Cheluna Brewing Co. - "Low Rider Extra Añejo" lager

While at SAVOR, I met Jennifer and Javier Pérez, founders and owners of Aurora, Colorado's Cheluna Brewing Co. Nestled outside the Rocky Mountains, Cheluna was founded in 2017 and draws on on strong Mesoamerican influences for its beers and design. According to their website, founders Jennifer and Javier spent decades working in community service, in volunteer corps, and in the teaching profession before turning their attention to a public service of another sort - making delicious suds! The name of the brewery is a portmanteau of "chela", Mexican slang for beer, and "luna", moon. The sun and moon are important symbols in prehispanic culture, so you'll find those symbols prominently at Cheluna.

As you may recall from SAVOR coverage, Cheluna served both a mango / chile witbier and a lager; I tried the lager and enjoyed it so much that Jennifer kindly gave me a bottle to take home and review: the "Low Rider Extra Añejo", a 4.50% ABV lager, aged in mezcal barrels for almost a year.

Mezcal is an awesome spirit, and one worth exploring if you have not done so already. A liquor made from agave, there's dozens of types of mezcal and hundreds of varieties of agave, all with different taste profiles ranging from dry to creamy to smoky. If you don't take your liquor straight, then use mezcal however you would use tequila in a mixed drink.

So this is the first beer I have encountered be aged in these barrels. Jen and Javi sourced the wooden vessels - which are not available for sale in the US, by the way - from some friends who make mezcal in a rural village all the way down in Oaxaca state, in southern Mexico. Made in a dirt-floor distillery without electricity, a horse turns the stone wheel to crush the single-species agave. Very traditional and very authentic. Let's dive in - I can't wait.

Pours a deep golden color, quite attractive and unusual for a lager, and generates a mild aroma. When agitated, it smells a bit like wheat with a touch of smoke.

The first sip is pure bliss - there's a strong burst of salt and agave in the first instant, much like the finish of an Espadin mezcal, followed closely by the character of the Weyermann base malt. Some moderate flaked wheat flavors are there too, with a touch of dryness, but whoa, the agave and smoke flavors really dominate throughout the experience. The finish is where I get most of the light lager flavors, like notes of water cracker, and there's a touch of salt and smoke on the aftertaste. Super refreshing and tasty, and one sip invites another.

I've had tequila barrel-aged beers before, but nothing comes close to delivering the quality of flavors that this beer has. The base is stronger than your typical fizzy attenuated beer, which helps amp up the flavors and deliver that smoky, salty, delicious mezcal character - but not overdoing, either. I could see how overaging (or underaging) might have rendered this beer a weak imitation, but fortunately it's just right.

Bottom line, this is probably best lager I have ever had the pleasure to drink. It takes a basic style, done well, and adds a unique twist which captures, and keeps, my attention. It's light enough to enjoy often but something you want to savor when you do. My SAVOR tasting partner, Laura, said this was her favorite "light" beer of the whole evening. Not only was it mine as well, but I feel this beer has made it into my list of top 15 beers I've ever had in my life. I do hope to make it out to Colorado - it's a visit long overdue - but when I do, first stop is Cheluna.