AURORA | Conventional isn’t exactly Luke Smith’s style.
That’s kind of a given for a guy who rocks mutton chops that would put Martin Van Beuren to shame, plays in a self-described hornabilly band – rockabilly infused with saxophone – and whose business card pins him as a “fermentation scientist.”
Smith is the owner and head brewer of Coda Brewing Company in the booming Anschutz development area, where he’s constantly working as the figurative therapist for his favorite couple: music and beer. On top of being a brew-geek, Smith is a devoted musician who has played in bands since high school, ranging in styles from rockabilly to reggae. His love of music is even what inspired the name of the brewery – coda is a musical term often used in sheet music to mark the end of a piece or movement.
Last Friday night, Smith’s affection for suds and songs came to a head, when he tapped his first small batch of beer made specifically for a group of musicians, other than himself, of course. A process that started months ago, Smith has been working and collaborating with members of Indigent Row, a local celtic-rock band, to create a brew representative of their unique style of music, and brewed in a single keg to be tapped at a concert at the brewery.
“I told the band, ‘it’s my dream and my passion to collaborate with musicians, so what kind of beer do you guys want?’” Smith said. “Hearing is the last sense that’s not really tapped into in the beer scene, and I wanted to try to fill that void.”
To honor the band’s distinct, Irish sound, Smith created a dark imperial stout, aged with Jameson-soaked wood staves.
“A stout was a good representation of them,” Smith said. “Irish-influenced American stout is just like their music: Irish-influenced American music.”
The beer was all-too fitting for a band whose melodies are played on an Irish Whistle by a front man named Liam O’Beirne.
“I was inspired by the whole idea, talking about the sort of beer we thought would be appropriate to go along with our music.” O’Beirne said of the collaboration. “What we’ve done a few times is play a show in honor of a brewery bringing back a certain Irish style of beer, but we’ve never actually had a brewery do a beer specifically for us. This one was special because it really was (Smith) and I talking about what the beer should be.”
O’Beirne added that being a musician himself, Smith was extremely accommodating to the performers, and even paid them – never a guarantee for bands that frequently play pubs like Coda.
“It’s a huge advantage for everybody involved because he understands what musicians go through on stage and all that goes into setting up the gig,” he said. “His knowledge of the industry just helps us put on a more organized and professional show. There’s a place for us to play, and we’re not just shoved in the corner behind some chair.”
Although Friday night was the first time Smith had hosted such an event at Coda, it was not the first time he had brewed a beer for a specific musician. For the opening of the brewery in 2011, Smith created a small-batch specifically for a song titled “Rosalita,” written and performed by his band, The Lookout Mountain Boys.
“’Rosalita” is a dark, sultry song, so I made a dark, chocolaty beer,” he said. “Drinking it onstage at the grand opening of Coda was a dream come true.”
Since that original dedicated brew three years ago, thematic beers have been a constant at the pub. Smith and his fellow fermentation scientists frequently stir up quirky batches to honor various entities. One of the most recent examples was made in honor of an upcoming Phish show at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, which yielded a pomegranate brew infused with hibiscus – a favorite ingredient at Coda. Last Saturday, Smith also tapped a batch crafted specifically for the Dr. Who club of Denver, who requested one for a special episode of the long-running sci-fi series that aired this past weekend.
Smith said that he plans to continue to brew small batches in collaboration with local musicians and other special interests, and although there’s no definite timeline, he’s enjoying taking things as they come.
“It’s tough to predict the future,” he said. “But I sure love riding this wave.”