Beer Geeks ITT

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

So, leaving Saturday for what has seemingly become almost an annual pilgrimage to Ft. Collins and the Rockies.

Breweries for sure we're hitting:

• Funkwerks
• Funkwerks new Jessup Farms Barrel House
• Odell
• New Belgium
• Equinox
• Great Divide and probably their new Barrel Bar
• Crooked Stave
• Ratio Beerworks

Maybe:

Spangalang
Oskar Blues

In between, planning on scaling 3 14ers.

 

[Ostatedchi]

Oskar Blues and their restaurant
Left Hand
Avery
Redstone Meadery
Boulder Brewing
Coopersmith's
C B and Pots
Balistreri Vineyards

 

[Colorado_Poke]

C B and Pots

 

[EvilPOKES]

Recently met the brew master at New Belgium. He was doing s site survey for the Upland Brewery guys and we just happened to be there, too. Guy is a beer rocket scientist and a super interesting guy. Enjoy your pilgrimage.

 

[Ostatedchi]

The wife likes it.

 

[Dally1up]

Can't usually stand New Belgium stuff. I call it the Abita of the Rockies although I did break down and try a Citradelic Tangerine IPA the other day. Not bad.

 

[WCPoke]

So, leaving Saturday for what has seemingly become almost an annual pilgrimage to Ft. Collins and the Rockies.

Breweries for sure we're hitting:

• Funkwerks
• Funkwerks new Jessup Farms Barrel House
• Odell
• New Belgium
• Equinox
• Great Divide and probably their new Barrel Bar
• Crooked Stave
• Ratio Beerworks

Maybe:

Spangalang
Oskar Blues

In between, planning on scaling 3 14ers.

Great Divide is a great place to sit and sample a few on their deck/patio. Cheers!

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Can't usually stand New Belgium stuff. I call it the Abita of the Rockies although I did break down and try a Citradelic Tangerine IPA the other day. Not bad.

I'm not a big NB fan either (I'm a fan of their business, but not most of their beers). We skipped their brewery last year when we went to Fort Collins. So I want to go this year, and, from what I understand, they have quite a few generally at the brewery that are quite good.

 

[3Gamma]

So, leaving Saturday for what has seemingly become almost an annual pilgrimage to Ft. Collins and the Rockies.

Breweries for sure we're hitting:

• Funkwerks
• Funkwerks new Jessup Farms Barrel House
• Odell
• New Belgium
• Equinox
• Great Divide and probably their new Barrel Bar
• Crooked Stave
• Ratio Beerworks

Maybe:

Spangalang
Oskar Blues

In between, planning on scaling 3 14ers.

Just in case all those other breweries suck, take along some Black Mesa ESB or Kolsch. Can't beat Oklahoma brews, and better yet, it's Cowboy owned and operated.

 

[parlayn_poke]

Oskar Blues and their restaurant
Left Hand
Avery
Redstone Meadery
Boulder Brewing
Coopersmith's
C B and Pots
Balistreri Vineyards

Coopersmith's and CB & Potts?

 

[parlayn_poke]

So, leaving Saturday for what has seemingly become almost an annual pilgrimage to Ft. Collins and the Rockies.

Breweries for sure we're hitting:

• Funkwerks
• Funkwerks new Jessup Farms Barrel House
• Odell
• New Belgium
• Equinox
• Great Divide and probably their new Barrel Bar
• Crooked Stave
• Ratio Beerworks

Maybe:

Spangalang
Oskar Blues

In between, planning on scaling 3 14ers.

Would definitely get Oskar Blues and Avery in... Jessup Farms is a really cool place. Probably take off New Belgium. Beer sucks and I hear it's a clown show over there with their construction going on.

 

[parlayn_poke]

Just in case all those other breweries suck, take along some Black Mesa ESB or Kolsch. Can't beat Oklahoma brews, and better yet, it's Cowboy owned and operated.

 

[dtspoke]

I'm not a huge fan of Bristol, but their new location is cool.

 

[Cowguy]

If you haven't done Oskar, I'd do that. I really enjoyed crooked stave as well.

 

[trapped_in_tx]

So, leaving Saturday for what has seemingly become almost an annual pilgrimage to Ft. Collins and the Rockies.

Breweries for sure we're hitting:

• Funkwerks
• Funkwerks new Jessup Farms Barrel House
• Odell
• New Belgium
• Equinox
• Great Divide and probably their new Barrel Bar
• Crooked Stave
• Ratio Beerworks

Maybe:

Spangalang
Oskar Blues

In between, planning on scaling 3 14ers.

Oskar Blues is impressive from a brewery tour perspective. I'm not a huge fan of their beer because I'm not a huge fan of crazy amounts of hops, but they have two or three brews I like.

Try to stop by Goßen Bart and Wibby. I highly recommend the amber at GB and Wibby has a great location in addition to good beer. Personally I like their Sunshine Helles but there's other good stuff there.

If you are going to be in Longmont at one of these joints let me know and I'll buy you a pint.

 

[Cowguy]

This seems as good a place as any to put this ...

Choc just bought Prairie.

 

[Ostatedchi]

This seems as good a place as any to put this ...

Choc just bought Prairie.

 

[WCPoke]

This seems as good a place as any to put this ...

Choc just bought Prairie.

Boo

 

[Cowguy]

Boo

Yeah sort of my thoughts too. They swear it won't impact the brand ... We'll see.

 

[Dally1up]

Picked up some lagunitas little sumpin sumpin tonight. Will try over holiday .

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Ok, back from my Colorado adventure. 13 breweries and 2 14ers summitted in 7 days.

Here are the breweries visited:

• New Belgium
• Odell
• Ft. Collins Brewery
• Jessup Farm Barrel House (owned by Funkwerks guys)
• Equinox
• Funkwerks
• Dillon Dam Brewery
• Breckenridge
• Great Divide
• Ratio Beerworks
• Epic
• Crooked Stave
• Rock Bottom

So, Rock Bottom is more of a restaurant that brews beer, and Fort Collins and Dillon Dam are sort of too. All are skip able but all also have some good beers.

If you like sours, Crooked Stave is not to be missed. It is in an incredibly cool space in the RiNo district of Denver. Ratio is owned by fiormer punk rockers who learned their trade while touring in Germany. In an old warehouse in RiNo, cool beer garden, and exceptionally good French style saison. You need to like pretty loud music, but it wasn't overwhelming.

Funkwerks is just a great place to enjoy beers, mostly Belgian styles. Their Saison and Tropic King are exceptional, pretty much all their beers are great. The Jessup Farm Barrel House is owned by Funkwerks. It's a great space for an afternoon session. It's a large old barn, with the barrels and some brewing apparatus downstairs and the bar and taps up.

I'm NOT a New Belgium guy. But, their taproom is a great place to have a beer. They have a bunch of lesser known beers, from their "Lips of Faith" series, that are really good. One I liked in particular was Lychee Tart. I wouldn't say that the construction was any real big issue.

The 14ers we topped were Grays and Quandary.

 

[anon_ph7vrsh7abnty]

Ok, back from my Colorado adventure. 13 breweries and 2 14ers summitted in 7 days.

Here are the breweries visited:

• New Belgium
• Odell
• Ft. Collins Brewery
• Jessup Farm Barrel House (owned by Funkwerks guys)
• Equinox
• Funkwerks
• Dillon Dam Brewery
• Breckenridge
• Great Divide
• Ratio Beerworks
• Epic
• Crooked Stave
• Rock Bottom

So, Rock Bottom is more of a restaurant that brews beer, and Fort Collins and Dillon Dam are sort of too. All are skip able but all also have some good beers.

If you like sours, Crooked Stave is not to be missed. It is in an incredibly cool space in the RiNo district of Denver. Ratio is owned by fiormer punk rockers who learned their trade while touring in Germany. In an old warehouse in RiNo, cool beer garden, and exceptionally good French style saison. You need to like pretty loud music, but it wasn't overwhelming.

Funkwerks is just a great place to enjoy beers, mostly Belgian styles. Their Saison and Tropic King are exceptional, pretty much all their beers are great. The Jessup Farm Barrel House is owned by Funkwerks. It's a great space for an afternoon session. It's a large old barn, with the barrels and some brewing apparatus downstairs and the bar and taps up.

I'm NOT a New Belgium guy. But, their taproom is a great place to have a beer. They have a bunch of lesser known beers, from their "Lips of Faith" series, are really good. One I liked in particular was Lychee Tart. I wouldn't say that the construction was any real big issue.

The 14ers we topped were Grays and Quandary.

Wait a sec. Do I know you?

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Wait a sec. Do I know you?

Yes. We've met. I went with your brother.

 

[anon_ph7vrsh7abnty]

Yes. We've met. I went with your brother.

Looser

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Looser

I know!

 

[Ostatedchi]

No Oskar Blues or Left Hand. Well, you have to have something for the next time up there.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

No Oskar Blues or Left Hand. Well, you have to have something for the next time up there.

Yeah, we talked about both, especially Oskar Blues, just sort of didn't fit with the rest of our plan.

 

[CarrolltonPoke]

Sounds like a great trip! I am headed to GABF this fall and will probably go up the weekend before in order to hit some breweries before the masses arrive. I am looking forward to visiting some that I missed the last time I was in the area.

 

[CarrolltonPoke]

This seems as good a place as any to put this ...

Choc just bought Prairie.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. As most of you know, Choc brews most of their beers anyway. I stopped by Choc a couple of years ago when I was headed up to Tulsa for a visit. I ended up talking to Mike Lalli, their head brewer, for a long time and was very impressed. Prairie has a good thing going with a national reputation, so hopefully the transition goes smoothly.

On a related note, I was in Tulsa on Friday and checked out the new Prairie Brewpub. It is very nice and in a great people-watching location. Parking was a pain because it was "First Friday" but I was able to get in and find bar seating easily. Great mix of guest beers and of course their own stuff. I tried several Prairie beers that were brewpub exclusives (or at least not beers that they bottle). They have some great sessionable beers including a Saison, pale ale, and a Berliner weisse. I had to drive so I avoided their heavy hitters but they had several on tap.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Sounds like a great trip! I am headed to GABF this fall and will probably go up the weekend before in order to hit some breweries before the masses arrive. I am looking forward to visiting some that I missed the last time I was in the area.

in Denver, I'd strongly recommend you hit Crooked Stave and Ratio.

 

[Dally1up]

Enjoyed a Surly Furious IPA last night out of State and it lives up to its reviews and rankings. Anyone know if we can get it in Oklahoma?

 

[CowboyJD]

Yeah sort of my thoughts too. They swear it won't impact the brand ... We'll see.

My understanding is Chase Healey...Prairie's primary brewer...is focusing on his side project American Solera. I think the change in ownership is likely to impact the quality of the beer.

 

[CowboyJD]

St. Louis brewery tour this past Sunday.

Alpha Brewing
Urban Chestnut
Schlafly
4 Hands
Earthbound

 

[parlayn_poke]

My understanding is Chase Healey...Prairie's primary brewer...is focusing on his side project American Solera. I think the change in ownership is likely to impact the quality of the beer.

Perhaps it will affect any new beers coming out under the Prairie label, but I am struggling to understand how it would impact any of their past beers? They've been brewing at Choc since their inception.

 

[CowboyJD]

Perhaps it will affect any new beers coming out under the Prairie label, but I am struggling to understand how it would impact any of their past beers? They've been brewing at Choc since their inception.

1. Healey has been brewing at Choc. If he is not focused on quality control for the ongoing brands, that can affect quality, but...

2. I was primarily talking about quality of new beers coming out under the Prairie name.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Prairie has a new imperial stout called Paradise, that blows away their Bomb, IMO. I've had several on tap at the new brewpub in the Brady District.

 

[Cowguy]

Prairie has a new imperial stout called Paradise, that blows away their Bomb, IMO. I've had several on tap at the new brewpub in the Brady District.

How's the food there? They are opening one in OKC as well I just saw.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

How's the food there? They are opening one in OKC as well I just saw.

Very good pub/gastro-pub type food.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

BTW, Marshall's restaurant/pub is getting ready to open next to Oneok Field. They are in partnership with Elliot Nelson, the McNellies guy. Prairie partners with the guys that own R Bar on Brookside. The R Bar guys are getting set to open a "prohibition" themed gastro pub right across form my office on Cherry St. called Roosevelt's that look incredible. Huge outdoor seating areas, with fireplace and 100+ beers on tap.