Visiting Denver

Looking for the same thing as the previous guy posted. I’ll be in Denver (Cherry Creek) for a couple of days before heading out to Grand Lake for the weekend.

looking for hit up a brewery or two that’s still open to the public. Any recommendations would be great. Thanks!

 

Black Project is a must for sours.
Trve is pretty good for sours, too.
Cerebral for hazy / pastry stout trendy beers.
gotta get some Casey from a bottle shop for their fruited sours.

outer range if you’re heading to the mountains for haze.
Weldwerks is the big hyped haze / pastry stout / fruited Berliner player out there.

all this info is pre-pandemic. @Zoomslowik - I bet you have good recommendations!

 

Honestly most of my trips are Greeley and back followed by shares with my friend. The locals would be of more use.

I did hit several this trip, though few in Denver-proper. Weldwerks was reservation-only, we were able to walk up at the rest.

 

Lol I thought this was the Great Lakes sub. How did I get here?!???

(not the last time I’ll wake up in Colorado with many, many questions about how I arrived)

 

Falling Rock Tap House is a great way to try a lot of different CO breweries if you're on a limited time frame. They usually have Pliny on tap too. If you are looking for Casey bottles (or many other beers to go) Mr. B's is worth a stop - either location. You really should go to Bierstadt. Friend of mine was just out there last week and the photos of the food he sent me and the cans he brought back...yeah, they should be high on your list. Also, Bull & Bush shouldn't be far from you and is worth a stop, although it's been a few years since I've been there so some locals may have an update there.

 

Anyone locals have any thoughts on Cerebral? it’s close to where I’m staying.

 

Good stuff. Check out their wood aged lagers.

 

Hey guys, planning a CO trip, but more on the outskirts of Denver. We’re trying to find a good town with great mountain town vibes, good places to eat and a good selection of bars (great cocktails and craft). We’re arriving in December, and the only snow activities we plan on doing are snow tubing, snowmobiling and hiking. Not big on ski resorts.

We’ve been to Breck multiple times already and was thinking of different spots. Vail and Frisco are on my radar, and maybe Winter Park. But open to other suggestions.

We also planned on visiting Boulder area and CO Springs during this same trip. Anybody have any must hit beer bars/breweries for Boulder and COSprings? I planned on visiting Weldwerks already. Definitely more of a stout person, open to solid IPA’s too.

thanks for any recs!

 

IMO, if you’re not skiing/riding, Vail is not a great place to be.
Frisco definitely checks the box for what you are looking for. There’s tubing at Copper and in Dillon, great breweries and a lot of food options (although none are spectacular, lots are good).
Steamboat would also be good. Lots of snowmobiling on Rabbit Ears pass, very good food and beer options. Not sure about tubing though. Depending where you are in TX, there are some direct flights into Hayden which is 20 minutes west of Steamboat.

 

I was really considering steamboat. Unfortunately I’m flying into Denver. How’s the drive to steamboat in early December? Is there a chance of road closures? I plan on getting AWD rental.

 

I'd vote for Frisco/Dillon over Steamboat, though SB is nice. Outer Range in Frisco is one of the best hazy breweries in Colorado (they usually have some big stouts on tap too) and Dillon Dam is one of the most consistent traditional style breweries in Colorado, in my opinion. There's a great German beerhall in Frisco too and Pug Ryan's in Dillon is solid for traditional styles too. Not sure about the cocktails and wherever I've eaten in the area is pub food, but it's all been solid. Either one you go to, you could hit up Westbound & Down on the way--recommended.

 

Thanks for the info! I’m pretty sold on Frisco at the moment. Outer range is definitely on the bucket list, and I will check into those other spots.

On our previous trips to Breck, all we stayed at were ski resorts and didn’t venture out into the bar/craft beer scene very much. Now I’m wondering if I should just go ahead and pull the trigger on Breck. I know breck has a bigger main st. and probably a bigger selection of hang out spots I’m looking for. Does Frisco even compare to Breck as far as bars/restaurants ? I’m torn lol

 

Breck and Frisco are only 15-20 mins away from each other. You would easily be able to do things in one town while staying in the other.

 

Going to be heading to Steamboat from Fort Collins in a couple weeks. Any recs for breweries in Steamboat or along the way?

 

Storm King Brewery is the only place that’s worth a shit up there... they do some really good stuff though

 

I like Mountain Tap as well. Their beers are all solid, not spectacular, but a good selection and good quality overall. They also have great food, especially the pizza if you like Neapolitan style. The other cool thing read sometime before this winter they added 3 gondolas out front that each seat up to 6, which is fairly cool in this social distancing world.

 

IF their barleywine is on, Mahogany Ridge is worth a stop. Otherwise, their stuff is pretty average at best...and everything served way too cold.