Taking a Beer-cation

My friend Chrissy and I just returned from a Memorial weekend excursion to Colorado. We wanted to get away for a bit, hadn't seen each other in a while (since our trip to New Mexico in January) and the short hop to Denver was only $170. Throw in the fact that Colorado is home to an astounding number of breweries, and I was sold.

On the way there, the counter agents asked for volunteers to be bumped to the next flight. I wasn't about to do it until I heard that the next flight left in just 30 minutes. I ran to the counter to volunteer, and in exchange was given a voucher for a free ticket anywhere in the US that United flies. And my flight ended up arriving only about 15 minutes after the first one was scheduled to land. Chrissy and I met up, picked up the rental car, and drove about 20 minutes to the west side of the city to meet our Couch Surfing host.

By 1pm we were back in the city via the bus, ready to get our weekend of beer, beer, and more beer (oh and some sightseeing and all that) started. Unfortunately, the place we'd picked for lunch (Oceanaire) wasn't open until dinner. So we continued on, taking a scenic tour of downtown Denver, and growing hungrier by the minute, until we arrived at Dazzle. I'd chosen it based on its great rating on yelp, and its delicious-sounding and cheap happy hour pricing.

The place was empty but the bartender was super friendly, pouring us a few sample drinks. I opted for a single pulled-pork slider for $2 and a $5 bowl of creamy mac and cheese, while Chrissy went with two salmon and guac sliders and some crab stuffed mushrooms. Add in three drinks (for a grand total of $25 for lunch and drinks for two) and we were off to a great start on our cheap and tasty weekend.

We wandered back through the city, checking out the capitol and some big art instillations by the convention center and art museum, to the Great Divide brewery, where we had planned to take a tour of the facilities.

Instead, we grabbed a seat at the bar and ordered up two pints of a delicious chocolatey porter. The bartender asked if we wanted to take a tour and told us it was free, so we accepted. He told us it would be just a few minutes, as they wanted to get a few more people to go.

We waited and waited and then decided to partake in some of the free samples. Of course, that was when the tour started so we grabbed our little glasses (who were we to waste beer - even free beer?) and listened as the art of brewing and the history and methods of the brewery were explained to us.

Afterwards, we indulged in a few more samples - I discovered an IPA I loved - and then headed back to wander the streets again.

By this time it was nearly 7pm, so we made our way back to Oceanaire for dinner. Anyone who knows me has heard me rave about the crabcakes at Oceanaire. They aren't cheap at $31 for an entree of two cakes, but once you eat them you will be spoiled for the rest of your life. No filler and not flattened or fried, these giant balls of lump crab are legendary. With a salad, some fries, and two beers, our bills was on the high side at $65, but it was completely worth it.

On the reccomendation of our bartender, we then set off for Falling Rock Tap House in LoDo. If there is a beer heaven, this is it. The entire lenght of the bar was wall-to-wall taps dispensing craft beer from around the world.

I wanted to try everything (luckily I didn't attempt to, I may not have been able to move for the rest of the weekend). Chrissy and I chatted with some friendly locals and tried a variety of beers until finally hopping in a cab and shuffling home around 1am.

Sunday morning, determined to see more of Denver than the inside of a brewery, we headed to a mediocre (but buy one, get one free) breakfast at Govnr's Park and then wandered the beautiful Denver Botanic Garden.

Then, as it did off an on all weekend, it started to rain. As the rain began to come down harder, the sky darkened, and thunder rumbled. We decided to seek shelter at the house and ended up napping for about two hours.

That night we headed out to Buenos Aires Pizza, another yelp find, where I was hoping the empanadas and pizza would remind me of Argentina. Well, they weren't quite as good and cheap, but they were still delicious. After dinner, we took a stroll around the (in my opinion, overrated) 16th Street Mall, which was pretty much just a collection of chain restaurants and stores. We popped in for a quick drink at the divey Horseshoe Lounge and then went back to Falling Rock to sample a new variety of beers. Exhausted by midnight, we headed home.

Monday, our last day in Colorado, was to be spent exploring the great outdoors, and of course, drinking more beer - this time in Boulder. We started with a hike at beautiful Red Rocks, with me impractically dressed as ever.

From there we continued on the see the Flatirons in Boulder but again, rain thwarted us so, not up for hiking through mud, we instead settled in for lunch at Mountain Sun brewery.

This was another of my favorite stops in Colorado. The staff was super friendly, the food was delicious (my medium rare burger was perfectly cooked, tender and juicy), the beer was excellent (I tried a sampler of 6) and again we were amazed at how cheap it all was - drinks, soup, sandwich, fries, chips and guac, and a burger totalled just $28.

Obviously, a place this great brings in a big crowd. When we left it was packed with a long line, but the awesome staff was handing out free beer and food samples to the hungry masses.

By this time the rain had mostly let up, so we wandered around Pearl street, full of cute shops and boutiques, rode the Pirate Ship at a little carnival (yes, I am a child) and then made time for one last stop - the Walnut Brewery.

Not nearly as cute and cozy as Mountain Sun, Walnut still had a nice selection of beers and a friendly bartender. I opted for a delicious black lager and then, when happy hour rolled around, Chrissy and I nibbled on some soft pretzels (half off and huge enough to share and have enough to eat for dinner on the plane), before climbing back in the car and making the 30 minute drive to the airport.

The weekend went by in a blur, and I am a bit ashamed to say that we didn't really see all that much of Denver outside of pub walls, but if culture in Colorado equals beer, then Chrissy and I may have been the most cultured people in the state. Two days later and I'm still detoxing. . . and trying to convince Dan we should go back in September for the Great American Beer Festival!