Headin' to Denver

I’m going to Denver in June on the weekend of the 20th and I’ll be staying out by Cherry Creek. After doing a little searching I found the best spots to be:
Pints Pub
Falling Rock Taphouse
Breckenridge Brewery
Great Divide Brewing Co
All of these happen to sound and look great from their websites. Are there any places around Cherry Creek or Washington Park that are equally good?

TIA

http://www.drydockbrewing.com/
and look RichBrewer up. It's his local.

Also try the Chili Beer at Wynkoop, which is near the ballyard.

Mountain Sun (from Boulder) just opened a pub in Denver




http://www.mountainsunpub.com/

on 17th and Vine near City Park.

If you are going to be in LoDo (ballpark area) you do need to stop off at Wynkoop for a hand pulled pint.

A block away from the Wynkoop is the Denver ChopHouse and Brewery. A good bet for a fine Pils and GREAT, if a bit expensive, food.

If the Rockies are out of town, stop by Blue Moon Brewing at the SandLot. The new name of the brewery at Coors Field. Tom and John, the brewers, are great guys and the brewing gear is pretty much state of the art for a 10 bbl system.

In Cherry Creek, the ONLY place to go is The BULL and BUSH.

Bull & Bush is in Cherry Creek and is one of the better Denver area brewpubs IMHO.

Good to see Falling Rock Taphouse on your list, a MUST stop destination.

I mean no disrespect in my next comment but Pints should be avoided at all costs for 2 reasons.

1. Their beers have not been good at all and I've tried it various times.

1.b Each time I tried the beers, the environment got a bit stranger.

2. Pints is now a full on gay bar.


Go the the Bull and the Bush. It's a great pub!

Pints Pub is one of my favorite bars in Denver. I was there when it opened and have gone there for the last 13 years.

I guess we all have an opinion.

Yeah man, don't get me wrong. It was my favorite pub as well. I mean, they have the real fish and chips and bangers and mash.
I worked just up the street and would visit nightly for a few pints of their Lancers.
I've tried it twice in recent times and both times the Lancer was pretty gnarly.
So all other matters aside, I could still go there for the scotch but I miss the old school brew. I don't think they got it anymore.

All recommendations here are good (really need to take a day trip to Boulder and try places there too). However, for a quick Italian meal and great brewed beer (5 taps), try IL Vicino at 550 Broadway (corner of Broadway and 6th). It's a small chain but the only thing I'd like to see, since I usually dine alone when travelling, is a bar for customers to sit, sip, dine, and watch sports. Regardless, this place is well worth at least one trip while in Denver.

TxBuck said:

All recommendations here are good (really need to take a day trip to Boulder and try places there too). However, for a quick Italian meal and great brewed beer (5 taps), try IL Vicino at 550 Broadway (corner of Broadway and 6th). It's a small chain but the only thing I'd like to see, since I usually dine alone when travelling, is a bar for customers to sit, sip, dine, and watch sports. Regardless, this place is well worth at least one trip while in Denver.

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Drive another 8 blocks and get this.....

http://www.breckbrew.com/food/bbq.html

Say Hi to Sara and Stewart

http://www.thecheekymonk.com/

The Cheeky Monk on Colfax is a cool place. Lots of beer on tap i've never had.

YES YES YES, Fallen Rock and Bull and Bush!

Let us not forget Oskar Blues!

No one mentioned the New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins? It's just about 15 minutes outside of Denver, if I recall correctly, and they give you free samples of their beer. It's the only place I've found where you can get La Folie, their amazing sour ale that has been aged in wine casks for like 12 years or something.

New Belgium is a fantastic tour that I would highly recommend! It is more like 45 minutes to and hour from Denver however.
I also recommend Dry Dock Brewing. It is a ways out in Aurora but they have great beers. The Dry Dock is a very small brewpub that is in the back of their home brew store The Brew Hut. Definitely worth a visit!

Gotta love Dry Dock, I am there at least once a week. Their dry stout, while not all that dry, was a damn good stout.

If you want to go on a bit of a trek to Golden, I highly recommend Golden City Brewing. Some of the best beer in Colorado to these tastebuds.

Dry Dock needs better advertising. I've been into the Brew Hut 4 or 5 times..(definitely my Favorite Brew store in Colorado!) and I've only recently noticed the brew pub in the back...and actually, I didn't want to go back there because it felt like I was peering into the storage room or somewhere that I wasn't supposed to be.

Next time, I'll just barge right in and have a pint. Hope to see some of you there.

New Belgium was an awesome place! and yeah, took us about 45 mins to get there from LoDo Denver

BigKahuna said:

Dry Dock needs better advertising. I've been into the Brew Hut 4 or 5 times..(definitely my Favorite Brew store in Colorado!) and I've only recently noticed the brew pub in the back...and actually, I didn't want to go back there because it felt like I was peering into the storage room or somewhere that I wasn't supposed to be.

Next time, I'll just barge right in and have a pint. Hope to see some of you there.

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Oh by all means go on in and have a beer!

You know, they are moving into a much larger space next door with a higher capacity brewery and they will serve food! I can't wait!

Drive out to Golden and go to Golden City. It's an awesome little local brewpub with an atmosphere you can't find at the Denver breweries.

RichBrewer said:

Oh by all means go on in and have a beer!

You know, they are moving into a much larger space next door with a higher capacity brewery and they will serve food! I can't wait!

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Rich....I'll meet you there sometime. I stop at the Brew Hut EVERY time I go to Denver. They have the best prices on glass in the country...plus I always fill a bag of caps.

BigKahuna said:

Rich....I'll meet you there sometime. I stop at the Brew Hut EVERY time I go to Denver. They have the best prices on glass in the country...plus I always fill a bag of caps.

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Let me know! Well enjoy a pint or two.

I lived in Fort Collins for seven years and went to Colorado State University. If you have time, I would definitely recommend a trip. Of course there is the New Belgium Brewery (which has a great shop for gear and apparel) and O'dell's (which has better beer), which both have excellent beer. The beer that I truly miss is not from either place. I miss Coopersmith's Brewpub. I probably went there about 100 times over three years. Every time I visit family in Colorado Springs, we absolutely have to make the four hour round-trip to Coopersmith's.

http://www.coopersmithspub.com/beer.pl

I enjoy all of the beers, but I crave my favorites. My favorite beers are the following:
1. Cask Conditioned Punjabi Pale Ale (Hanjabi)
2. Sitzman's Steam (I got to enjoy the first keg available to the public in 2002 and it was beautiful)
3. Horsetooth Stout
4. Punjabi
5. Mountain Ave Wheat
6. Scrumpy's Cider (I know, not a beer)
7. Sigda's Green Chili (ok on it's own, fantastic with a burrito)

http://www.coopersmithspub.com/pdfs/PubsideMenu.pdf

My favorite foods (in no particular order):
Bangers and Mash
Fish and Chips
Ten Mile Burrito
Tomato Mushroom Bisque Soup
Artichoke Dip (their specialty, very well received by everyone I've seen sample it)
Chicken Fuente
Johnny Cash Ring of Fire Burger (this one is no joke, only for those who love spicy food)
#4 Pizza

And the ultimate in desserts...the Horsetooth Stout Float. A half-glass of Horsetooth Stout with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream from the local creamery down the street. People may give you a funny look eating beer and ice cream together, but it is creamy and delicious.

If you are considering traveling to Fort Collins, send me a PM and I can give you more info about Fort Fun.

Eric

Yep. I stumbled through a degree up there as well.

Horsetooth Stout is fantastic!

Finally made it and ready to taste the local offerings. First, heading to the Bull & Bush.

RichBrewer said:

Let me know! Well enjoy a pint or two.

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SHOOT!
I was there on the 13th.....Friday the 13th. Oh well.
SWMBO liked the Apricot blond...so We got the stuff to make it the next morning.
nEXT TIME....I'll try and PM you.

wild Finally made it and ready to taste the local offerings. First, heading to the Bull & Bush.

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Really need to go to the Dry Dock.....THEY HAVE ESB ON NITRO TAP