J Wells Brewery - Boulder

    

     I had a great conversation with Jamie Wells of J Wells Brewery on Friday! A great guy with a passion for his craft.  He comes at his beers as a homebrewer would and with the customers in mind.

     Being a home brewer since 1992, Jamie felt it was time to take the leap of faith into the professional realm of brewing.  Leaving his job in IT, and only having one investor, he found a location within Boulder, Colorado's industrial park where he can comfortably craft his beers for the masses.  Opening January 10, 2013 he has found quite the following for his flagship beer Hop Haze which seems to be his best seller. A quaint hang out spot for people to gather and enjoy the hand crafted beers that he has to offer.

     Business is slowly building for J Well Brewery as they are on track to brew up to 200bbl this year alone (1bbl = 31.5 US gallons or 2 standard US kegs). This is allowing him to expand his brewery production with the purchase of four new conical fermentors giving him the opportunity to increase output and get further into distributing into local liquor stores. No tap accounts as of yet but is now selling 22oz bombers of his popular Hop Haze at Hazels, Boulder Wine & Spirits and Gunbarrel Liquor stores.

     Future plans for this brewery is to possibly expand the taproom to allow more craft beer fans to come, hangout and enjoy the craft beer. Jaime's business model is simple......whatever the customer wants.  That speaks volumes in this industry.  How's the beer you may ask? Well, I had the opportunity to taste what they had to offer and my review of the beers is below.  I can tell you this, however, being a fan of beer myself I will for sure be stopping by the taproom in the future so I can get my fix of Hop Haze.  When you vistit, and Jaime is there, shake his hand and let him know that Colorado Craft Brew Blog sent you!

REVIEWS

Jaime's Best - 3.8%ABV:

   Jamie's Best is a fantastic 3.8% ABV, unfiltered, malty, British session beer.  Fantastic on a hot summers day. Made with all British ingredients to keep within the style.  On the nose you get a good malty sweetness with slight hop aroma.  Great head retention and lacing on the glass as you drink this one down. Great malt flavor with a slight hop bitter at the finish. This is one you can have many of on a hot day with it's session ABV content. Definitely one that I will have again upon revisiting J Wells.

Gitana Brown - 4.3%ABV:

     This is a great example of British brown ale.  Again using only British ingredients, this beer is smooth and easy drinking.  On the nose you get good malt character with slight chocolate note. The beer was a little hazy but I attribute that to being unfiltered.  It does not distract from the flavor.  Again, great head retention and lacing in the glass.  Good malt character with a chocolate note on the finish.  This didn't have much if any hop character on my palate, but it really wasn't missed.  This is another great session style beer for a hot summer day!

Chocolate Milk Stout - 5.5%ABV:

     J Wells Brewery hit another homerun with this chocolate stout example.  The nose picks up great roasted malt and chocolate characters as well I got a slight hop note.  Great head retention and lacing.  Great roasty chocolate flavor. Exactly what you would expect from a chocolate milk stout.  In the finish you get a great sweet creamy taste that reminds me of enjoying a glass of chocolate milk.  Fantastic example.

Hop Haze - 8.5%ABV:

     By far my favorite of the day. This is hopped with a couple of different hop varieties but all I could weasel out of them was Cascade. On the nose, right away you get a great hop aroma.  Makes your mouth water instantly. Great head retention and lacing.  Flavor-wise, the beer was excellent. Great hop flavor with a slight malt character.  The hops balances out the malt very nicely. A very smooth, easy drinking beer, without the alcohol heat you may expect from other 8.5%ABV beers out there.  I HIGHLY recommend this one. This is one that I will be coming back for time and time again.

I urge you all to pay J Wells Brewery a visit and I invite you to write your own review in the comments section below!!!

Location:
J Wells Brewery
2816 49th St #5
Boulder, CO. 80301

HOURS;
Tues - Thurs: 3pm - 9pm
Friday: 3pm - 10pm
Saturday: 12pm - 10pm
Sunday: 12pm - 8pm

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/JWellsBrewery

WEBSITE:
http://jwellsbrewery.com/