Colorado Breweries and Restaurants

The land of brews, in my opinion, is Colorado. There are numerous breweries throughout the state, including my personal favorite, New Belgium. I was introduced to New Belgium in the winter of 2005 by a good friend of mine Seth Wilcher. Their Amber Ale, Fat Tire, has been my favorite beer since. New Belgium is located in Fort Collins, CO. It sits about an hour and 15 minutes north of Denver, or 2 Hours if Seth is driving. The brew tour is awesome, as are most of the people that work there (plan on arriving early if you are going to take the tour as they fill up fast). If you do the tour, make a special request and ask for Earl. I can't imagine anyone else giving a better tour than he does. Try the New Belgium Trippel while you are there, its over 8% alcohol by volume. Down the street from New Belgium is the Odell Brewery. It's considerably smaller than New Belgium, but offers some outstanding beers including 90 Schilling. They have a bar inside the brewery where you can buy a pint or sampler, as well as some souvenirs. The beers are cheap at $3.00 and the merchandise is pretty reasonable as well. The tour isn't quite as in depth as the New Belgium, but is fun nonetheless. After a day at the breweries, you can hit up the brew pub in downtown Ft. Collins, Coopersmith's. They have some good beer and good food. Downtown Ft. Collins is also pretty cool. If you head back to Denver, there are several breweries to hit up. First is Wynkoop, located near Wynkoop and 16th. Wynkoop is a very cool place, with great bison burgers and numerous pool tables, shuffleboard tables and dart boards. What Wynkoop lacks, is good beer. Of all the breweries that I have been too, this is one of the worst for beer. Most beers lack flavor and taste flat. My recommendation, stop in for some food, then head over to Breckenridge Brewery, which is located off of Blake Street on the north side of Coors Field. Try and Avalanche Ale and shoot some pool. They also have good food for you to try out. Just down the street from Breckenridge is Blake Street Tavern, which is attached to Flying Dog Brewery. Being an avid Georgia Bulldogs fan, Blake Street plays host to the UGA Alumni Club on Saturday's during the fall. The LSU Alumni Club also spends its Saturday's at Blake Street. If you are in Denver on Oct. 25th 2008, stop by Blake Street as it sure to be some sight with a host of Bulldog and Tiger fans. As for the beers, the Snake Dog is offered as the special of the day on Saturday's, therefore, it's what I drink. It's also a very tasty beer, considerably different on draft, compared to the bottle. For those that don't like the IPA's, you might want to try the Tire Bite, Caroline's favorite of the bunch. If you want to try out another place late night, I recommend, Celtic Tavern at 1801 Blake Street. They offer numerous beers on draft and in the bottle, as well as mini-bowling. For those that have never done mini-bowling, its quite the addictive sport. The cost is about $4 per game, and the ball is about the size of your hand while the lane is cut in half in length and width. The pins are on puppet strings and bowling shoes are not required. Personally, I am pretty terrible at it, but its a lot of fun, especially while drinking. Other restaurants of interest in the Denver area include College Inn for the best Hot Wings in Denver, very meaty and numerous choices of sauces along with My Brother's Bar, located near the huge REI store off of 15th Street. It offers up the best Bison burger in town and for those that like it, I hear the Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burger is a delight on the palate. Another bar of interest in the area is El Chipultepec. It holds a special place in my heart as this is where I had my first taste of the wonderful New Belgium creation, Fat Tire. Live Jazz is also a reason to hit up this hot spot.

In-N-Out Burger (West Coast)

For those of you that have not traveled to the west coast, you have missed out on what I consider to be the best fast food on the planet. In-N-Out burger with locations throughout California, as well as Phoenix, Las Vegas and Reno, is phenomenal. The menu is simple with the only options consisting of a single, a single with cheese or a double-double. They have one size of french fries, 3 varieties of milk shakes and several diffrent fountain drinks. The burgers come with some kind of special sauce that I won't touch, but I hear that its pretty amazing for those that are adventurous enough to give it a whirl. The fries are fresh potatoes that are cut diced and dropped straight into the fryer, not stored in some freezer like all other fast food places. Buns are slightly toasted on the burgers which adds to the overall taste considerably. Simply put, In-N-Out is amazing and I wish that they would venture away from the west coast and open up some more locations. If you are out west, stop by and you will understand why there is a 10-20 minute drive-thru line at every location regardless of the time of day.