Colorado Microbreweries

I recently spent a couple weeks out in Devner, Colorado and got the chance to sample many of the local brews. I was pleasantly surprised by the shear number of microbreweries Colorado has to offer. I have had the opportunity to visit the area twice in the past year and have found the place to be a bit different then what I imagined. Its a lot more arid than I thought, though I guess this has been the driest month on record for Denver. Even with the record, I was amazed has brown the area felt, how sparse and sickly the trees appeared compared to back east, and by how many prairie dogs were around. With all that said, I was most impressed by the selection of local beers on tap.

I have barely tapped a dent in the selection, but here is a list of some the suds I got to sample.

• Tommy Knocker’s Maple Nut Brown Ale
• Dry Dock Brewery‘s HMS Victory ESB
• BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse’s Tatonka Stout
• Breckenridge Brewery’s Agave Wheat
• Great Divide Brewing’s Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
• Great Divide Brewing’s Yeti Imperial Stout
• Great Divide Brewing’s Old Rufian Barley Wine-Style Ale
• Great Divide Brewing’s Saint Bridget’s Porter
• Estes Park Brewery’s Long’s Peak Raspberry Wheat
• Odell Brewing Company’s Red Ale
• New Belgium’s Fat Tire
• New Belgium’s Sunshine Wheat
• New Belgium’s 1554
• New Belgium’sSkinny Dip
• Left Hand Brewing’s Black Jack Porter
• Anchor Brewing’s Anchor Steam
• Grupo Modelo’s Negro Modello

Most of the beers are local to the area, except for the last two. Most of them were enjoyable, but there were a couple I probably would not get again. For example, Estes Park Brewery’s Long’s Peak Raspberry Wheat tasted like a lager with raspberry flavoring (reminded me of the equally unflattering Blue Dawg Brewing’s Wild Blue). Also, though not as disliked, I did not particular care for New Belgium’sSkinny Dip. With all the beer choices denver has in terms of microbreweries I was not expecting to like them all; this will just better serve those having difficulty trying to find a local favorite.

Though this list is not the complete list of beers I got to sample, as I tend to forget somethings, but these are the memorable ones.New Belgium’s Fat Tire beer was in my opinion the local favorite and was on par with Yuengling’s Traditional Lager in terms of popularity and enjoyableness , though not the same style of beer. When I went some where with slim pickings, this was my default favorite. Denver has a significant hispanic population and as a result many delicious mexican restaurants. For these places, I found Grupo Modelo’s Negro Modello to be my favorite (I don’t get the popularity of Corona). My favorite brews came from Great Divide Brewing though, which I visited on my first trip out to Denver. I wish I had more time to try the rest of the beers and have found only a few places around here that sell it at a pretty good mark up. Hopefully, I will get to enjoy a few more of what Denver has to offer in the future and would strongly encourage anybody that is passing by the city to take the time to indulge.