At Avant Garde Aleworks, a winter beer tradition and a tattoo pop-up have merged into one of the taproom’s most unusual events of the year. On Friday, March 13, from noon to 7 p.m., the brewery at 920 Dunraven Street will host “Get Poked,” a collaboration with Space Coyote Tattoo that pairs flash tattooing with the centuries-old beer tradition known as beer poking.
The event blends two experiences that have become familiar to regulars at the Estes Park brewery. According to taproom and communications manager Alex Shaughnessy, tattoo artists from Space Coyote Tattoo have been popping up in the taproom for several years.
“We’ve been doing tattoo pop-ups in the taproom for a couple years now with Space Coyote,” Shaughnessy said, “so when we started beer poking, it kind of seemed like a natural fit to combine the two events.”
The tattoo partnership dates back to around 2021, when the brewery invited Space Coyote Tattoo to help celebrate its second anniversary. The early events were small and informal.
“The first one is funny,” said Evan Eykel, owner of Space Coyote Tattoo. “It definitely started off slow. It was more just Dylan, Christian and a couple of the regulars all kind of got one, but then we started doing the Friday the 13th, and that’s when it really started taking off.”
“You can tell some people come for the event,” Shaughnessy said. “And then there are a lot of people who just showed up to have a beer that day, and then they want to be in on the fun event as well.”
Tattoo artist Dylan Stettner, who also works as a lead beertender at Avant Garde Aleworks, said the atmosphere is part of the appeal.
“It’s high energy,” Stettner said. “People are into it.”
Flash tattoos will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Designs will be revealed the day of the event, though the artists typically create traditional-style imagery such as flowers, skulls and other classic tattoo motifs.
“Some of them are just kind of classic and traditional,” Stettner said. “We pretty much whip up new flashes each time.”
The artists often try to keep Friday the 13th designs unique by doing “one and done” tattoos so no two people leave with the exact same design.
“Everyone gets something different,” Eykel said. “Keeps it more fun for us, too, just so we’re not doing the same tattoos over and over.”
While the tattoos take place inside, the beer poking portion of the event unfolds outdoors.
Beer poking, known in Germany as bierstacheln, involves heating a metal rod in a fire and briefly plunging it into a glass of beer. The hot poker caramelizes residual sugars in the beer, creating a richer flavor and thick foam.
“Basically, you take a hot poker and you stick it into any of our beers on tap,” Shaughnessy said. “It caramelizes the residual sugars in the beer, so it gives it a really toasted, malt, caramelly note.”
Shaughnessy said the technique works especially well with darker beers, though adventurous guests have tried it with everything from IPAs to nonalcoholic beers and even a hard seltzer.
“It also gives the foam almost like a toasted marshmallow flavor, which I think is a lot of people’s favorite part,” Shaughnessy said.
The tradition is relatively new at the brewery, having started last winter as a way to create a seasonal outdoor experience.
“It’s something that kind of lends itself to more winter weather,” Shaughnessy said. “Just getting people to be outside and interactive, regardless of if the weather is kind of crummy.”
For Eykel and the tattoo artists, the relaxed setting is part of what makes the event memorable.
“It’s more just like a hangout work time versus being at the actual shop,” Eykel said. “We get an interesting grouping of people.”
That spontaneity also makes the event appealing to people considering their first tattoo.
“Do it. Just do it. Don’t think twice about it,” Eykel said. “It doesn’t need to specifically mean anything. It was just, hey, we were up in Estes Park at a brewery, and we got a tattoo. That’s pretty cool.”
Shaughnessy said the event also tends to ease first-time jitters.
“I think it’s really first-tattoo-friendly,” Shaughnessy said. “You get to watch other people getting tattoos first, and it kind of takes some of the mystery, or some of the anxiety, out of it.”
To commemorate the occasion, the brewery will also offer limited-edition merchandise, including T-shirts designed by Eykel featuring a tattoo machine, a beer glass, and the signature poker crossing like a set of tools. The front read simply: “Get poked.”
For one night each winter, the phrase means exactly what it sounds like. Visitors can leave Avant Garde Aleworks with a caramelized beer, a new tattoo, or both.
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