River North’s 2023 Year in Review

2023 was an unprecedented year for all of us here at River North Brewery. The past twelve months have included some of our biggest events (and beers) ever, not to mention winning some of the most prestigious awards we have ever earned! As we close out the year, we wanted to share a recap with all of you to reflect on just how great of a year it has been.

We kicked off 2023 with our first Single Cask release, Hello Darkness. The first Single Cask release of the year is always important to us as we want to show members of the renowned Norther Society (have you joined, yet!?) exactly what they can expect for Single Cask releases throughout the rest of the year. It’s always a great time for new members to see what we’re all about and introduce people to our Single Cask Barrel program.

The year wouldn’t start right without our SUPER STOUT party, our annual Stout takeover at the taprooms near the end of January each year. Showcasing over a dozen of our finest roasty, toasty brews, both fresh and vintage, SUPER STOUT is always a hit. 2023 proved to be one of the best SUPER STOUT parties in recent memory! (Stay tuned for details about 2024 SUPER STOUT in the coming weeks.)

February brings our Anniversary Party, and Anniversary 11 did not disappoint. Featuring our our quadruple-barrel-aged Anniversary 11 Stout, the strongest beer ever made in Colorado, brewing this beer was no small feat, It was a privilege to share this record-breaking brew with our friends while we celebrated another year at River North Brewery. We can’t wait to share Anniversary 12 Stout with you in February 2024.

In May, our crew headed to Nashville for the Craft Brewers Conference and World Beer Cup. We enjoyed checking out the local breweries, and restaurants and even had a chance to catch up at some distilleries. We were ecstatic to take home two medals at the World Beer Cup, the most prestigious beer competition in the world., Midnight Hike chocolate imperial porter earned GOLD, while Snowburn wheatwine earned BRONZE.

We barely made it through the sweltering heat of the summer, but our Belgian Day celebration each July certainly helps. We tap at least 10 different Belgian-style beers to celebrate the historied and widely varying Belgian brewing tradition. And in true River North fashion, we pour a few not-so-traditional Belgian-inspired brews as well.

Fall ushered in our favorite time of the year: none other than the Great American Beer Fest. Not only did we wow the crowds with heavy hitters like Nightmare Fuel coffee imperial stout, Mr. Sandman XO barrel-aged imperial stout and Barrel Aged Father Time barleywine, but we actually kicked all the kegs early! (We’ll definitely bring more next year. Spoiler alert: we’re going even bigger.) The highlight of the fest, however, was earning a SILVER medal at the competition for Midnight Hike, making 2023 the 2nd GABF in a row for River North to take a medal.

November was quite the month to usher in the holiday season, with two rounds of international awards being announced. We earned two medals, gold, and silver, at the distinguished European Beer Star held each year in Germany. The winning beers were Pumpkin Spice J. Marie and Nightmare Fuel, respectively. Just as exciting were our triple medals at the Brussels Beer Challenge, making this the 3rd year in a row to take honors at the esteemed competition in Belgium. Nightmare Fuel and Midnight Hike both earned gold, while Father Time earned silver.

No year is complete without our annual Norther Society Holiday Party, the best holiday party of the season. It was great to catch up with all of our members just a few weeks ago. If you are reading this and you weren’t at the party, well, it just may be time to join Denver’s best beer society in 2024!

To sum it all up, 2023 was a momentous year for us. We could hardly believe it ourselves, but we bottled 40 different malty concoctions this year! How did that happen!? 2023 is going to be the year to beat, but 2024 is gearing up to do just that. We’ll see you in just a couple of weeks at the inaugural Porter-Palooza! Details coming soon!