Volume 2, Issue 18 August 17 - August 30, 2000

Bar Guide

207 S. Taylor Avenue Louisville 303-666-5260

Majestic is the only Celtic-niched microbrewery (complete with tasting room) this side of the Rockies. They've gained national notice with the fact that they claim to have concocted a legitimate beer that caters to a woman's palate. The brewery lies amid a little known industrial park, curiously tucked away from both competitor and public perception. Opened January 3, 1999, Majestic has survived with an over-all vision to not just win over the Front Range beer drinker, but more importantly, find the means to spread distribution into the international beer market. For this reason, the Louisville brewery cannot be considered a fledgling site to test the local waters, but a global production cen-ter to launch what hopes to be a world class name very soon.

The tasting room is a big one, complete with pool tables, dartboards, shuffleboard and plenty of table space. The hard-to-find Colorado Tech Center location probably had some effect on how much investment was dropped into driving the Celtic theme home. But to feel you're in a true Irish setting, it is not as important to inundate your drinking establishment with knick-knacks from the homeland as much as it is to have a staff that instills on its patrons the long-standing pub philosophy of good beer, merry music and lively conversation.

On my most recent visit, I had the pleas-ure of chatting with general manager Anne Marie Kennedy, and her brother-in-law Mike, who flew over from the Emerald Isle to fill in for a few weeks behind the bar. In no time I was made to feel like a well-known regular in a place where Irish tradition doesn't just hang on the walls, but is refreshingly inherent through the friendly personalities of its publicans. If I closed my eyes I could have been anywhere from Dublin to Galway as I listened to a vernacular behind the taps that sent me back to ten days spent in crowded Irish pubs, parlaying with red-faced locals wearing foamy-mustached smiles as they swallowed their stout between genuine belly laughs. Talking with Mike, the beer just seemed to taste better during stories that hearkened back to his days of pullin' pints in da pub I grew up in as soon as I was tall enough ta see over da bar…

Despite Majestic's short hours of public operation, the brewery has developed strong ties to the community. The walls are reserved for local artisans to display anything from paintings to hand-crafted clocks and iron Celtic crosses. Along with varied styles of live music on Friday and Saturday, the brewery has become home for a club of amateur Irish musicians, who play once a month in friendly competition for trips to Ireland. Aword of warning however, there is no talking over the music during these nights held so sacred by the staff. Anne Marie has been known to take cue sticks away from the most boisterous with a strong word of advice that, I'm sure, gets right to the point. They have also held the Majestic Homebrewers Cup, an event where the winning beer was poured by the brewery at the Great American Beer Festival. During the winter months, free Gaelic speech lessons are given on Monday nights.

In line with the European approach to pouring draught beer, almost half of their styles are dispensed through a nitrogen tap, a method that emits the exquisite unhurried cascading effect we have all witnessed in those Guinness commercials. Celtic Pride, the flagship brew, is light amber with a malty sweetness that is courteous enough to let just the right amount of hop flavor sneak through, a nice session beer. Tullymore Irish Dry Stout is coal black and emits the same creamy rich effect in your mouth that you come to expect from this style. And after nine months and thirteen versions, Anu, a beer named after the ancestral and universal mother of the Celts is, you guessed it, created for the ladies. Nitrogen is used to not only give this brew a beautiful velvety introduction, but this alternative to carbon dioxide is also far less filling. Being someone that never needed to be seduced into liking beer, I feel that I would be remiss to critique this red cream ale. However those of the fairer sex can find it on tap in Denver at Nallens, Fado's and Cherry Cricket as well as County Cork in Fort Collins.

In an effort to cut into the tremendous overhead involved with selling overseas, Declan Elliott, one of five partners, is working on a disposable keg that would not need to be returned. Once this hurdle is cleared, Cripple Creek Gold, a lighter brew, is planned for export into Taiwan and Japan. Super G, a medium-bodied hoppy copper ale, is another slated to be introduced into the European ski market.

Majestic also offers the hearty robust Royal Porter and a Limited Edition IPA, brewed to be savored in the colder months.

In the tasting room, these beers can be served together in a sample tray, by the pint or, for those with a real thirst, by the foot, half-yard or yard. Growlers and party pigs are also available if you wish to take home your favorite, as Majestic does not bottle for commercial sales.

The aspirations are high under the roof of this trail-blazing brewery, and frankly, the beer is good enough to break through without the backing of mass marketing and fancy labels. But without the utiliza-tion of six packs to send abroad like little promotional foot soldiers, things may start slow. It's a good thing the Irish don't carry much of a concern for time. .

Pros Another quality locale to further establish Colorado as the center of the universe for craft beer.

Cons Functioning as only a tasting room, the hours of operation aren't set in stone. Be sure to call ahead.