of beer they want to brew, and Upslope will make it happen.  I will keep you posted on the details as I learn more.

Thank you, Upslope and HTB for one incredible night!  And for those who weren’t there, here’s the recipe for sweet beer bread:

MK’s Sweet Upslope Beer Bread (Makes 1 loaf)

3 cups self-rising flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 can Upslope Pale Ale

1/4 cup butter, melted

Stir together first three ingredients and pour into a lightly greased 9X5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Pour melted butter over top.  Bake 10 more minutes.  Let cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove from pan onto a cooling rack.  Serve with warm honey.