CO Beer

Posted on December 11, 2016 by melsmosaic

Was in CO awhile back and was of course overwhelmed by microbreweries. They have new ones popping up nearly every week. What’s fun about this is that every time I head out there for a visit I have new places to check out. During my trip, I tried some new suds at breweries in Ft. Collins, Estes Park and Colorado Springs. Had to cover as much territory as possible. *Note, all of these were new to me, some had been around for a bit.

#1 Jessup Farm Barrel House, Ft. Collins, CO – This one is in a barn, which is fun. Also has outdoor seating. Their philosophy “By blending beers with different fermentation variations we are able to create unique and original flavors. Our goal is to take the robust characteristics from the barrels, and blend to bring out the complexities and nuances of the flavors.” They have plenty of options, almost overwhelming. They do offer flights, which I highly recommend splitting between 2 people because of the high ABV of some of the brews.

#2 McClellan’s Brewing Co., Ft. Collins, CO – Their in-house beer (they also have ‘other’ taps) are done in Celtic style. ‘Our Cask Ales are a British Isles style of beer naturally carbonated through the fermentation process. We utilize a beer engine to manually pump the beer from a firkin to your glass. We Americanize our ales by serving it cold, and it still maintains a smooth and unique flavor profile that is less filling than it’s carbonated relative.’

Nice because you don’t get it very often. You go to breweries that all have unique beer, but this is very unique.

#3 Maxline Brewing, Ft. Collins, CO – This is one of the locations that had just opened when I was there. And DOG FRIENDLY! Lots of great options. And, since they had just opened they made us sample tons of them, shucks! Look forward to being back soon and seeing how much they’ve grown.

#4 Estes Park Brewery, Estes Park, CO – Checked this one out after going to some very scenic parks and being outside on a cold day. Here you can either pay for pints in the restaurant of get healthy free sample. You get 5-6 (depending on who’s doing the tasting) hefty pours of their brews (of your choice). And when you have several people there, if each of you picks different ones, you’ll taste everything! They have a very nice spread of beer, and some decent food to help soak it all up.

#5 Butcherknife Brewing Co., Steamboat Springs, CO – You can tell this is a popular place. Packed! One of their pieces of info “If great water makes incredible beer then Steamboat Springs has got to be the soul center of the craftiest beer on the planet. Our location provides us first use off the Continental Divide which means pure, unadulterated, fresh, clean water goes into the heart of every batch we make.”

I personally didn’t love most of what I sampled, I think it was because the ABV was high on those we chose/were able to get on all but one. Was still fun to check out!

And the beer goes on…

Posted on October 25, 2013 by melsmosaic

Had to continue enjoying the local brews while in Ft. Collins. One must take in as much as possible when not at home. So I took one for the team…

Brewery 5: Odell Brewing Company. Sample — $4! For 6 tastes! This is another one with the whole (unfortunate) issue of 5 oz pours, 6 beers, 5,000 ft elevation… This was my first stop of the day. Hey, I was fresh right. I had to be so careful and drink responsibly in the sense that there was more to come. My total favorite was Levity with several close runner ups.

Brewery 6: Fort Collins Brewery. Good name considering where I was. I found another chili beer here. After sampling a few I ended with this amazing smoky beer, that was that chili one — Mesquite Chili Lime Ale, part of their Out of the Ashes Smoke Beer Series. Not describable in words. Go to the store to find it, or better yet, just head out there to have some (limited edition though, so hurry)!

Brewery 7: New Belgium Brewing Company. This is one of my favorites! Went on the brewery several years ago and the twirly slide at the end if priceless! This time I just went to sample. So many options, so little time. Many new Lips of Faith to try, other random stuff to sample. It was packed that it was tough to even move. I just had sips of some new stuff then finished with my favorite Fat Tire. Oh happy day.

All good things must come to an end. I eventually had to get on a plane and come back east. I do have a brewery tour scheduled at Flying Dog soon. Looking forward to that!

I’m in a Colorado State of Beer

Posted on October 24, 2013 by melsmosaic

I had Billy’s Joel New York State of Mind rolling through my head so couldn’t think of a better title for the post. So, after visiting wine country in Oregon, I headed a time zone east and a couple states south to check out Ft. Collins, Colorado. I had my fix of wine so hit the breweries this time.

The problem when you go to breweries (proper) is that there are too many choices. Sometimes overwhelming. I tried to do samplers at most of them when possible. The other problem with beer? *NOTE — I am not dismissing beer, turning it down, or crossing it off my list at all! Just making travel notes for future reference. Unlike wine where you can spit, that’s not really an option with beer. Proceed with caution. And jumping three days forward, my hosts mentioned that when they moved to Colorado they noticed the beer hit them much more quickly (than when at sea level) for awhile. Thanks! You couldn’t have told me that when I got here? I wasn’t going to say anything…

Anyway….

Brewery 1: Black Bottle Brewery. Too many, way too many, beers to pick from. I honestly can’t remember which one I finally opted for to enjoy over dinner, but it was good! Some of the beer names are great, Social Insecurity being my favorite.

Brewery 2: Cooper Smith’s Pub & Brewing. Great place to both enjoy some great food and beer. I had a sip of several before deciding what to have. I do remember one that had the name ‘chili’ in it. You could taste that green chili in there — it wasn’t necessarily hot but you knew it was there.

Brewery 3: Pateros Creek Brewing Company. It’s a little bit hidden, so you have to know where to find it. They apparently have great social events in the evening, FYI, if you’re a local. It’s a small place, but nice brews. I happened to get there right before a downpour so spent a little bit of time there chatting with the beermaster. Aside from that conversation, I think I found that CO, or at least Ft. Collins, has a like of chilis, because they also had a beer with some kick. Hmmm… They also make gluten free beer. I have several friends who would be thrilled.

Brewery 4: Equinox Brewing Company. Sampling flight = 6 beers in 5 oz. pours at 5,000 ft. elevation. That’s where that whole idea/thought of no spitting/dump bucket REALLY came into play. I loved the (light) IPA. I say light as in I didn’t feel like I was bouncing off the walls, on a trampoline or on those OLD SCHOOL pogo sticks. Just a nice amount of hops. There was a red on there, too. Dang! The weekend I was there, the Great American Beer Festival happened to be in town (Denver, close enough) and many brewers were near the bar so I shared my sampler with them and it was very interesting getting their feedback/comment/sipping notes on the beer.