The wife and I are planning a late summer trip to Denver. We’re already thinking of at least visiting New Belgium, Dry Dock, Great Divide, and Wynkoops.
Any other recommended stops?
Any events I should plan for in the months of September or August?
[quote=“dsidab81”]The wife and I are planning a late summer trip to Denver. We’re already thinking of at least visiting New Belgium, Dry Dock, Great Divide, and Wynkoops.
Any other recommended stops?
Any events I should plan for in the months of September or August?[/quote]
if you want to get into New Belgium make your reservations early. They were 2+ months booked out when we went. Wynkoop has some good brews. Didn’t make it to Dry Dock.
While in Ft. Collins visit [url=http://coopersmithspub.com/Coopersmiths pub[/url]. Great place to sit on the patio for a pint and some fish and chips. It’s on the same side of town as New Belgium.
Wynkoop was a tasty stop also.
Ft. Collins also has O’Dells, Ft Collins Brewery, C.B.Potts, a couple of others check out the directory.
Longmont has Lefthand Brewery. That’s about 30 mi north of Denver, Boulder has several, also.
For an assortment of beers definitely hit Falling Rock. Not a brewery, but they will have something rare on tap you won’t ever see anywhere else. When I use to live there I was right around the corner from Vine Street Pub. They are owned by Mountain Sun pub and brewery in Boulder. They were suppose to be adding brewing operations down at the Denver location, but not sure if they did it yet. Either way, this should be in the “absolutely must go” category on your trip and you should drink the FYIPA which IMHO is one of the best beers out there that you can’t buy in a store. The food is average, but make sure you get there as they open because the patio fills up quick and this is where you want to be sitting on a nice Denver afternoon. It is walkable from downtown Denver if that is where you are staying. Some may consider it far, but I use to walk into downtown from work everyday in the summer.
Dry Dock is also a must go.
Also, Ft Collins is a drive and they have some decent breweries, but if I had to pick I’d just stay in Denver and hit up all the breweries/pubs in the area. I would not go up there just to visit New Belgium and anything you drink at O’Dells (which I think is the #1 brewery up there) you can just get at a Denver pub or liquor store.
I definitely second Falling Rock Tap House – I think it’s a little bit pricey, but you can get almost anything you can think of on tap there.
There are a few places that are maybe not quite as well known as, say, New Belgium that I quite like. If you’re heading west on I-70, check out the Dillon Dam Brewery (in Dillon, a little over an hour from downtown Denver). Their lager is one of my absolute favorites. I’m also partial to the Golden City Brewery (in Golden, about 20 minutes west of downtown), which has a nice beer garden and some decent beers.
I hope you enjoy your trip.
