A couple years ago, my best friend and I had a growing obsession with Dale's Pale Ale and Oskar Blues in general. So in May of 2009, we decided to take a road trip to Colorado to camp, hike, and visit the brewery. We drove straight to Lyons (from Albany, NY), each alternating between 5 hours of sleep and 5 hours of driving. Any stops we made were never longer than half an hour.
After 29 hours and nearly 2,000 miles, we arrived at their brewpub/grill. Victoriously, we smiled at each other, said hello to the pretty bartender, and sat down. She looked at us, put down the glass she was cleaning, and said, "Sorry guys, but we're actually not serving for another hour." Our smiles faded. Our shoulders drooped. I could have cried. We quickly told her our story, how we had endured rain, terrible truck-stop-diner food, and the seven hours of suicide-inducing nothingness that is Nebraska, ALL JUST SO WE COULD HAVE SOME FRESH DALE'S!!!
"Wow. Let me get you guys some glasses!"
We drank well that night.
The bartenders let us in on the "locals only" happy hour special of $3 pints of any of their beers. We got a cheap hotel room right across the street, literally a one minute walk. I didn't think a beer experience could get any better. But I was wrong.
The next day, we visited Oskar Blues' actual brewery, and stocked up on Ten Fidy and Gordon.
After some camping and exploring the area around Lyons, we decided to go for a hike, up some foothill (I don't remember the name, but it wasn't too far from our campsite in Estes Park). The scenery was gorgeous, the sightlines seemingly infinite. Halfway up, we were advised by Park Rangers that we really shouldn't go much further without proper ice-climbing equipment. Since we'd gone up a couple thousand feet in a few hours, we were satisfied - and thirsty.
Upon reaching the bottom, we found that we were also hungry, sweaty, tired, and enjoying a bit of a rush from all the oxygen we suddenly received at the lower elevation. Our boots came off, and we set up a little propane grill right in the parking lot. To accompany our feast of rice and beans, we had packed four Gordons into a little cooler.
It was the best beer I've ever had. The hike, the sunshine, the exhaustion - everything came together in perfect harmony. It was refreshing, crisp, and cold - just like our journey up the mountain. I was barefoot, sweaty, exhausted, and grinning from ear to ear.
Shortly after getting back from the trip, I decided to start homebrewing, as this was the closest thing to a religious experience that I'd ever felt. I got chills when I first read Papazian's story about "Mead Mountain." I knew exactly what he had felt! It's stories like these that make me love beer and take pride in my brewing.
There are certainly more refined, more expensive, and subjectively "better" beers out there, but any Oskar Blues product - especially Gordon - will always have a place in my heart (and fridge, and stomach...).
... But getting back on topic, I also love Delirium Tremens, pretty much any Dogfish Head (just tried the Aprihop - wow!), Guinness is a classic, Smuttynose Robust Porter, Victory Old Horizontal, Celebrator Dopplebock, Lagunitas IPA and Cappuccino Stout... I'm sure there are plenty I'm forgetting!
Sorry for the long post - I wanted to make my first one good
