There’s always next year.

That’s U.S. Rep. Jason Crow’s reaction after the bipartisan, small-batch beer the Centennial Democrat brewed with a Michigan Republican failed to capture the top prize in the Brew Across America Congressional Brewing Competition last week in Washington, D.C.

It could be the first time in recent memory a Colorado politician not named Hickenlooper demonstrated their chops with the hops.

Crow and U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer collaborated on the recipe for Common Ground, a barrel-aged chai Baltic porter, a boozy concoction created at Breckenridge Brewery in Littleton this summer, one of five sudsy submissions in the fourth incarnation of Anheuser-Busch’s friendly contest.

“Nothing brings people together like brewing and drinking beer,” Crow told Colorado Politics. “Our bourbon-inspired beer brings together two great loves: whiskey and beer.”

Aged in a single-malt whiskey barrel with vanilla beans and chai spices, the Baltic porter was finished on espresso coffee beans, producing what the brewery described as a “chocolate caramel malt character, alcoholic warming, subtle vanilla, coffee and chai flavors, with a peat smoke finish.” At 10.8% alcohol by volume, it packed about twice the punch of any of its competitors.

The beverage took a backseat to 2021 Democracy Cup winner LA Vida Lager, a micheladas-inspired Mexican lager created by U.S. Reps. Tony Cárdenas, a California Democrat, and Fred Upton, another Michigan Republican.

The Yeas and Nays, an American lager invented by U.S. Reps. Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican, and Dan Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan, was said to be reminiscent of a jazzed-up Bud Light and took home the people’s choice award.

The cold ones were judged by a passel of D.C. media types and the CEO of the Beer Institute, who scored the entries on appearance, aroma, taste, balance and drinkability.

The other beers vying for the prize were Orange You Glad I Didn’t Order Wine, brewed by U.S. Reps. Kat Cammack, a Florida Republican, and Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat, described as a creamsicle-inspired light orange citrus ale with Madagascar vanilla, and Unanimoose Consent, an ale aged with cider donuts brewed by U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.

New this go-around, the competition’s sponsors required cross-aisle cooperation between congressional beer makers in an effort to “provide lawmakers from differing political backgrounds with an opportunity to find common ground while also learning more about the quality and care that goes into brewing great beer,” said Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch, in a statement.

It’s an approach Crow and Meijer embraced.

“This event was all in good fun, but if nothing else, I hope our beer is a little reminder to us all that, if we take the time to connect with those around us, we will find the common ground between us,” Crow said.

“It’s easy to actually have a conversation with people you agree with. That’s the easy part. What’s hard is to sit down with someone you don’t see eye-to-eye with with and have a beer and try to find some common ground. That’s the project I think we need to embark on as a country and a community to get through this.”

Added Crow: “Although this year wasn’t our year, I have full confidence that next year the judges will realize that Colorado makes the best beer – full stop.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Former U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner competed in the challenge in 2018 with the help of Breckenridge Brewery, delivering a “tart, prickly pear pale ale aged in tequila barrels,” but lost the crown to U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat, and his “Scout’s Cerveza.”