TRVE Brewing Company

May 22, 2013 · by The Denver Beer Guy · in Breweries. ·

TRVE Brewing Company has taken the title as Denver’s “hardcore” brewery. Located at the very north edge of the Baker district on Broadway, TRVE does an excellent job cultivating the black/heavy metal persona in their nanobrewery. Opened mid-2012, TRVE has been pumping out unique and interesting brews to go along with the death metal music permeating their slim taproom. With a mix of American and Belgian styles, each of their concoctions is anything but mainstream. From an American Table Beer (a riff on house-wine) to a Salted Wheat Beer, you’re bound to try something you’ve never had before while at TRVE.

With black on the walls, minimal adornment (save for the white buck antlers), and crazy loud death metal playing, it feels like it shouldn’t work. The look is a bit Scandinavian (can’t put my finger on why), and it feels like only bikers or guys with super long hair and tattoos should love it. But that’s not the case. It’s filled with locals from all walks of life, and the staff is nice and friendly and willing to walk you through your beer choice. So, it ends up working.

Beer Lineup	Wanderlust Belgo-American Pale Ale Black Cascade American Black Ale Prehistoric Dog Salted Wheat Beer Tunnel of Trees India Pale Ale Hollow Idol India White Ale Diotima Smoked Tea Saison Hellion American Table Beer Stout O))) American Stout Atma Belgian Golden Strong Ale Death Ripper Denver666 Common Nazareth Double IPA
Taste/Quality	All of the beers on tap at TRVE are quality, and are much more than your usual beer styles. They assign beer styles to the beers that they serve, but after tasting them, those are often a stretch. It makes sense to give the average beer drinker a frame of reference to use, but most of their beers go beyond the traiditional beer styles. They break into the unkown, uncategorized. A place where you just have to try them and figure out that it’s best to enjoy them for what they are, and not worry about trying to fit them into a beer style.
My Favorite Beer	The Black Cascade was probably my favorite, but I really liked the Hellion (and the idea for an American Table Beer in general). Unfortunately, they haven’t had Death Ripper or Diotima any time I’ve been in there, so I’m looking forward to trying both of those on future visits.
Atmosphere	The tap room is fairly small, and can get really cramped if there’s a good amount of people in there. It’s really thin, with a long hand-made picnic table in the forefront before you reach the bar area. All in all there’s about 40 seats in total. I know it’s their thing, but the death metal can get a bit loud at times and somewhat overwhelming. Just something to prepare for while you’re there.
Service	Order drinks at the bar and pay for them on the cube. Then scribble your signature horribly with your finger!
The Lowdown	10 oz. for $4, 16 oz. for $5, or $1 for a 3 oz. taster.
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