Colorado Beer tour

[CowboyJD]

So I am going to be going to Colorado June 2-8.

I have an OKC Energy game to attend in Colorado Springs on the 3rd and a U.S. Men's National Team World Cup Qualifier in Denver on June 8th. In the interim between them, it's beer tourism time.

Mostly I posted this just to brag a little, but any advice on smaller, less well known breweries to hit in places near my "big boy" breweries I have planned would be appreciated. Especially for Colorado Springs on Saturday before the evening game.

4th and 5th= Ft. Collin/Loveland/Longmont: Odell and New Belgium are on the list. Maybe Funkworks. I've already done Left Hand and Oskar Blues. Looking for best others to round that out.

6th and 7th = Boulder/Denver: Definitely want to hit Avery, Boulder Brewing, and Great Divide. Other suggestions would be appreciated.

Evening of the 7th and all day the 8th will be American Outlaws/USMNT stuff. Drive home the 9th.

 

[FalseGod]

In Fort Collins I liked the O'Dells and New Belgium for the spaces the best. Equinox had a coffee shop/pub feel to it, but the beer didn't blow me away for the styles I liked. Zwei had a good bar feel to it, but was south of the Uni and a bit of a hike. I used the ride share bikes to hop around town on for my brewery crawl (starting at Fort Collins Brewery working into town and then down south of the uni to Zwei). FCB was pretty good too.

The only Breweries I've hit in Denver are Black Sky Brewery and Trve. The brewer at Black Sky used to work for Breckenridge and has a solid lineup. I like the Ryemageddon (SP?) there.

 

[Ostatedchi]

While in Boulder hit Redstone Meadery.
Fort Collins Brewing has good stuff.

Pretty cool site: http://coloradofrontrange.com/

 

[N. Pappagiorgio]

So I am going to be going to Colorado June 2-8.

I have an OKC Energy game to attend in Colorado Springs on the 3rd and a U.S. Men's National Team World Cup Qualifier in Denver on June 8th. In the interim between them, it's beer tourism time.

Mostly I posted this just to brag a little, but any advice on smaller, less well known breweries to hit in places near my "big boy" breweries I have planned would be appreciated. Especially for Colorado Springs on Saturday before the evening game.

4th and 5th= Ft. Collin/Loveland/Longmont: Odell and New Belgium are on the list. Maybe Funkworks. I've already done Left Hand and Oskar Blues. Looking for best others to round that out.

6th and 7th = Boulder/Denver: Definitely want to hit Avery, Boulder Brewing, and Great Divide. Other suggestions would be appreciated.

Evening of the 7th and all day the 8th will be American Outlaws/USMNT stuff. Drive home the 9th.

I'm heading to Avery in Boulder on June 10th for a rehearsal dinner. Pretty excited.

 

[CowboyJD]

I'm heading to Avery in Boulder on June 10th for a rehearsal dinner. Pretty excited.

I'll try to not drink up all the beer 4 days before you get there.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Crooked Stave in Denver is a must. I also liked Ratio a lot. Cool taproom.

Funkwerks taproom is pretty dumpy but their beer is sooo good. Much better than New Belgium IMO.

Funkwerks also has another place in Fort Collins called Jessup Farm Barrel House that is definitely worth a visit.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

If you haven't been before I'd also recommend Choice City Butcher in Fort Collins. Great sandwiches and one of the best selections of beer you'll ever see.

 

[Cowguy]

If you haven't been before I'd also recommend Choice City Butcher in Fort Collins. Great sandwiches and one of the best selections of beer you'll ever see.

That place is awesome.

Ska brewing is interesting in that it's totally wind powered. I haven't been but my rep there says Coda is really cool.

I think you've hit most the good ones. I really enjoyed great divide and Avery the most I think. Really liked O'Dells too, but I love their beer so I'm biased.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

That place is awesome.

Ska brewing is interesting in that it's totally wind powered. I haven't been but my rep there says Coda is really cool.

I think you've hit most the good ones. I really enjoyed great divide and Avery the most I think. Really liked O'Dells too, but I love their beer so I'm biased.

I like O'dell's a lot too.

 

[trapped_in_tx]

So I am going to be going to Colorado June 2-8.

I have an OKC Energy game to attend in Colorado Springs on the 3rd and a U.S. Men's National Team World Cup Qualifier in Denver on June 8th. In the interim between them, it's beer tourism time.

Mostly I posted this just to brag a little, but any advice on smaller, less well known breweries to hit in places near my "big boy" breweries I have planned would be appreciated. Especially for Colorado Springs on Saturday before the evening game.

4th and 5th= Ft. Collin/Loveland/Longmont: Odell and New Belgium are on the list. Maybe Funkworks. I've already done Left Hand and Oskar Blues. Looking for best others to round that out.

6th and 7th = Boulder/Denver: Definitely want to hit Avery, Boulder Brewing, and Great Divide. Other suggestions would be appreciated.

Evening of the 7th and all day the 8th will be American Outlaws/USMNT stuff. Drive home the 9th.

In Longmont: Wibby and Großen Bart - Lightshine Helles and Anker Amber, respectively, are the top beers IMHO. People tell me 300 Suns is worth a stop but I wasn't impressed the one time I went.

Also consider stopping in Niwot at Bootstrap and/or Powderkeg. I can vouch for the beer at Bootstrap but don't know as much about Powderkeg.

In Boulder/Denver: good call on Avery. Boulder Brewing isn't bad either. Never checked out great divide.

 

[mseabolt]

So I am going to be going to Colorado June 2-8.

I have an OKC Energy game to attend in Colorado Springs on the 3rd and a U.S. Men's National Team World Cup Qualifier in Denver on June 8th. In the interim between them, it's beer tourism time.

Mostly I posted this just to brag a little, but any advice on smaller, less well known breweries to hit in places near my "big boy" breweries I have planned would be appreciated. Especially for Colorado Springs on Saturday before the evening game.

4th and 5th= Ft. Collin/Loveland/Longmont: Odell and New Belgium are on the list. Maybe Funkworks. I've already done Left Hand and Oskar Blues. Looking for best others to round that out.

6th and 7th = Boulder/Denver: Definitely want to hit Avery, Boulder Brewing, and Great Divide. Other suggestions would be appreciated.

Evening of the 7th and all day the 8th will be American Outlaws/USMNT stuff. Drive home the 9th.

Buddy went last year below are his recs

Epic - great tasting room
First Draft
Avery

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Buddy went last year below are his recs

Epic - great tasting room
First Draft
Avery

I loved Epic's tasting room as you said, but wasn't overly impressed with their beers.

Won't help JD for this trip, but just found out yesterday that Odell is going to build/open a taproom in the RiNO district in Denver.

 

[osutater]

I've done a Ft. Collins tour.

New Belgium
Ft Collins brewing company
Odell's (my favorite beer ever is 90 Shilling)
I cannot remember the 4th. It was a long day.

I was just 21 and over spring break so my goal was to get smashed. I barely remember anything about it, so I hope to do it again soon. My buddy was into jam band music. We saw North Mississippi All Stars play for hours (seems like the only played 6 songs) in a little club downtown that couldn't have held more than 90 people. The "smoke" in that place was lethal. That entire trip was a blur. Oh man how I miss the college days.

 

[mseabolt]

I've done a Ft. Collins tour.


Odell's (my favorite beer ever is 90 Shilling)

Harumph

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

I've done a Ft. Collins tour.

New Belgium
Ft Collins brewing company
Odell's (my favorite beer ever is 90 Shilling)
I cannot remember the 4th. It was a long day.

I was just 21 and over spring break so my goal was to get smashed. I barely remember anything about it, so I hope to do it again soon. My buddy was into jam band music. We saw North Mississippi All Stars play for hours (seems like the only played 6 songs) in a little club downtown that couldn't have held more than 90 people. The "smoke" in that place was lethal. That entire trip was a blur. Oh man how I miss the college days.

I loved Epic's tasting room as you said, but wasn't overly impressed with their beers.

Won't help JD for this trip, but just found out yesterday that Odell is going to build/open a taproom in the RiNO district in Denver.

Ratio, Epic, Crooked Stave, Great Divide's new taproom, and many other smaller breweries are in the RiNo district, for point of reference.

 

[Colorado_Poke]

With a 2 1/2 year-old at home, we don't get out much anymore. That said, the recommendations in this thread are good.

I like the patio at Great Divide, even though it's right next to the street.

Breckenridge Brewery moved to their new location in the Littleton / Highlands Ranch area less than 2 years ago. They have a really nice patio area with fire pits, etc. They were bought by AB recently - not sure if private ownership matters to you or not, but thought I'd mention just in case.

Grist and Living the Dream are 2 breweries in the Highlands Ranch area that have become very popular as of late. The Mrs. and I haven't been to either one yet, but we've heard a lot of good things.

If you can tolerate the smell from the cattle in Greeley, WeldWerks has also been getting rave reviews as of late.

There's also a number of bars and restaurants in the LoDo area of downtown (near Union Station and Coors Field) that serve lots of craft beers, with an emphasis on local breweries. A few highlights:

• Tap 14 only serves beer and liquors made in Colorado, and has a good patio area on top of the building.
• Freshcraft has around 30-40 craft beers on tap, and really good food too - I would recommend grabbing lunch there if you're downtown during the day. You can't go wrong with whatever the special of the day is.
• Falling Rock might be my favorite place for craft beer downtown. It's kind of a dump outside of the main floor, but they have close to 80 beers on tap, and well over 100 more in bottles. They used to have Pliney the Elder on tap (!!!), but I'm not sure if they still do. The walls there are lined with thousands of empty beer bottles (extremely old and relatively new) that are really neat to look at.

Tipsy's Liquor World is a gigantic liquor store on the West side of Littleton that has, by far, the biggest and best beer selection of any liquor store I've ever seen, including a walk-in cooler with several hundred square feet of mostly foreign beers. They usually have Pliney the Elder in stock, but not on display (you have to ask an employee to grab a bottle from the back).

For brewery visits, I would almost recommend just searching "breweries" in Google Maps and randomly picking a few. A lot of the startup breweries here often have food trucks outside at night or on the weekends. Many are located off the beaten path (strip malls, etc...), but sometimes it's fun to find a diamond in the rough.

I'll add more later if I think of anything else.

 

[knoblock]

Wynkoop in LoDo used to be good. Close to Coors Field if the Rockies are in town.

 

[Colorado_Poke]

Wynkoop in LoDo used to be good. Close to Coors Field if the Rockies are in town.

It's still good, but there are better options now.

 

[Colorado_Poke]

With a 2 1/2 year-old at home, we don't get out much anymore. That said, the recommendations in this thread are good.

I like the patio at Great Divide, even though it's right next to the street.

Breckenridge Brewery moved to their new location in the Littleton / Highlands Ranch area less than 2 years ago. They have a really nice patio area with fire pits, etc. They were bought by AB recently - not sure if private ownership matters to you or not, but thought I'd mention just in case.

Grist and Living the Dream are 2 breweries in the Highlands Ranch area that have become very popular as of late. The Mrs. and I haven't been to either one yet, but we've heard a lot of good things.

If you can tolerate the smell from the cattle in Greeley, WeldWerks has also been getting rave reviews as of late.

There's also a number of bars and restaurants in the LoDo area of downtown (near Union Station and Coors Field) that serve lots of craft beers, with an emphasis on local breweries. A few highlights:

• Tap 14 only serves beer and liquors made in Colorado, and has a good patio area on top of the building.
• Freshcraft has around 30-40 craft beers on tap, and really good food too - I would recommend grabbing lunch there if you're downtown during the day. You can't go wrong with whatever the special of the day is.
• Falling Rock might be my favorite place for craft beer downtown. It's kind of a dump outside of the main floor, but they have close to 80 beers on tap, and well over 100 more in bottles. They used to have Pliney the Elder on tap (!!!), but I'm not sure if they still do. The walls there are lined with thousands of empty beer bottles (extremely old and relatively new) that are really neat to look at.

Tipsy's Liquor World is a gigantic liquor store on the West side of Littleton that has, by far, the biggest and best beer selection of any liquor store I've ever seen, including a walk-in cooler with several hundred square feet of mostly foreign beers. They usually have Pliney the Elder in stock, but not on display (you have to ask an employee to grab a bottle from the back).

For brewery visits, I would almost recommend just searching "breweries" in Google Maps and randomly picking a few. A lot of the startup breweries here often have food trucks outside at night or on the weekends. Many are located off the beaten path (strip malls, etc...), but sometimes it's fun to find a diamond in the rough.

I'll add more later if I think of anything else.

I thought of more...

@CowboyJD - Falling Rock just started celebrating their 20th anniversary, and appear to be releasing some special brews they did with various breweries (Great Divide, New Belgium, etc...). See link below:

http://fallingrocktaphouse.com/20th-anniversary-celebration/

Also, I should have mentioned Upslope Brewing in my previous post. They're located in Boulder (although I haven't been to the actual location yet) and are a local favorite. You can probably find the lager and IPA in most bars/restaurants around the Denver area. I'm not sure if they ship out of state yet, but they're very popular (and good) around town.

On a note unrelated to beer - you should grab breakfast burritos at Santiago's (many locations) while you're here. The 1/2 and 1/2 (medium spiciness) is good and the hot is even better, but will sometimes burn your a-hole later.

Hope you and your group have a good time while you're here.

 

[CowboyJD]

Thanks man.

We got into Colorado Springs today. Ate German food at Edelweiss and then had a few a Bristol. Beer was decent to good. The facility was excellent...an old school repurposed as a tap room, gift shop, restaurant. Still had the grade school feel so it felt slightly illicit to be drinking there.

 

[trapped_in_tx]

I thought of more...

@CowboyJD - Falling Rock just started celebrating their 20th anniversary, and appear to be releasing some special brews they did with various breweries (Great Divide, New Belgium, etc...). See link below:

http://fallingrocktaphouse.com/20th-anniversary-celebration/

Also, I should have mentioned Upslope Brewing in my previous post. They're located in Boulder (although I haven't been to the actual location yet) and are a local favorite. You can probably find the lager and IPA in most bars/restaurants around the Denver area. I'm not sure if they ship out of state yet, but they're very popular (and good) around town.

On a note unrelated to beer - you should grab breakfast burritos at Santiago's (many locations) while you're here. The 1/2 and 1/2 (medium spiciness) is good and the hot is even better, but will sometimes burn your a-hole later.

Hope you and your group have a good time while you're here.

+1 for both Uplsope and Santiago's.

 

[Colorado_Poke]

Santiago's

I'll go there about once every 3 months or so and buy 10-15 burritos for the Mrs. and I. So addicting.

 

[Ostatedchi]

Bring me back a few of those Santiago's burritos. So damn good.

 

[trapped_in_tx]

Hey @CowboyJD , you in Longmont today?

If our schedules intercept I'd be happy to buy you a beer and chat a bit.

 

[CowboyJD]

Hey @CowboyJD , you in Longmont today?

If our schedules intercept I'd be happy to buy you a beer and chat a bit.

Didn't make it to Longmont.

S-W: 20+ breweries in three and a half days....all in Denver area.
TH: USMNT game
Drove home today

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Didn't make it to Longmont.

S-W: 20+ breweries in three and a half days....all in Denver area.
TH: USMNT game
Drove home today

You didn't go to Fort Collins?

 

[CowboyJD]

You didn't go to Fort Collins?

No.

Saved for a future trip.