Tour de Brew: J Wells and Cellar West

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More than 10 percent of the nation’s craft breweries can be found in the Centennial State. That’s about 230 Colorado breweries, and with a couple of dozen of them in Boulder alone, there is no shortage of places to pound a pint. But even the savviest beer drinkers overlook the smaller locales. These are the places that offer something beyond the average ale. They may be small, but they pack one hell of a wallop in experimentation.

J Wells Brewery

Located along Pearl Parkway in East Boulder’s industrial section, J Wells Brewery is a 1.5-barrel brewing system and taproom that seats about 30 when the weather is nice and the garage door is up. “Bold Ales” is their motto and Hop Haze (8.5 percent alcohol by volume) is their flagship. Loaded with hops beyond hops, Hop Haze represents aggressive West Coast IPA with a touch more on the backend than most. The same goes for Hop Haze’s little brother, the Perfect Gentleman (6 percent), a reserved, buttoned-up sort with a distinct grapefruit taste.

Oddly enough, hoppy ales aren’t the only thing that owner and operator Jamie Wells offers. He also courts the other side of the spectrum with a British bitter-inspired session ale, Defiance (4.1 percent). Compared to the Hop Haze, Defiance is a much lighter brew, a nice balance of malt and hops that highlights the ale’s caramel characteristics. It’s served both on CO2 tap and through the English hand-pull system.

Cellar West Artisan Ales

Headed north to the Dakota Ridge section of Boulder, Cellar West Artisan Ales is located off Broadway, and offers something completely different. That’s evident once you enter Cellar West’s digs and lay your eyes on barrels beyond barrels. Brewer Zach Nichols prefers to ferment his beers in oak with wild yeast strains, and the results are a one-way street to Funkytown.

Because of Nichols’s approach, these brews might please the average wine drinker before a stoutie or hop head finds what they are looking for. Start with Westfield (6.2 percent), a barrel-fermented, bottle-conditioned saison that sports a cracked pepper flavor on top of bready yeast, funky hops and stone fruit. Nichols fermented the Westfield in Chardonnay barrels, which give this beer a Chablis sensibility, including a mineral quality that would pair nicely with oysters.

In addition to the Westfield, Cellar West offers five brews out of the barrels and three from their “Steelie” Series, all of them in line with Nichols’ overarching theme.

The beauty of visiting Cellar West isn’t just the beers, it’s the ability to talk with Nichols and get the story of what’s in your glass first-hand. Nichols was behind the counter pouring when I paid him a visit, as was Jamie Wells when we stopped by J Wells. It gave us the opportunity to talk to the people who are so passionate about their craft that they are willing to do it all. That’s something both adventurous drinkers and homebrewers looking to make the next step can’t pass up.