Colorado Beer?

A friend of mine is currently snowboarding in colorado and he asked what beer i wanted him to bring back that we cant buy in florida. So my question is: what are some good micro brews up there that arent widely distributed? Thanks

Fat Tire for sure. Buddy just flew out to AZ and picked some up for us. Went to the bar last night,and somebody broke into his truck and stole the case of Fat Tire!!!!!!!!! I'm so ticked. I've yet to have any Fat Tire.

Fat tire maybe. Around here, you can't throw a rock without hitting a fat tire bottle.

I'd suggest some of the following:

O'dell's: 90 Schilling, 5 Barrel Pale Ale, IPA,
Flying Dog: K-9 Cruiser
Pretty much anything from Tommyknocker (In Idaho Springs -- if your friend is going through Denver, it's on the way)
Breckenridge: Avalanche, 471 IPA

If you like IPA's, I'd recommend the 471 IPA. Per Breckenridge:

Hoppy? Brother, 471 IPA redefines hoppy. 471 is a small batch, limited edition ale that was created by our Brewmaster to separate the weak from the strong. 471 is a double IPA, that combines Pale, Munich, Caramel-30, Carapils and Torrified Wheat malts, with Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe and Fuggles hops. It has a big sweet mouthfeel, followed by more hoppiness than you've ever had at one time. Enjoy.

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He doesn't have a suitcase big enough.

Fat tire was my first thought.

Thanks for the other suggestions jds.

thats pretty crazy freyguy.

If you can get any of the NB sour ales, it would be worth it, as there are very few US commerial examples of this style.

Eric's Ale
Love
La Folie

It seems so funny, hearing that someone is having trouble getting a New Belgium beer, especially Fat Tire. In the Seattle area, it is the common "on sale" cheap 1/2 case beer at Safeway and a bunch of the other stores. Half of my bottles are NB bottles that I saved from personal consumption.

NB isn't/wasn't available east of the Mississip.
I understand that Chicago may get it now.

Chicago has it, have for almost 2 years now, IIRC, but even in Iowa, we just got it in Sept, so it hasn't made it that far east yet.

Left Hand
Avery
Great Divide
Oscar Blues

we have fat tire here, but I haven't seen any other New Belgium products.

I was just there 2 weeks ago... Ska Brewing's Milk stout was pretty awesome.

Brewtopia said:

Left Hand
Avery
Great Divide
Oscar Blues

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I tried Gread Divide's barley wine about a week ago...
wow...
what a beer.
you most definitely don't chug that one down...

rabidgerbil said:

I tried Gread Divide's barley wine about a week ago...
wow...
what a beer.
you most definitely don't chug that one down...

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Great Divide has alot of great beers. We took the tour up there a few weeks ago along with a 2nd trip to Flying Dog before shutting down/moving.

I was surprised at how much my girl loved their barleywine. She made sure to try the 08 Old Guardian from Stone and loves that as well. I can say that the barleywine from Great Divide got her hooked.

Another vote for the small batch 471 from Breckenridge. Good stuff

Old Ruffian (the GD Barleywine) is still in my top 3 beers of all time. Yum.

Oskar Blues - not just for the novelty of drinking ale from a can, it's actually really damn good!

I'm a big fan of O'Dell brewing: 5 Barrel Pale Ale, Extra Special Red, Cutthroat Porter, 90 Shilling Amber. I've yet to try the IPA but hope to remedy that soon.

New Belgium is OK, but I don't think I'd pack a single one their brews in my suitcase with all the other tasty beer that Colorado has to offer.

+1 on the Oskar blues. It comes in a can, and you can't beat that. There are at least four canned offerings by these guys,and they are ALL good.
Here's what you can get:
Old Chub- Scotch Ale
Dales Pale Ale- Pale ale
Gordon- Hop Bomb
Ten Fidy- Imperial Stout.
Cans are easy to transport, and more difficult to break then glass, they are compact, and travel well.
All those others mentioned are good, but I'm thinking portability!