DENVER—Wynkoop Brewing Co. is bringing back a cult-favorite beer from its past.
Kurt’s Mile High Malt, a coffee-infused lager built from a recipe by author Kurt Vonnegut’s brewer grandfather, will be available on draft at the brewpub on April 12. The recipe was given to Wynkoop founder (and now Colorado governor) John Hickenlooper by the late author of classic works including Breakfast of Champions and Slaughterhouse-Five.
Wynkoop first brewed this beer in 1996 as part of its Denver Public Library series and again in 2007 in tribute of Vonnegut’s passing.
On April 11 at 6:30 p.m., Wynkoop will offer a pre-release taste of the beer as part of its Breakfast of Champions Beer Dinner. The night is a celebration of Vonnegut, who died on April 11, 2007. It features a one-night-only menu of dishes showcasing Tender Belly Pork and Novo Coffee. Each course is paired with a Wynkoop beer. During dinner there will be Vonnegut readings and a raffle for a pair of Vonnegut-themed gift baskets from the Tattered Cover bookstore. Dinner is $45 plus tax and tip. Reservations can be made at [email protected] or 303-297-9999.
Wynkoop is also now serving the 2013 version of Cottonwood Organic White. An unfiltered, American-style wheat beer, Cottonwood Organic White is made with organic malts and wheat, kaffir lime leaf and organic agave nectar. The beer is fermented with an American wheat beer yeast and is 4.6% ABV.
Wynkoop is donating $1 from the sale of each draft of the beer to the Cottonwood Institute, an environmental education nonprofit group that works with inner-city students and local schools in the Denver area.
Vonnegut’s zany and surreal world reflects the absurdity of our own and really bent my mind to different modes of thinking. His work has inspired my own visual arts for quite some time and I created a tribute illustration of the author with the help of an old typewriter. You can see it at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/11/happy-birthday-mr-vonnegut.html and tell me how his work and words also affected you.