In Part I, I covered our visits to Great Divide, Boulder Beer and Oskar Blues. Now, on to the remaining 4 breweries/brewpubs that we visited on our Denver honeymoon back in November:

Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont, CO: Ray and I are big fans of Left Hand’s Milk Stout, and because they were only a 15 minute drive away from the Tasty Weasel, we knew we had to drop by. The taproom was bustling, and it looked like they have a steady stream of regulars that keep the bar stools warm — always a pleasant thing to witness. I grabbed a table that reminded me of the octagonal lab tables I used to sit at in high school biology, and Ray ordered a sampler. Aside from the fantastic Milk Stout, we got to sample beers like Sawtooth Ale (ESB), Black Jack Porter, Polestar Pilsner, and Fade to Black — a Foreign Export Stout and new seasonal for the brewery.

Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery in Boulder CO: It’s hard to recall Mountain Sun because it was the last stop on our whirlwind 4-brewery/pub day. We stopped in for dinner and the place was hopping! Ray wrestled his way over to the bar and returned with a Raspberry Wheat for me (I always like to check out the fruit beers and I needed something light after the day of drinking). Twenty minutes later we snagged a table and happened to mention we were honeymooning in Denver. This resulted in the bartender removing our first round of drinks from our tab, saying they were on him. Score!

I wish we had stopped by Mountain Sun a different day so we could have tried more of their beers; judging from their beer menu, they’re a pretty creative group there. The burgers we ordered were excellent, and most likely contributed to heartburn, but that was our own damn fault.

Wynkoop Brewing Co. in Denver, CO: We had possibly one of our best meals of the week at Wynkoop, but before having dinner there, we had stopped in for a quick pint earlier in the week at the bar. There was a home game that day, and I found it interesting to watch Denver and Steelers fans sit shoulder to shoulder in the pub without even a sneer or growl (I’m used to Philly fans I suppose). We ordered the Mile HI.P.A and Monkeys Fist IPA and were pleased with both. Following up our hop bombs, Ray obtained a sample of Patty’s Chile Beer, which was surprisingly balanced and had just the right amount of chile.

A few nights later, we treated ourselves to one of the best dinners in Denver. I had the Venison Bourguignonne, braised in red wine with mushrooms and onions and served with mashed potatoes. The venison simply melted in my mouth and the sauce was delicious. But what topped that was Ray’s entree, the Colorado Lamb Sirloin. This dish is made with local lamb that has been marinated and grilled, served with a creamy mushroom risotto. Ray described it on the comment card as the single most perfectly prepared piece of meat he had ever had. A total show stealer, so much so that I can’t remember a lot about the beer we ordered. Ray had the Silverback Smoked Porter, which wasn’t too smoky and fairly balanced, and I — out of character — ordered the Drunkin’ Pumpkin ale.

Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery in Denver, CO: We visited the Bull & Bush our last night in Denver, after hearing how great the beers are. Though the pub’s exterior seemed to be more reminiscent of a German-style pub, the interior was most definitely English. I could have done without the multitude of flat screen TVs plastered all about, but we were here for the beer.

To get acquainted with Bull & Bush’s offering, we ordered a sampler that contained Big Ben Brown Ale, Stonehenge Stout, Allgood Ale (amber ale), The Tower ESB., Patio’s Vat-Dunkel Weiss and a couple others … probably an IPA of sorts. I really enjoyed the Big Ben Brown Ale, which had a lot more complexity than most browns — thick and chewy with molasses, pit fruit and toffee. Ray had the ESB to start, and I remember finishing the night with the MAN BEER, which was a citrusy IPA.

The night ended with us stepping out into more than 3 inches of snow, which was a bit of a shocker because less than 2 hours before the ground had been dry. Oh, and the rental car didn’t have any snow clearing equipment, so Ray used his corduroy coat to beat the snow off the car while I shivered in my snow-soaked Chucks. We laughed a lot on the car ride back to the hotel.

Breweries, Brewpubs, Craft Beer, Pubs, Restaurants Add Comment »

Whu— Oh, hey. Hey! Hey, wow, how’s it going? Yeah, I’ve been meaning to blog, it’s just been— I’ve been so busy with… work and… stuff. Well, hey, you look like you’re doing well! Ha ha…

I’m just gonna get to talking about this beer now, yeah?

Appearance: Light-to-golden amber. Very clear. Fluffy, bone white head. Lots of effervescence.

Nose: Tart berries. Cloves. Faintly alcoholic.

Taste: A perfect mix of sweet and tart. Hop bitterness takes a back seat to the tartness. Cloves, oranges, berries. Noticeable alcohol could stand to be masked a bit more, but doesn’t detract significantly.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body, yet somehow slightly viscous, especially as it warms up. Coats the tongue. A little bit of an alcohol sting.

Overall: Not utterly hefeweizen-like, but there is just enough clove to at least suggest that it might have been a hefe in another life, maybe one that was born in Germany but raised in Belgium. The raisins are not as overt as we would have liked, but we love the tartness from the cranberries, which is assertive without completely drowning out the orange. The dryness could also prove to make this a great gateway beer for wine aficionados.

In a word, Hefe the ORC is totallyfreakingexcellentnoseriouslyguysholycrap. It’s results like this that make brewing such a fun hobby. It’s barely the hefeweizen we advertised it to be, but that’s fine, because Hefe the ORC has so much weirdness and complexity that we stopped caring what arbitrary style it fits into long ago. It’s simply a delicious and fragrant beer, and we could not be happier with it.

Homebrewing, Our Brew Days, Tasting 1 Comment »

When it came to planning our honeymoon, we decided Europe was out — we didn’t have enough time to do it justice — and a cruise was out because nothing left the same weekend as the wedding (there was NO way we were going back to work for a week!). So what to do?

Honeymoon in Denver.

Think about it: mountains, fresh air, great restaurants, and breweries and brewpubs. How does that not make for a great honeymoon for a couple of mountain-loving foodie homebrewers?

While in Denver, we visited:

Great Divide Brewing Co. in Denver, CO: On our first full day in Denver we hoofed it over to Great Divide’s tap room and brewery. We were able to take a quick tour, sample a variety of their beers, as well as buy a couple of pints.

GD’s Yeti Imperial Stout (both regular and oak aged) was fantastic to have fresh off of the tap. For the heck of it we sampled Samurai, which is hailed as an unfiltered rice ale. A little too close to the mass-produced macro brews for my personal taste, but the flavor was clean. Ray fell in love with Hibernation, a bold and chewy old/strong ale, while we were both pleasantly surprised by Wild Raspberry Ale, which had a lot more to offer than most fruit beers.

Boulder Beer Co. in Boulder, Co: For some [stupid] reason we had always underestimated Boulder Beer. Maybe it’s because we don’t tend to see a lot of it out on the East Coast, but let me tell you, our eyes were opened.

We ordered a full sample of everything they had on tap, as well as a few pints. From flagships to seasonals, we had a fantastic time with these beers. Ray declared Planet Porter as one of the best he’s tasted; my pint of Cold Hop, an English-style ale that danced on the edge of pale ale/IPA, was refreshing with just the right amount of hop bite; and we both loved Obovoid (oak-aged oatmeal stout) and Killer Penguin (ruby-red barleywine-style ale).

Never again will we underestimate Boulder. In a fitting sense, we stopped in at the Boulder Beer pub in the Denver airport on our last day of the honeymoon for a goodbye pint and lunch.

Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Tap Room in Longmont, CO: Great space, eclectically decorated, with high ceilings shared with the brewery located right behind the tap room wall. We sat down to a full sampler of everything that was on tap: Mama’s Little Yella Pils, Dale’s Pale Ale, Old Chub (Scottish-style ale), Gordon (imperial red/double IPA), Ten Fidy (imperial stout), the last three of which also came in barrel aged versions.

It’s quite possible that Ten Fidy stole the show — viscous and black like motor oil, the imperial stout instantly won us over with its roasty-chocolate-coffee-bomb. I don’t think I have ever seen a beer poured with such a dark head.

Next up in Part II: Stay tuned for the rest of our escapades at Left Hand Brewing Co., Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery, Wynkoop Brewing Co. and Bull and Bush Pub & Brewery.

Breweries, Brewpubs, Craft Beer, Pubs, Restaurants 3 Comments »