Going to Denver in July, suggestions for breweries?

Hey everyone, my girlfriend got us tickets to Red Rocks in July. Crossing off a musical bucket list item and I'm psyched. I've never been to Denver (or CO) before. I'm looking for suggestions on breweries and tasting rooms, etc. I know Denver has a crap load of breweries and I've read various things. But I want to find out from the locals or people with intimate knowledge of Denver where I REALLY need to go. We're both big fans of sours, stouts, IPAs, wilds, really just about anything. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Crooked Stave! Im heading for the first time this summer to Denver as well. Don't know of any other brewers besides Coors! Crooked Stave has some amazing sours!

By far the best brewery tour I have ever been to yet was New Belgium. They do a knock up job, and you won't end the tour sober. Trust me. I was more than a little buzzed as I walked out. By far the best one yet.

Definitely hitting up Crooked Stave. I just had some of their beers recently and definitely want to go there. New Belgium is also on my list for sure!

Hopefully not derailing here, but who are you seeing @ Red Rocks?

As far as a small brewery and taproom, I enjoyed the beers at Beryl's Beer Co. Some interesting barrel aged stuff. http://www.berylsbeerco.com/

In the same neighborhood as Crooked Stave.

Ive been to Grist brewing and it was awesome, definitely would recommend that place. Blue Spruce brewing was a cool little place with some unique beers that is run by two former teachers. I also heard this morning that Fiction has an awesome double IPA that is on the same level of deliciousness as Stone's Green Tea IPA. If you somehow end up in Colorado Springs make your way to Trinity.

Ewow said:

Hopefully not derailing here, but who are you seeing @ Red Rocks?

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No worries at all! Umphrey's McGee. One of my favorites, so it's even sweeter to see them for my first RR show.

bucketnative said:

As far as a small brewery and taproom, I enjoyed the beers at Beryl's Beer Co. Some interesting barrel aged stuff. http://www.berylsbeerco.com/

In the same neighborhood as Crooked Stave.

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Sounds like another good one. I'm adding this to the list. You sold me hook line and sinker with the BA stuff.

If you're already heading to Fort Collins for New Belgium, then make sure you also hit Odell and Funkwerks.

It's way out of your way, but if you like Sours, I personally think Trinity in Colorado Springs does them the best in the state. I realize that's sacrilege considering Crooked Stave, who I love, is also here, but it's my opinion.

For IPAs, Comerade Brewing in Denver is great, Avery and Odell make well known ones, I think Incredible Pedal IPA from Denver Beer Co is one of the best in town. Titan from Great Divide is good. You should go to Great Divide regardless. Epic has a great tasting room downtown.

Hmmmmm.....thinking.....

For German beers (and you'd already be up that way for New Belgium), Grimm Brothers in Loveland is great.

Left Hand in Longmont is also very good.

There are a ton of others, but those would be my highlights.

Have fun!

Dan

TravelingLight said:

No worries at all! Umphrey's McGee. One of my favorites, so it's even sweeter to see them for my first RR show.

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Dude, my bad. Things got away from me since asking this question. I'll be @ RR in July as well though it sounds like it will be for a different show. UM will be amazing. Hope it's a great trip!

If you drive up to Fort Collins for New Belgium don't miss Odell's they are all about the hops and a great patio to enjoy a beer on a warm summer day. If you make the drive also stop at high hops off i25 in windsor. They have a few acre hop farm next to the brewery in July should be a nice view.

There are over 70 breweries in the metro Denver area.

Denver Brewery Guide lists most of them.

Some of my personal favorites are Station 26 Brewing (I work there), Comrade Brewing, Cannonball Creek Brewing, Call To Arms Brewing, Hogshead Brewing (English styles and Cask conditioned pulled with a hand pump) and Yak and Yeti.

There are some fabulous tap rooms that just serve Colorado Brewed Beer: Stapleton Tap House, Colorado Plus (they brew their own and serve about 20 other beers), Alamo Draft House (movie theater with a great bar that serves food and drinks during the films).

There are also some world class bars that offer more than just CO beer but do a very good selection from the home state: Falling Rock Tap House (consistently in the top five beer bars in the country. You can usually find Pliny the Elder on tap along with Superpower from Comrade and Juicy Banger from Station 26. Over 70 beer on tap at any one time. Beer List, FreshCraft, and Hops and Pie, to just name a few.

Denver IS a beer town. It will be very hard NOT to find a great beer. Most of the breweries are draft only so there is not a lot of trading or national notice. When you get into town be open and try lots of stuff. You will be rewarded.

Wayne1 said:

There are over 70 breweries in the metro Denver area.

Denver Brewery Guide lists most of them.

Some of my personal favorites are Station 26 Brewing (I work there), Comrade Brewing, Cannonball Creek Brewing, Call To Arms Brewing, Hogshead Brewing (English styles and Cask conditioned pulled with a hand pump) and Yak and Yeti.

There are some fabulous tap rooms that just serve Colorado Brewed Beer: Stapleton Tap House, Colorado Plus (they brew their own and serve about 20 other beers), Alamo Draft House (movie theater with a great bar that serves food and drinks during the films).

There are also some world class bars that offer more than just CO beer but do a very good selection from the home state: Falling Rock Tap House (consistently in the top five beer bars in the country. You can usually find Pliny the Elder on tap along with Superpower from Comrade and Juicy Banger from Station 26. Over 70 beer on tap at any one time. Beer List, FreshCraft, and Hops and Pie, to just name a few.

Denver IS a beer town. It will be very hard NOT to find a great beer. Most of the breweries are draft only so there is not a lot of trading or national notice. When you get into town be open and try lots of stuff. You will be rewarded.

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Dude. This is fantastic. Thank you so much. This is exactly what I was looking for. And I will definitely be coming by Station 26 for some beers as a thank you for all the great information. I had heard good things about Falling Rock as well. I've also heard good things about Former Future (sours), Beryl's (interesting BA beers), and Blue Spruce (unique beers). Plan on hitting those up as well. Thanks again.

I always make a stop at Strange Craft Beer Company when I'm in Denver. Nice folks. I also try to visit TRVE and Ratio if I have time.

If you like whisky, then check out Pints Pub. It's a nice English brewpub with cask ale and what they claim is the largest selection of single malt whisky in the world.

Falling Rock tap house down town,,, best list you'll ever see

I second Hogshead! One of my favorites. Don't forget Prost! Great german style lagers.

Great Divide - Maybe not the first but the most prominent brewery when the Denver boom started. Go to the original taproom on 22nd and Arapahoe. I would suggest Great Divide just because it was where a lot of Denver craft beer started.

Avery Brewing - Make a stop in Boulder and go to Avery. Very good food and great brews. You can make reservations. Boulder is an hour away from Denver, but Avery is worth it. You can also visit Odd13, Powder Keg, and others around Boulder if you want. Avery's specialty is barrel aged beers.

Crooked Stave - Specializes in sours. It's right downtown and probably a $5-$10 cab ride from Great Divide.

Prost - Prost was created when a German brewery was purchased and literally moved to Denver. They buy authentic German hops, use German recipes, and all the brewery setup is from the German brewery. They transplanted the place to Denver. You're going to find all your classic German styles at this place. Also downtown and also a $5-$10 cab ride from the others (by the way, I say cab rides on these but Uber is alive and healthy in Denver. You can also get around using Car2Go).

Copper Kettle - Copper Kettle is going to be 15-20 mins out of your way from downtown, but it's my favorite. Well balanced beers all around. You're going to find an assortment of beers here but they're best known for their Chocolate Mexican Stout. I rarely drink that beer though when I am there because I've found almost everything great that they serve.

Old Mine - Halfway between Denver and Fort Collins, Old Mine is in Erie. They do mostly ciders - great ciders. But they also have a bomber list that's fantastic.

Falling Rock - Everyone's already said this one, but they are a tap room with lots of great beers. Alternatives are First Draft (Denver) and The Mayor Of Old Town (Fort Collins)

Weldworks - Located in Greeley (about 30 mins from Fort Collins), Weldworks is on the voting list for top 10 best new breweries in the US. I haven't been there yet, but it's on my To-Do list. It's getting rave reviews.

Casey Brewing and Blending - If you truly want to go crazy for sours, Casey is located in Glenwood Springs about 3 hours from Denver. Glenwood Springs has hot springs, so maybe you can spend a night there and relax. But here's the trick - they are only open one day a month. They sell bottles of their stuff and have a tasting room. You'll have to follow them on facebook, buy tickets (they sell out quickly), and hope that the tap release day falls on one of your days here. But it's supposedly World Class sours.


Hope that helps

bondra76 said:

Casey Brewing and Blending - If you truly want to go crazy for sours, Casey is located in Glenwood Springs about 3 hours from Denver. Glenwood Springs has hot springs, so maybe you can spend a night there and relax. But here's the trick - they are only open one day a month. They sell bottles of their stuff and have a tasting room. You'll have to follow them on facebook, buy tickets (they sell out quickly), and hope that the tap release day falls on one of your days here. But it's supposedly World Class sours.


Hope that helps

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Was not aware of Casey! That sounds awesome. I don't know if we will be able to make it out to Glenwood, but I am definitely interested in this now...

I can say Casey is amazing. They release their beer the first weekend of the month and there a few liqour stores in denver you can find it. If you are coming out later then the first weekend I normally keep one or two in my cellar if you want to work a trade.