Oskar Blues Grill & Brew (Longmount, CO)

7/14/12

After a spectacular day in Rocky Mountain National Park, a disappointing stop at Estes Park Brewery and a warm up visit to Left Hand Brewery, I was looking forward to dinner at Oskar Blues for some of my favorite Colorado beers on tap. Very busy on a Saturday night, I waited with friends for a table with a draft of Deviant Dale's (aka Double D), which was excellent and DD has found an occasional home in my beer fridge whenever I go on a beer run to Hudson, WI.  

When we got a table, the band upstairs was playing so loud that I put in ear plugs and could hear the discussion better.  Absolutely miserable, worse even than our Cask Republic. After appetizers, we asked to be moved and they kindly put us outside on the patio and our night improved immensely. When I mentioned the ear splitting noise to a waiter, the response was "that's Oskar Blues," as if it was self evident.  

The rest of my beers on the night were Oskar Blues standards except Renegade Ryeteous IPA, which was good but didn't have as much hop and rye twang as I had hoped.  Food was good too, especially the fried pickles with hot sauce. Overall, Oskar Blues was a good beer experience and I'm happy to have added them to my list. I appreciate their pioneering efforts at canning craft beer and now understand somewhat  the Oskar Blues attitude that enabled them to be to be leaders. However, I wish I had known of the raucous nature of the bar and visited earlier in the day for a more comfortable time.

Yard House (Downtown Denver, CO)

Beautiful main bar and ring of taps

7/8/12

I didn't have the Yard House of downtown Denver on my to-drink list for the trip, but it was happily across the street from our hotel. In 2002, I had been to a Yard House in Irvine, CA, and, while it was a good, I had a mediocre impression of the chain.

Yard House Denver was clearly a step above. Not sure if it was the change in location or the decade later, but the beer list was extensive and touted more than a few hoppy selections to keep me entertained, including Green Flash Palate Wrecker and Odell's Mercenary DIPA. My wife's first draft was Avery's The Reverend, an excellent quad that kept her happy. On our various stops, the tap list had a nice mix of beers to have something for wide range of drinkers without catering to the lowest common denominator, even a few new drafts for the database.

The food was also quite incredible. With an entire portion of the menu dedicated to Gardein meat substitute selections, it was almost like being at a vegetarian restaurant for choices (even some vegan). We fell in love with the BBQ [fake] Chicken Salad so much we went back for it and recreated our on version at home. Gardein products have since been distributed extensively, including local grocery stores. The fish tacos were also excellent, a tasty combination of crispy fish and fresh guacamole.

We had such a great time at the Yard House because of the very attentive staff plus the restaurant was lively without being too noisy to talk. With several stops, including once for just a beer en route to a concert, the service, beer and food were always consistently excellent. Since this positive experience, my intent is to try the Yard House in other locations to see if the chain has improved or if the Denver location is just that good.  I haven't had the opportunity for further testing yet but hope to in the future. GALA 2016 is again going to be in Denver, and I look forward to tasting some more taps and digging deeper into the veggie menu with my singing friends again.

Denver Beer Co (Denver, CO)

Christmas in July chalk art work

7/10/12, 7/13/12

I originally heard of Denver Beer Co from a Brewing TV episode last spring. Walking in, I liked the vibe immediately.  The near wall facing the street is an entire bank of glass garage doors—not sure if they came with the place or were added. Very flexible to maintain temperature, which was comfortable on both of our visits. And, I'm guessing that it would be pretty sitting at the bar in a Rocky snowstorm. Denver Beer Co works on a model becoming popular right now: serve great beer and have food trucks fill'm up outside.

When staying downtown, a thirsty traveler gets to Denver Beer Co by taking the free shuttle on 16th Street to its northwest end in LODO. Walk up the stairway to the park, over the bridge and then cross the freeway bridge. Just over the freeway, take a right and 1/2 a block later the pub will be on the left. Very easy but a little off the tourist path. I sit at the long, lovingly made bar and order a set up of samples for a very reasonable dollar a glass:

• Leibling's Kolsch: clean and light, and very much to style with a slightly assertive hop and fruitiness for the style 
• Kaffir Lime Wheat: struggling to imagine that I like this beer this much. Extremely pleasant lime taste blended with a wheat punch plus some peppery notes/spice. Can't tell, but might be from the yeast or the hops. At any rate, it's well blended and fun. Nothing wimpy about this beer. I'd drink a pint of this if I had more time.
• Brett's Go-To Amber: hoppy amber with a healthy malt base, caramel and biscuit blending with a hop spice. Solid.
• Double Trouble Belgian Dubbel: smooth, vinous, full bodied dubbel, strong spice underneath that supports the body; good, even on a hot afternoon
• Ameri-IPA: an assertive west coast IPA with citrus, spice and underlying earthiness. Sharp hop bite on the mouth—no apologies here. Good, but raw and not subtle. Perfect, if that's what is wanted.
• Graham Cracker Porter: actually tastes like graham crackers but with a heavy roast across the top. Roast and strong sweetness and graham cracker fight in the nose; however, the taste is dominated by a sharpness that counterpoints the nose. Very nice and I can see why it won a medal. Complex and fun.
• Belgian IPA: bring on the funk with a yeasty spice and pepper fueled IPA that blends well with a highly hopped beer.
• The Wilderness RIS: a smooth Russian Imperial Stout with loads of flavor. Strong vanilla, sweet dark malt, amazing lace in a sample glass that adds up to an epic beer.  



Denver Beer brewhouse with a view



The Wilderness on draft

• The Wilderness Barrel Aged: the barrel adds a strong woodiness and the alcohol is very apparent. I really liked the RIS straight up, but the barrel does a lot for this beer in spite of being sticky sweet and a bit hot. Having this to sip on a cool winter would be transcendent. Amazing beer. 

With one GABF medal for the Graham Cracker Porter, Denver Beer Co is off to a very good start and I predict they will add more medals in the future.  Of the places I visited by myself on this trip, I specifically took my wife back to try the porter, which she appreciated. To offset the big beer, we shared a large and surprisingly light and fluffy $5 pretzel, which was delectable with or without the pump jar of spicey Gulden's mustard that comes along with it. I settled in and took a crack at a draft of the barrel aged The Wilderness. We chatted and sipped with a background of classic/alt rock track while checking out the local art for sale and the Christmas in July chalk drawings.

When I beer travel, I secretly make a list of brewpubs that I want to live by in retirement.  Besides great beer, a pub that makes this list is a place that I yearn to become a local, to belly up to the bar with a friendly face and the newest draft in front of me.  Happily, at the latest, I plan to visit again at the next GALA in 2016.  So, please, go to Denver Beer Co and drink here to make sure I can return some day.

Backcountry Pizza and Tap House (Boulder, CO)

7/13/12

Started our visit to Boulder at Backcountry Pizza and Tap House.  Advertised as the "most taps" in Boulder and they do seem to live up to the billing.  Better yet, the taps are well curated.  I had excellent drafts of Green Flash Founders Linchpin and The Bruery Trade Winds Tripel.

With good beer as a start, we started with an incredible soup: Arrogant Bastard Cheddar and Onion soup.  We ordered breaded eggplant parmesan sandwich that was good but wish I had saved room for more than one slice of the spectacular Mediterranean pizza.

In short, Backcountry is at the top of my list the next time I return to Boulder. And, I will be sure to start with the pizza.

Crow Peak Brewing (Spearfish, SD)

07/15/12

Earlier this year I was able to try Crow Peak beers while visiting family in Sioux Falls, SD. Based on that experience and hearing a podcast interview of the brewer, I was inspired to visit it on the way back from Colorado. I can't find the podcast I heard, but here's a youtube interview dealing with the business side of brewing. Combined with Firehouse Brewing down the road in Rapid City, the drive back via Wyoming and South Dakota allowed me to log two brewpubs and avoid the dreaded cross-Nebraska route. Stopping at Monk's House of Ale Repute earlier in the trip, I received some great advice to drive through Spearfish Canyon outside of town that added exponentially to the beauty of the trip.

Crow Peak looks like a woodsy lodge driving up.  Log pole ceiling inside the roomy restaurant as I sit down at the colored cement bar of red, black and grey/green.  The brewery is behind the bar, separated by glass and more field stone. Six taps of Crow Peak beer line the wall with clear information for all of them. Combined with the definition of a properly filled pint nearby, they are clearly attempting to educate the local population in all things beery. I also like the attention to detail of the glass washer before each pint is poured.  Locals seem to like a pub pour known as a "dirty IPA," which is 11th Hour IPA with Pile-o-dirt Porter in any proportion desired.  All of this plus the named pint club glasses points to a dedication to serving the regulars.  I just get a good feeling from the attitude of the place that they are working hard to do quality work.

On this trip, I took advantage of the half pints to try several  new Crow Peak beers:

• Olde Crowe Winter Ale: 10 IBU, 5% ABV, light brown head that falls quickly over a dark copper colored ale. Malt, dark fruit and a hint of spice in the nose.
• Up in Smoke Porter: 35 IBU, 6.5% ABV. Creamy tan head on a near black-brown porter. Assertive smoke and roast in nose. Smoke is full and lingers in the nose. Full bodied and a light spice hidden underneath the smoke.
• Canyon Cream Ale: light ale brewed with local honey, super light, almost watery, very sweet. honey apparent and of a nice flavor, light spice in nose from 10 IBU or the honey itself. Super drinkable and a well done light beer.
• Lean Horse Ale: light ale with a white head and barely amber body. Strong caramel flavor that's hinted at in the nose. Odd but interesting flavor and I can see how some would like it, but too sweet for me.
• 11th Hour IPA: 70 IBU, 6.5% ABV. Big nose and a strong IPA. Citrus, especially grapefruit and a bit of passionfruit on top of a sweet amber to golden ale, back lit by the sun coming through the upper windows. 

Besides good beer, I do love local pizza.  So, I ordered a Oggie's four cheese for dinner: munster, mozzarella, swiss and cheddar. Boxes of pizza in the cooler with Lindeman's and personal sized wine bottles for those that demand it. The bartender pulled it out and into a small pizza cooker. Thin crust with a complimentary burnt flavor on the bubbles underneath. Cheese is a nice blend. Not fancy, but good bar food that fits the atmosphere of the place and my personal predilections, including the paper plate and napkins. Drank the 11th Hour IPA for dinner and it blends well with the pizza. My kind of place and happy I didn't wait to eat at the Firehouse later.

Left Hand Brewing (Longmount, CO)

07/14/12

Our merry band of beer drinkers stopped first today at Left Hand Brewing in Longmount.  I like Left Hand but am not the number one fan of the brewery.  However, Left Hand consistently brews pretty good beer—just nothing that I've fallen in love with.

We settled in and shared several samples at the large high top tables that fit our entire group.

Possibly the coolest bathroom stall divider of all time

I started with the Blackjack cask porter that was good but I preferred the Wake Up Dead Russian Imperial Stout, as did my wife.  These were the highlights event though we tried Milk Stout, Chainsaw Ale Double ESB, Haystack Wheat German wheat, Polestar Porter, and Octoberfest Marzen Lager. Overall, the beer was as expected: well brewed, all good but falling short of great for me.

Fun stop with the bathroom being a weird highlight. The stall doors were made of different types of barley put into the frame like sand art.  While a very odd conclusion from bathroom art, it's caring for the details that shows how much pride a brewery has in itself, which often transfers to the beer. Left Hand is taking care of business, and, by the full tap room, locals are very happy with them.

Estes Park Brewery (Estes Park, CO)

7/14/12

I've had several people recommend Estes Park Brewery to me over the years.  Unfortunately, our string of great Colorado breweries came to an end here.

Of the samples we tried, the Trail Ridge Red and the Renegade IPA were perfectly passable beers.  The rest were below par. One of the best tasting brews was a combination of porter with the raspberry wheat, never a good sign when mixing beer is an improvement.

Because of my earlier recommendations, we waited past lunch time to eat at Estes Park while spening the bulk of the day driving around Rocky Mountain National Park; my patience and hunger were only adequately satisfied by a cheese pizza.  Disappointing but fine. On this Saturday afternoon, the place is lively and full of locals. Seemed like a fun place to come with a group of people.  If I found myself in Estes Park for the scenery or other reason unrelated to beer, I wouldn't fight going back to Estes Park Brewery.  However, I definitely won't go out of my way for it, again.

Avery Brewing (Boulder, CO)

7/13/12

Another Friday night stop on our tour of Boulder, Avery should be a list topper for every beer drinker: iconic, widely-distributed Colorado brewery the consistently delivers great beer.

However, if you're expecting a taproom that rivals Stone World Bistro because of the big name, you'll be disappointed.  Instead, Avery is a small, crowded local with an extensive selection of their beers to try, well beyond anything I've been lucky enough to find in stores over the years.

On this stop, we jumped right in with a Lilikoi Kepolo.  Lilikoi is passionfruit and we remembered having a fantastic lilikoi beer at Kona Brewing years ago; I didn't think this one matched up, but Gloria liked it. Excellent drafts of Nineteen and Dry Hopped Salvation followed.  Drinking these on-site-only variations defines the very purpose of drinking local.  We finished with Samael's, a 15.6% ABV beer that could've been a wonderful end to our evening in Boulder (or wouldn've been if not for sharing snifters) if we hadn't hit Avery early on our tour.

Any fan of Avery would do well to plan a little time at the tap room to sample their extensive list, including the regulars that are distributed plus several extra special beers just for showing up.  As warned on the website, the taproom isn't big and most of the seating is outside, so dress accordingly if the plan is to settle in.  Food and smaller draft samples are available so that the excitement of so many options doesn't overwhelm.    

Asher Brewing (Boulder, CO)

07/13/12

Our hosts Cheryl and Susannah from Boulder brought us to Asher Brewing, a local haunt that's a certified organic brewery. Lively on a Friday night, it was raucous with friends and pets outside the small pub and others playing games in the back by the barrels aging.

Started with samples: $2 per, so $12 for the set. Pricey but craft and organic come with a price, and usually more when combined.

Fun and games by the barrels in back

My favorites were Tree Hugger Organic Amber, Green Monstah Organic Strong Ale and Green Bullet Organic IPA, which I followed up with a draft.  I was excited to try the Grenade Organic Double IPA, but was disappointed. Chatting took precedence over beer notes, but overall the brews were cleanly brewed with a fresh, full flavor.

















A beer conundrum that I haven't been able to figure out is why I have never had an organic beer that is exceedingly better than my non-organic favorites. The basic argument is that superior ingredients should yield a superior product. Yet, I have yet to sample an organic beer (or set of beers) that proves that theory in spite of a strong desire to like them.  Limits of organic ingredients?  Unsure, but Asher's beers are like most organics that I've tasted: good, well brewed but not amazing. Asher isn't my new favorite pub, but it was a great night with friends and an excellent local that I would happily frequent if I lived in the neighborhood.

Stranahan's Whiskey Tour (Denver, CO)

Stranahan's tasting room

07/07/12

From my former students who live in Denver and other sources, I've only heard good things about the Stranahan's Whiskey tour. Their popularity would support my evidence, so sign up well in advance on the website.  I was quite excited since this was my very first distillery tour.  Akin to brewing, much of the basic information is similar but it's still fun to play and learn the differences.

Stranahan's is owned by the same folks as Flying Dog, starting as a side project in the Blake Street location. Now, it has moved to the former brewhouse of the defunct Heavenly Daze Brewery and Grill with the new restaurant called the Rackhouse Pub.

We were about 30 min early for the first tour at 10 am, but the doors were open and they let us hang out in the tasting room on a massive leather couch that's so big, I felt like a little kid sitting on it.  Barrel theme for the tasting counter and standing tables—even one with a saddle.  Hanging out, the angel's share of the malt whiskey permeates the room, heightening the senses for the actual tour.

This first distillery in Colorado started with 5 barrels a week and now is up to 45 barrels of all malt whiskey. Lots of distilling details that I will let the reader find out on the tour of how they turn an 8% nut brown ale base into 110 proof whiskey.

For me, the barrel room is the most interesting.  Stranahan's whiskey is aged five years max in the barrel and they are two years from an expansion because they are short of five year stock. However, the good news is they already own the block around the distillery, so they have room for a planned future expansion. A misting system regulates the humidity of the cellar to keep the $30,000 worth of whiskey in each barrel in proper condition. Stacks of the beautifully aging barrels were just fun to walk through.  All of the Stranahan bottles are filled by volunteers with free beers (2), pizza and a bottle as payment; locals can add themselves to the long list of volunteers.

The very friendly tour guide led us through samples of whiskey, teaching the niceties as we sample straight up and cutting with water—an enlightening and interesting tasting that was clearly designed to make sure the whiskey was fully appreciated by the many tour members who would soon be buying bottles for home.

Overall, especially when combined with lunch afterwards at the Rackhouse Pub, this tour is worth the effort of the advanced reservations and the short trek from the downtown area.  We drove since we were making the transfer to our hotel in downtown Denver, but there's public transportation that can get you there with a bit of walking.

Rackhouse Pub (Denver, CO)

07/07/12

Rackhouse Pub is directly attached to the Stranahan's distillery, so a very natural choice for dinner before or after a tour. In the space of the defunct Heavenly Daze Brewery, the one BA review of Heavenly Daze sounds like Rackhouse is a retro-fit of the previous incarnation.  The long black bar and big screen TVs provide a nice dimly lit place to drink.  We chose the cut down copper kettle booth just because it was fun.




I started with a Ska Modus Hoperandi because of its rep and cool name; sadly, I was disappointed with it, though not because of how it was served.  It just seemed a bit light in the glass.  We were very happy with our Quattro Formaggio pizza for lunch that paired well with a Great  Divide Belgian Yeti. Only detraction was that the music was a bit loud for us middle aged folk.

A bit out of the way to go for just the Rackhouse Pub, but the
combination with a Stranahan's tour is unbeatable. Due to time constraints, we didn't take the time to hit the nearby Breckenridge Brewery tasting room or Renegade Brewing, but I've noted this as a possible future combination, especially using the downtown Denver public transportation to shorten the trek.

Dry Dock Brewing (Aurora, CO)

The Brew Hut

07/06/12

Dry Dock Brewing from the back looking
towards the taps near the front door

First round with one of my favorite views

Gloria and I are in town for GALA, but we got a hotel in Aurora to have an evening at Dry Dock Brewing before the singing started.  Brewing TV did an episode on Dry Dock before Northern Brewer came out with their Dry Dock brew kits.  Between that and hearing about the start of the pub on Basic Brewing Radio, having a pint here was at the top of my drinking list for a trip to Denver.















Today, Dry Dock is the fully expanded version of a tap room of original business on site: The Brew Hut.  From the bar, it looks like a pretty cool brew shop, but closed at the moment.  Great idea to have the two side by side to support the making and drinking of very local craft beer.  Dry Dock is still very much a tap room with limited hours and free popcorn is your only sustenance.  Eat ahead of time, bring it along (saw a group with Chinese take-out) and come for the company and the beer.  My favorite feature of the pub was a self serve water station to stay hydrated without bothering the bartenders. JL Beers needs to take a lesson from Dry Dock.

I started with the Double IPA, which was very solid.  The Urca Vanilla Porter was a strong, extremely sweet porter full of vanilla, like a beer milkshake.  My favorite of the night was the U.S.S. Enterprise IPA that reminds me a bit of Masala Mama from my home pub Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery.  These and a couple of other drafts made for a mellow start to an exciting week in Denver.