Heading to Denver.

Mr Bs downtown, it's about half a mile from your hotel. Argonaut on Colfax and Mondo Vino up in the Highlands, both about a 10 minute drive from your hotel. Small Batch if you go up to Block and Larder or Hops and Pie.

 

-If you got a car, Beaver Ranch in Conifer is a must for DG. If the Bailey course is open (15 mins further into Mtns.), you've got two great Mtn courses right there.
-Bird's Nest is wide open with not many trees but I think its 27 holes now. It's out in West Arvada. Cannonball Creek is very close. Applejack would be closest bottle shop.
-Johnny Roberts in Arvada just got redesigned so I don't know how it plays. You can probably play that whole course with a putter and midrange. Several breweries very close by.
-I like playing Badlands (Camenisch) up north as you can play the regular 18 hole version or add the 9 blair witch holes (tighter and more technical) to make it 27. Tons of downhill (some uphill). Lots of up and down walking though.
-Lakewood Dry Gulch is closest to downtown and just west of Invesco field, a couple blocks off Colfax, but the neighborhood is a little rough, which turns many off. Some long holes, some missing baskets.
-Expo in Aurora is set in a nice, clean park that plays around a small lake. Short holes though.

-If you venture down south to County Line Rd, there's Lorenz Park. Kind of a bland course. It's right next to Davidson's liquor and Lukas Liquors is just off County Line closer to I-25.

 

Head to Los Chingones for some excellent tacos.!

 

You know, sometimes we forget how good Great Divide is, and at 22d and Arapahoe, easily walkable from the Oxford.

Nobody's mentioned Epic which is definitely solid and a nice room too.

edit: I see Hunninghake mentioned GD at the top of his list...so I guess I am just seconding it.

 

I didn't mention GD just because they have solid distribution and their current taproom usually only has 1 or maybe 2 items you can't buy in the store. However in terms of quality - they're among the best in the nation.
Great Divide fans would also be well served at Spangalang. Two of their former head brewers run the place and several of their beers are clear homages to GD beers.

 

I went to Spangalang this weekend and I have to say I was really let down. The two IPAs were pretty good, as was the Imperial Stout "Nightwalker," but man I thought the rest of the lineup were real duds. Maybe I expected too much from this place right off the bat.

 

Exact opposite for me I found the IPA's to be similar to the newer GD hoppy beers (weedy), but I really enjoyed the saison, dubbel, impy stout, and belgian table beer. The dubbel was a hair undercarbonated, but the others were almost like revivals of Colette, Belgian Yeti, and "baby" Orabelle. While different styles, the dubbel had some of the flavors I really liked from their old Dunkelweisse, too.

 

Superpower IPA

 

Don't mean to thread Jack from OP but thought it would be dumb to start a new thread when I can use a lot of this info for my trip to Denver as well.

I'm going for a Bachelor party at the end of the month. We are staying at the Ritz Carlton downtown. Can you guys help me plan a brewery/bar tour in that area? Either walkable or cab/uber? It's a craft beer/whisky crowd that I'll be with.

Also, any suggestions for a real nice dinner on Saturday night for my friends last supper?

 

The kitchen is downtown. Might be a good spot for a nice dinner depending on your price point.

 

The Ritz is a quick walk and/or free shuttle ride away from a number of solid bars/restaurants, e.g., Euclid Hall, FreshCraft, Falling Rock, Terminal Bar, and Lucky Pie (in addition to the Kitchen, which has perhaps the best beer selection of an upscale restaurant in town) and a few breweries/brew pubs, e.g., Wynkoop and Rock Bottom.

As for breweries within shouting distance, Great Divide is about 5 blocks from you, River North is a little further, Denver Beer Company (meh) is also pretty close. If you wanna do the brewery thing, I suggest renting a B-Cycle or catching an Uber/Lyft to the River North (RiNO)/Brighton Boulevard/Curtis Park area where you'll find a metric crap ton of beer, e.g., Epic, Beryl's, River North, Our Mutual Friend, Crooked Stave, Mockery, Ratio Beerworks, Black Shirt, Spangalang, Zephyr, the list goes on. Some (Crooked Stave) are better than others (Zephyr), but you should find something worth drinking.

 

If you end up at epic take the 2 minute walk around the corner and see Beryl's. Unique, easily drinkable beers on tap.

I'll say that while Los Chingones is good I like Comida better and it's in the source so you can eat tacos, walk in back and then drink Crooked Stave.

Also wurstkuche is right over by great divide and a would be worth it if you enjoy German beer. Any beers you or styles you are particularly looking for while in town?