Going to Colorado. Need a list of the BEST Denver Breweries

Honestly just use the search feature and search GABF in the mountain section lots of similar threads already. Have fun, it's a great city!

 

Cheap hotels: Not sure. There are several just outside of downtown that might be cheap...like on Speer and I-25. But I don't know

Breweries:
Great Divide
Prost (hurry to that one. Brewmaster just left, but his beers are still in tanks)
Hogshead (get the casked beers!)
Denver Beer Co (nice....scenery)
Wynkoop (pretty good food, too)
Epic
RiverNorth
Black Shirt
Jagged Mountain is new...I haven't been there
Bull and Bush (a bit farther south)
Rickoli (a bit farther west)

Beer Bars:
Falling Rock
Freshcraft
Ale House at Amatos
Colorado + (close to Rickolis)
Cheeky Monk (but that's more of a Belgian beer place)

Have fun!

 

what do you mean by "nice...scenery" for Denver Beer Company? Sam C name checked it in his Fox News interview.

 

It's a hip crowd. Some beers are solid, some not, but it's always fun to mingle. I they'll be releasing some BA stuff soon

 

Smoked & Soaked was one of the best beers I've had from CO (tasted last week), am admittedly a huge smoke fan though. Cocoa Cream Graham Cracker Porter was also delicious, however this batch of regular GCP is really off. Burr-ley Wine was also pretty good and very unique for a barleywine.

 

You can have a fantastic day of beer just walking around downtown Denver on foot. I would recommend starting off over at Great Divide and Jagged Mountain breweries on Arapahoe, then walking towards Coors Field along 20th Street and stopping at one of the nation's top brewpubs in Falling Rock Tap House on Blake St., then walking down Blake St. to River North Brewery, followed by walking a block over to Colorado's best bottle shop, Mr. B's, and then walking up Larimer St. to get dinner at Freshcraft. If you follow this plan, you can hit some of Colorado's best breweries, brewpubs, and bottle shops all in a short stroll around downtown. If you are still capable of walking at this point, you could always head over to Wynkoop to play some pool or to Denver Beer Co. for a more lively social brewery scene. There are a lot of great beer destinations that you can visit in downtown Denver without needing to take any cabs or public transportation.

 

Good catch. I'm not sure why I typed Larimer there.

The total walking distance for this day from Great Divide through Freshcraft would only be about 20 blocks.

 

I may just do this stop-for-stop when I visit next Wednesday. Great advice, man.

 

I would disagree with wynkoop here. Nice atmosphere but I don't think I've had a decent beer by then yet.

 

River North is definitely worth checking out, especially for their barrel aged beers. You already mentioned Crooked Stave. A few other notables:

- Black Shirt
- Hops & Pie
- Freshcraft
- Dry Dock
- Wit's End (very small, but has some delicious beer on tap - never really hear anyone talking about them)

 

Maybe because larimer, blake, marrket, and lawrence are all identical?

 

Those jalapeños are totally solid. I will give you that.

 

i like this place

 

IMO, when Andy Brown took over at the Wynkoop they really turned a corner. While I miss their old Gruit, he dialed their current and older recipes in a lot. Not sure how many people remember it, but their Chancellor is one of the best big beers to every be brewed in Colorado. It was every bit the beer Bligh's and Royal Oil were.

 

I've been there a few times because it's next door to a climbing gym I frequent, but can't say I'd agree. Really nice guys over there, but the beer is just ok. Their "hoppy" beers are malt bombs and wasn't impressed with any others either. Not worth going off the beaten path, that's for sure.

 

I'm planning to do this brew crawl during my visit in April, but just curious ... why no Crooked Stave??? Isn't it located in the exact same area??? Thank you!