Tour de brew: Rails End Beer Co.

A beer to bridge the gap between summer and fall

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Outside, the sun burns through the clouds but the air remains cool. The calendar read August but it feels more like late September without the crisp, acrid smell of fire in the air. Inside Broomfield’s newest brewery, the TVs are tuned to a preseason football game, but none of the occupants take note. Their minds are on themselves, each other and the ice-cold pints sitting in front of them.

These faithful drinkers gather daily inside co-founder Dale Reeder’s former race car shop turned brewery, Rails End Beer Co. Rails End officially opened its doors Aug. 12, 2016, and though beer is clearly the aim, the evidence of Reeder’s past business hangs in the rafters and in the form of a half-finished, long-forgotten race car sitting next to the keg commander. The dust is so thick on the road warrior that employees have taken to writing notes to each other in it.

But as dusty as the auto is, the tanks, fermenters and keg commander are spotless. Glistening in the midday sun, they announce to the world that beer is here. Where else would you want to be? And with the recent departure of Big Choice Brewing to Brighton, Rails End’s 12 taps just became valuable real estate in Broomfield’s industrial neighborhood.

They’ll need all 12 to appease drinkers trying to navigate this decidedly capricious weather.

For those who crave the salty side of life, the Key Lime Gose (4.4 percent alcohol by volume) is the right beer. Traditionally speaking, gose is a sour, unfiltered wheat beer high on refreshing acid, low on hops and touched up with sea salt. The Rails End version is infused with key lime juice to give it even more puckering punch.

Hopheads looking for bittering burn and a hard edge will want the Amarillo Pale Ale (5.7 percent), or the Double IPA (7.8 percent). Should you crave hops but need a shot of fresh fruit, try the blood orange version of the Double IPA; the hops are the same and the bitterness remains.

Fans of easy-drinking cereal grains will dig the Honey Blonde Ale (5 percent), a balanced blend of sweetness and grain, perfect for the patio.

For those looking for an unlikely winner, an ideal synthesis of easy drinking and hoppy flavor, Rails End has the brew for you: Session IPA (4.9 percent). This deliciously light ale is easily Rails End’s best. It doesn’t sit heavily in your tummy while the sun beats down on your brow, and it doesn’t blow out your palate with bitter hops. There is just enough there to give the sensation of something more. And as the name suggests, that something more is another one.

It’s always hard to tell what the weather is going to be in Colorado, and this past month has really thrown us for a loop. Thankfully, Rails End has a beer to bridge the gap.

Rails End Beer Co., 11625 Reed Court, Unit B, Broomfield, 303-353-8121. railsendbeerco.com