Colorado Gets Primitive – Sour Beer In A Box

At a time when the craft beer industry is still arguing bottled beer vs cans, Primitive Beer has introduced something new to the states…sour beer in a box.

And maybe beer in a bag, that is then boxed, might be a more apt description…but you get the idea, right?

Here’s the deal…

The bastard love child of Brandon and Lisa Boldt, Primitive Beer is a small blending facility and taproom committed to offering un-carbonated sour Lambic-style ales at comparatively affordable prices that are more in keeping with the “still beer’s” historical roots.

As Westwood’s Johnathan Shikes astutely explains…

“In Belgium Lambics are commonly transferred straight from wooden aging vessels to tanks and then directly into kegs or even plastic bags. The beers are served flat, fresh and cheap. They’re a drink for the masses rather than just the educated few.”

Primitive, which recently opened its Longmont doors is a side-project for Brandon and Lisa, who maintain full time jobs at Odd 13 . And given that some of their ‘still’ offerings might need to be aged in Primitive’s wooden puncheons for years before they’re deemed ready, it’s hardly surprising that the blendery will only be open two Saturdays a month.

Primitive’s beers start with wort (unfermented beer) from Odd 13 that’s transported to the brewery’s open air coolship vessel where the mixture rests overnight, and is inoculated by the neighborhood’s microflora allowing the wild fermentation process begins.

Then the mixture is moved to one of the blendery’s 50 barrels for the months (and sometimes years) of aging that nurture the beer’s wild, funky flavors into shape.

Some of Primitive’s beers will be blended, while others will be aged with fruit, hops or other ingredients.

And Primitive Beer is all about being local… The Boldts insist that all of their beer’s ingredients come from Colorado.

And did we mention that you could buy boxes of beer to go?