Last weekend we took a trip to Denver, Colorado and ventured into higher altitude for the Great American Beer Festival (post coming soon).   We had a lot of extra time to check out Denver breweries, as well as make a trip north to Fort Collins. 

Our day trip to Fort Collins was my favorite part of our trip.  The hour drive North with the mountain views to our West was so relaxing and beautiful.  Upon our arrival in Fort Collins we made our way to the downtown shopping center.  The first stop we made was to a candy shop so I could re-live my childhood growing-up in Colorado (Cinnamon Candy).  We then made our way to the Fort Collins Bike Library to rent some bicycles for a brewery tour.  We picked-up our FREE bicycles, threw the camera on our backs, and headed off to explore. 

The breweries in Colorado are beautiful!  The buildings are more like mountain lodges; not old warehouses like they are here in Texas.  The-old-school prohibition laws make a big difference in Texas, but still!  Being a Sunday, most of the breweries were closed, but we had a great time riding around.

1. Odell Brewing Company – We really wanted to try some Odell beers in this gorgeous building, but they were closed, so we took a peak in the windows and went on our happy way. 

2. Funkwerks – FAVORITE BEER I HAD THE ENTIRE WEEKEND!  Keep in mind I probably tried over 100 different beers on our Colorado trip because of the GABF, but of everything I had I cannot forget the Green Tea Saison from Funkwerks.  The beer was incredible, but they do not bottle it so I won’t have it ever again….how sad! 

3. Fort Collin’s Brewery – I was not very impressed with Fort Collins Brewery, but they were open and it was hot so we went inside.  Fort Collins is more of a Brew-Pub than a brewery but I did enjoy their Major Tom’s American Wheat Beer brewed with Pomegranates. 

4. New Belgium – New Belgium’s brewery was the most impressive brewery I have ever seen, it looked like a college campus.  Again, so sad it was closed! 

5. Equinox Brewing – I did not like any beers Equinox had, but the boys did and the logo is pretty cool!

6. Pateros Creek Brewing – This tiny building was not like the other breweries, but it was still a stop for us.  The menu had some fabulous beer selections….they were sold out of all the ones I wanted, ha!  The three of us decided to share a flight of what they had left on tap.

7. Cooper Smiths Pub – The only reason we stopped at this massive pool hall was because it was the last brewery on the list and we didn’t want to say we didn’t visit them all.  We got a flight of six to share, they were meh!  The Green Chili beer was probably the only good one, it would be great as a Michelada. 

_______

If you ever find yourself in Colorado, make a trip to For Collins, rent a bike, and take a tour of the local breweries.  Even if you don’t like beer you will have a good time.

Of course with all of the beer we had I needed something to eat….