The last day of my Colorado Beerventure this year was focused on road tripping with the brewery boys. It was time to get out of the city, let the rubber hit the road, and see where the day took us.Boulder: The Berkeley of the Rockies
A cute college town with a handful of distinctive breweries makes Boulder my choice destination to go back to school. Today my schooling was at Avery and Twisted Pine. Meeting the boys at Avery for our breakfast beers, we tried an assortment of IPAs, Ellie's Brown Ale, The Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest, and their Bolder Weisse. Per my current hophead status, I thoroughly enjoyed their Cascade/Centennial IPA and Chinook Wet-hop Pale.
Convincing the crew to make one more stop prior to heading up to the mountains, we made our way to Twisted Pine Brewing Company. With fifteen taps, we opted to share a ten beer sampler between the five of us. Twisted Pine took home some hardware at GABF the day prior for their Westbound Braggot and Big Shot Espresso Stout. Besides those solid brews, we sampled eight others, notably their Ghost Face Killah and Raspberry Wheat Ale. GFK boasted to be the hottest beer this side of hell. With my minuscule sized sip, I thought that I was going to breathe fire. Allegedly gas masks are worn when brewing this beer. With the name of a Wu Tang Clan member, you have to expect some crazy heat from this one. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, TP's Raspberry Wheat Ale had to be the best fruit beer I have ever tasted. Fresh raspberry and crisp wheat flavor flooded my taste buds in an attempt to put out the flames from GFK.
Nederland: Home of Frozen Dead Guy Days
The allure of a brewery at 8236 feet prompted us to caravan up to Nederland. This mountain town holds a festival each year based on the story of a body found in the shed of a resident's yard. This resident, originally from Norway, Trygve Bauge, transported his grandfather's body to the United States and up to Nederland with the hopes of opening up his own cryonics facility along with his mother, Aud. Deportations and evictions led the city to eventually find out about the frozen body. Thus a festival was born. Events including Coffin Racing, Costume Polar Plunging, Ice Turkey Bowling, and a Parade of Hearses litter this town the first full of weekend of March annually since 2002.
Ok, back to the beer. Wild Mountain Smokehouse and Brewery's aroma captivated our hungry bellies. Instantly we became enticed with their pulled pork sliders and five different choices of BBQ sauce. A Redemption Oatmeal Stout, Hop Diggity IPA, and Mountain Mama Cherry Wheat helped wash all those tasty morsels down. Keeping an eye on the clock due to our impending 9pm flight, we decided it was time to descend off this mountain treasure and enjoy our final brewery of the day.
I can't disagree more with Longmont's nickname. Granted, living in Tacoma, Washington for the past 17 years has desensitized my sniffer to the infamous Tacoma Aroma. While enjoying Left Hand Brewing's sunny patio during the afternoon, I didn't get any hint of that supposed turkey processing plant that stinks up the town. That being said, I would like to rename Longmont to Colorado's Best Kept Secret.
I had been thirsting for Left Hand's Milk Stout on Nitro all weekend. Upon coming back into town from Nederland, we stopped off to a busy pub with plenty of seating both in and outside. That aforementioned sunny patio was a perfect locale to enjoy that Milk Stout on Nitro. Words can't thoroughly describe that delectable creaminess. While the brew boys tried the Polestar Pilsner, Oktoberfest, and the Wake Up Dead Stout, my favorite of the day, by far, was the stout. After finishing that coveted last sip, it was off to the airport to head back to Seattle.
Fellow beerventurers, take note. While Denver, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs feature a plethora of first class breweries, be sure to take the time to get out into the mountains and explore. Let the altitude affect your attitude and enjoy a pint for me.
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