Post by BeanoMan on Jul 28, 2011 16:20:10 GMT -5
Hello all
Well Susie and I just returned from Colorado last Saturday. . We spent one week in Durango and ten days in the North Denver area, Boulder and Fort Collins. The beers across the Rockies tour was a great success. I’ve listed below the breweries, pubs and beer dives that we hung out in. Nearly all had something unique concerning each.
Durango/Silverton
Best of Southern tour goes to Steamworks Brewery/Restaurant. Great food and very good beer selection (only served at the Restaurant).
Ska Brewery- didn’t go to the brewery but the beer is served throughout the area. Had some at the Best Western Downtown and the downtown pizza shop (good but nothing special).
Silverton Brewery in Silverton. Good beer but best atmosphere for drinking it.
We missed the Carver and Durango Brewing. We found a very nice Durango downtown underground English Pub with lots of English beers on tap with a good selection of the local brands. Food was also good and priced reasonable. You gotta do the train ride as it is one of the three best in the world. It follows 18 miles of Class 5 rapids on the Animos River. Wow!
Denver Area. The Sonama Valley of Beer
Too many beers too little time.
Best Brew tour hands down goes to New Belgium Brewery. They focus on the company history and not just the brewing. How Fat Tire and 1554 came about. There’s a story behind each beer. Employee owned and get to drink the beer after work. Several beer tastings throughout the tour and taps are open at the end. They like Belgium beers.
Left Hand Brewery, Ray is right, they do make the best milk stout especially nitrogen infused. Nitrogen is the latest craze. Each brewery picks their favorite of the month and nitro infuses it. Ittty bitty bubbles. Alsothey had a very good pilsner. No free beer but is the place where the locals hang out.
O’Dells Brewery. They have a very nice tasting room. If you like hops, they like their hops. Where all the hop heads hang out.
Rock Bottom Brewery, it’s a chain but the food looked good. Beer is okay. Like any brewery, it’s a reflection of the brew master.
Osker Blues Brewery. Beer is good but … the best hot wings and sauce I or you will ever ever have. They smoke/cook the wings over hickory, no other seasoning. Then the sauce, just two, hot, grean chilies, Serrano’s, etc, and very hot, red, habanero etc. Went there twice for the wings. Enough said.
Cheeky Monk. This place came close to my #1 pick. Over 20 Belgium’s on tap and all are served in the appropriate glass. And ½ price for lunch and happy hour. Premium Belgium beer for $3 and $4 a pint. The food was very good, some unique. We only ate the $6 lunch menu and drank the rest of our lunch. Went here twice for lunch.
Boulder Brewery. Oldest microbrewery in Colorado. Another Hop head paradise. Nothing fancy but it is an institution.
Cooper Smith’s Brewery. Nice brewpub, good atmosphere. They had the most uniquie and my favorite beer of the tour. A Watermelon ale. Nice nose, very pleasant combination without being sweet. I could drink this all summer.
Great Divide Brewery. They get the award for overall best selection and taste of beers. Over 20 on tap, about a third hoppy, the rest very traditional. Every beer I drank was very good and fit the style. Of particular note the oak aged ale, barley wine and porter.
The best of Tour--- Wynkoops takes it again. This is not my first time here but it was my first time upstairs in the pool hall. Happy hour for pints and every week they experiment with one of their beers, making only one keg and only served upstairs, This week it was a toasted coconut Swartz bier. Actually pretty good. The toasted coconut increased the toasted taste but not to excessive. The pints are $3. Anything you eat here is first class. Good selection of beers with great food with unique weekly beers and lots of very nice (large) pool tables, gets my #1 rating.
I know I know I only went to a fraction of the breweries but I think I found the best place for Belgiums, Wings and overall best beers and food. Not bad
Of particular note in Boulder we went to Brassiere Ten Ten. Outstanding food and amazing happy hour prices. Get the thingytails. You can tell the tourist, they were the only people without tattoos or piercings. Boulder is wasted on the weird.
Doug
Well Susie and I just returned from Colorado last Saturday. . We spent one week in Durango and ten days in the North Denver area, Boulder and Fort Collins. The beers across the Rockies tour was a great success. I’ve listed below the breweries, pubs and beer dives that we hung out in. Nearly all had something unique concerning each.
Durango/Silverton
Best of Southern tour goes to Steamworks Brewery/Restaurant. Great food and very good beer selection (only served at the Restaurant).
Ska Brewery- didn’t go to the brewery but the beer is served throughout the area. Had some at the Best Western Downtown and the downtown pizza shop (good but nothing special).
Silverton Brewery in Silverton. Good beer but best atmosphere for drinking it.
We missed the Carver and Durango Brewing. We found a very nice Durango downtown underground English Pub with lots of English beers on tap with a good selection of the local brands. Food was also good and priced reasonable. You gotta do the train ride as it is one of the three best in the world. It follows 18 miles of Class 5 rapids on the Animos River. Wow!
Denver Area. The Sonama Valley of Beer
Too many beers too little time.
Best Brew tour hands down goes to New Belgium Brewery. They focus on the company history and not just the brewing. How Fat Tire and 1554 came about. There’s a story behind each beer. Employee owned and get to drink the beer after work. Several beer tastings throughout the tour and taps are open at the end. They like Belgium beers.
Left Hand Brewery, Ray is right, they do make the best milk stout especially nitrogen infused. Nitrogen is the latest craze. Each brewery picks their favorite of the month and nitro infuses it. Ittty bitty bubbles. Alsothey had a very good pilsner. No free beer but is the place where the locals hang out.
O’Dells Brewery. They have a very nice tasting room. If you like hops, they like their hops. Where all the hop heads hang out.
Rock Bottom Brewery, it’s a chain but the food looked good. Beer is okay. Like any brewery, it’s a reflection of the brew master.
Osker Blues Brewery. Beer is good but … the best hot wings and sauce I or you will ever ever have. They smoke/cook the wings over hickory, no other seasoning. Then the sauce, just two, hot, grean chilies, Serrano’s, etc, and very hot, red, habanero etc. Went there twice for the wings. Enough said.
Cheeky Monk. This place came close to my #1 pick. Over 20 Belgium’s on tap and all are served in the appropriate glass. And ½ price for lunch and happy hour. Premium Belgium beer for $3 and $4 a pint. The food was very good, some unique. We only ate the $6 lunch menu and drank the rest of our lunch. Went here twice for lunch.
Boulder Brewery. Oldest microbrewery in Colorado. Another Hop head paradise. Nothing fancy but it is an institution.
Cooper Smith’s Brewery. Nice brewpub, good atmosphere. They had the most uniquie and my favorite beer of the tour. A Watermelon ale. Nice nose, very pleasant combination without being sweet. I could drink this all summer.
Great Divide Brewery. They get the award for overall best selection and taste of beers. Over 20 on tap, about a third hoppy, the rest very traditional. Every beer I drank was very good and fit the style. Of particular note the oak aged ale, barley wine and porter.
The best of Tour--- Wynkoops takes it again. This is not my first time here but it was my first time upstairs in the pool hall. Happy hour for pints and every week they experiment with one of their beers, making only one keg and only served upstairs, This week it was a toasted coconut Swartz bier. Actually pretty good. The toasted coconut increased the toasted taste but not to excessive. The pints are $3. Anything you eat here is first class. Good selection of beers with great food with unique weekly beers and lots of very nice (large) pool tables, gets my #1 rating.
I know I know I only went to a fraction of the breweries but I think I found the best place for Belgiums, Wings and overall best beers and food. Not bad
Of particular note in Boulder we went to Brassiere Ten Ten. Outstanding food and amazing happy hour prices. Get the thingytails. You can tell the tourist, they were the only people without tattoos or piercings. Boulder is wasted on the weird.
Doug
