Let's talk about GABF 2014

I was bummed that two awesome things were during my WTF and GABF times: Elevation at freshcraft and Firestone/Surly at freshcraft. Dagnabit.

 

Wed: Drove halfway to Denver
Thurs: Visited Trinity in CO Springs. Made a couple trades in Denver, then WTF
Fri: Grapevine Wine and Liquor, Comrade Brewing, then Boulder for some hiking and a couple other bottle shops. That evening I went to Crooked Stave and then Hops & Pie
Sat: GABF members session then checked out some various stuff in LoDo
Sun: Denver > Albuquerque for Balloon Fiesta
Mon: Back to Austin

2255 miles traveled. Awesome trip!

 

Rolled in Wednesday, went straight to Hops & Pie for a lovely tap takeover. Tried BA Abraxas for the first time and a bunch of other delicious offerings. Great way to start off the weekend! Then we hit up a couple bottle shops, which were surprisingly almost empty and had excellent selections. Picked up a ton of Avery, a few CS and some of the new Casey saisons, blowing almost all of our beer buying budget in the process. We camped Wednesday (not a good night for it but oh well), so we set up camp and then hit up Dry Dock for Bligh's on tap, and Comrade, a new brewery to me. Superdamp was excellent and it's definitely in our regular brewery rotation now. Sushi for dinner, then a brief stop at Crooked Stave, which was absolutely packed. I really wish they would have moved to a bigger space. Bought a bottle of Mama Bear's to take home. Finished the night with an outstanding IP trade and headed to our tent in the rain.

Thursday we took it easy most of the day in preparation for GABF. Made it Denver Biscuit Co. for some carb loading pre-festival, then hit up Argonaut, where some other out-of-towners were lingering around the special releases. Not wanting to fight the crowd, we both grabbed a bottle or two and headed out. Killed some time downtown, then rolled over to GABF. We got Farm to Table tickets, so got in the separate, much shorter line to get in. Spent the next four hours trying to fit in as much good beer as possible. Farm to Table was good, but not exactly necessary, and I'd probably skip it if we go again. It was a nice respite from the crowded festival floor though, especially toward the end of the night.

Friday we got another late start. Hit up the Old Mine for pork sandwiches and barrel-aged cider that was ridiculously good, a nice change of pace from all the beer. Then we had to go to Avery, which is a must-visit anytime we're in CO. Hung out on the patio and caught up with a local friend while sampling Pumpkyn and Eremita on a typical beautiful Boulder day. After that we needed to hike off all the carbs, so we visited the Flatirons. Dinner with friends and an early night.

Saturday was pretty devoid of beer activities, though we did make a repeat trip to Hops & Pie for another ridiculous tap list. Death By Coconut was one of the highlights of the weekend. Sunday we headed home, stopping by Grimm Brothers (great berliners) and Choice City on the way out. All in all it was an excellent trip and I was impressed with all of the festivities! We'll definitely be returning the same time next year.

 

Landed wedsnesday and crashed for a couple hours before heading down town . Hit a few bars and great divide . One of the employess saw my jacket with the patches and came over , and handed me a G.D. patch to add to the jacket. Thursday spent most the day down town and then ended up at the whiskey bar and drank way too much bourbon. Friday back to great divide , breckenridge ,falling rock and then walked to crooked stave .Headed back to town and hit bars till about 1130 and called it quits. Saturday walked to the convention center to scope it out and eneded up having someone give me a ticket to the day session , hit falling rock after and then used the ticket i bought for the night session. Sunday the zoo . Monday and Tuesday I retraced my steps and checked out the bars and breweries with out the crowds . Wedsnesday caught a limo back to airport and home. Had a fantastic time and loved Denver , looking forward to doing it again.

 

Agreed. I did see Todd and Jason @ falling rock but it was so crowded there was no way to get through the mob and say hello. Jason was shooting video with his phone so i raised my glass as he panned by.