Saint Arnold Brewing Co. finalizes Colorado launch plans

Saint Arnold Brewing Co., the oldest craft brewery in Texas, announced plans to celebrate its entry into the Colorado craft beer market with a party at the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver. Saint Arnold’s Colorado kickoff party is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sept. 16. Craft beer fans selected Falling Rock Tap House the best beer bar in the Mountain West in a survey conducted by the Brewers Association.

“Colorado is only the second state outside of Texas that we have expanded to since opening Saint Arnold 19 years ago,” said Saint Arnold Founder and Brewer Brock Wagner. “We love the beer culture that exists in Colorado. Our mission is to brew great beer and build community, and we believe this meshes well with the existing craft beer environment along the Front Range.”

The kickoff event will feature the three core beer brands with which the brewery is entering the Colorado market, Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Beer, Saint Arnold Elissa IPA and Santo, as well as some special offerings, such as cask-conditioned Saint Arnold Endeavour (Double IPA), as well as bottles of Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 12 (Old Ale aging since May 2012), Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 13 (Belgian Quadrupel originally released in February 2013) and Saint Arnold Bishop’s Barrel No. 4 (Weizenbock aged in bourbon barrels with cocoa nibs).

Saint Arnold also announced the completion of distributor agreements for markets along Colorado’s Front Range, which include Coors Distributing Co. in Denver, RMC Distributing in Colorado Springs, Colo., and High Country Beverage in Loveland, Colo. The brewery’s personnel will be easy to spot from Fort Collins to Pueblo in its Subaru Forester art car painted by Houston graffiti artist GONZO247.

In addition to next week’s kickoff party, Saint Arnold plans to be highly visible at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, which runs Oct. 10-12. The brewery will construct a chapel at its end-cap booth (Booth 0-1) and perform weddings during the event, which draws 49,000 craft beer fans.