Bonfire Brewing Co.

Always have a great time while at Bonfire. Their staff is very knowledgeable on all their beer offerings, which is quite a few. I always stop in when passing through to see what new beers they have and to have some of my favorites.

 

V-Bonfire is located in Eagle, which down the Vail Valley from the resorts. The brewery is just off the downtown mainstreet area in a small warehouse-type space. The vibe inside was friendly and warm when I visited on a Friday night around 8 pm in January. Crowd was mostly locals hanging out after a ski day or work week. The space isn't huge, but there is a medium sized bar that seats maybe 15 and a few more high-top tables. It has a shuffleboard table and ski stuff all over the walls. Feels a bit like a sports bar but with mountain sports instead of football. A small band was playing generic classic rock.

Q-I tried two tap offerings when I visited and I have had a few other canned offerings. All of them are merely OK (with the exception of a blonde stout, which was pretty bad). The flagship brown is maybe the best I have had from Bonfire, but there are better examples, e.g., Telluride's Facedown.

Ser-The bartenders were friendly and service was prompt. Glassware is appropriate to the beer and Bonfire offers a number of different sizes if you just want to taste. They also do growler fills.

Sel-There were 21 beers on tap when I visited, plus a few bottles for take-away. The beers included a number of IPAs, IIPAs, fruited IPAs, a wheat wine, some stouts, pale ales, and other styles. Nice variety in style and ABV! All were Bonfire beers...no guest taps.

F-No food, just popcorn from a theatre-style machine.

O-I like the vibe here and I appreciate the large selection instead of having to chose between three different versions of an IPA and IIPA. That being said, I have never really like Bonfire's beers and my visit to the brewery did not change that. I would come back here to hang out with friends and try some more beer, but there are better breweries around.

 

 

 

 

could not believe how many brews this place had going for such a small little place. its tiny, and in the tiny town of eagle, but once you find it a long wooden bar and a dim lit game hall looking place with a big popcorn machine popping away and maybe 12 beers on. the server was rather disinterested, but attentive enough. we shared a sampler of 8 beers, all of which were pretty good, a few of which were really clever. if I lived in eagle I would frequent this place all the time. apparently they are opening a second location, so maybe we will see some shipped out at some point. no food on offer except the free popcorn, which is always nice. prices were really fair, and he was generously handing me tasters as fast as I could drink them. it feels like a real small town place, like not quaint and nice but like scary people small town, i dont know, maybe being judgmental, but that's what these reviews are for right, opinions. but it has a good thing going though, and the beers its doing are really nice. will stop back in next time I pass through. I guess there must not be too many BAs there though, or there would be some more talk about this place...

Three years later and BOOM! Good Beer. I had three pints and a few samples and all the beer were B to B+ which for the area is a goldmine! I really enjoy the beers. I love the gas bonfire outside. All in all, its a place worth stopping at. And I am happy I can get some beers here when I visit my bro-in-law in Eagle. Cheers to the improvement in quality!!!

Old review and score: vibe: 4 | quality: 1 | service: 3 | selection: 2.5 | $$

My visit here was brief as I had been forewarned to keep expectations low. It was Friday night, around 7 when we visited. It was fairly busy, the small bar was full and a couple tables were occupied as well. It was surprisingly loud in there. Good vibe.

The chalkboard behind the bar shows all the beer. Standard brewpub line-up, I think there were 6 to choose from. I ordered the Brown Ale and my fiancée ordered the IPA. We decided to play shuffleboard with our cohorts. (They also have a bumper pool table and darts. Not sure if they had TVs?)

The beer was served cold... thus I didn't see why Bonfire beers had such a bad rap. Oh, then the beer warmed up a bit. The brown ale was oddly smoky, like a lit cigar with an awful charred character. It lacked depth; it was thin in body and difficult to drink. The IPA was flat out the worst non-infected beer I have ever had. It reeked of chlorine mixed with hamster food. Harsh, bitter... f'n awful.

Needless to say we didn't finish either beer. Once the shuffleboard game as over we all left to grab some dinner (there is no food here, it is just a tap room).

It was as simple as that... we came, we tried, we left. It is a cool place, good vibe... the owners all seem like good people. However, there is no point in visiting or going back until I know they have figured out how to brew beer. There is much room to grow...