Shout out to Nick @ Stags head!!! Go see this man!!
Phil’s First-Oskar Blues G’Knight – Always my favorite from Oskar. Holds up at this great event. Just the right malty seedbeds with a hoppy bite to start the night off.
Brad’s First- Oskar Blues Ten Fidy – what else on a hot night but a stout… Wait… Somethings are just so good you need to get them. With no Hungarian Oak Aged available (See: The Pony Bar Oskar Blues Night) I settled on a brew I always enjoy – Ten Fidy, dark, malty and delicious.
Brad’s Second- Two Brothers Northwind Imperial Stout – I like a lot of stuff Two Brothers does, but this is no Imperial Stout, not nearly as heavy as the Ten Fidy, but this is unfair – like trying to follow Michael Jordan you’re never gonna be as good (Read: LeBron James).
Phil’s Second- Two Brothers Northwind Imperial Stout – thankfully I don’t really like basketball so I’m unbiased to my interpertaion…….and that means I liked it. Good and deep malty roasted goodness with a nice coffee sidecar attachment to the flavor. Definitely a repeat offender for my Taste buds.
Phil’s Third-Left Hand Sawtooth – always a fantastic way to round out the evening. This is one I never fail to have if it’s offered. Perfect for the back of the bell curve.
Brad’s Third-21st Amendment Monks Blood – classic, I’ve had this on tap a couple places and this is always enjoyable. This doesn’t taste like rotten fruit (Phil) but like a nice mixture of light fruity taste but still a beer. No overpowering notes makes this very light and drinkable.
Deep in the heart of Old Town Fort Collins you’ll find one of the most famous brewpubs in Colorado, Coopersmith’s Pub and Brewing. As the story goes, Coopersmith’s was founded in 1989 after John Hickenlooper had started the Wynkoop brewery in Lower Downtown (LoDo) Denver, and using that same formula created Coopersmith’s in Old Town, which was struggling to attract businesses and customers the same way LoDo was at the time. Coopersmith’s has a large fermenting tank outside and they do a lot of their brewing in the basement which is a self guided tour when you walk in and head down the stairs. Overall the beers are good, nothing outstanding but drinkable and the atmosphere was a little too family friendly. We did enjoy what they were trying to do in creating a brewpub with good beer and avoiding the Coors Light on tap to keep the highheels and popped collars out.
I had the Horsetooth Stout, and being a big stout fan, it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had. It had good flavor, slightly watery but didn’t really pick a style – not creamy enough for a milk stout, not dry enough for the Irish Dry style, no texture or flavor for a Oatmeal stout, and not enough roasted malts to create a bitter Coffee stout flavor.
Graham had the Punjabi Pale Ale that claimed to be a IPA, but Graham being a huge hophead felt the beer was too heavy on the malts and not enough hop flavor… To each their own I guess.
Phil had the Sigda Green Chili beer. This beer was a bit of a novelty for us New Yorkers visiting the Wild West. After each of us tasted it we felt it was too strong on the Green Chili taste and light on the beer taste.
Coopersmith’s Brew Pub is located in the heart of Old Town Fort Collins at 5 Old Town Square, Fort Collins, Colorado. The Brew Pub serves food and is open from 11am to 11pm Sunday through Thursday and 11am to 1am Friday and Saturday.
Today we reach back into the archives for a review from our Colorado Brewery Tour 2010 when we tried Ska Brewing Company’s Modus Hoperandi. Growing up in Colorado I was familiar with this brewery because of friends that lived in Durango and I’ve always enjoyed their Pinstripe Red Ale, but the tour guide from Oskar Blues suggested we try the Modus Hoperandi, and let’s face it – we do anything a brewery tour guide says. Beer! Cans! Not making Decisions!
Central City is a small Colorado Gambling town with a big heart. Located 45 minutes West of Denver, Central City is often over-shadowed by Blackhawk which is a slightly large gambling town down the road, before you get to Central City, but one thing that Blackhawk will never have is the Dostal Alley Brewpub and Casino. Dostal Alley is a casino, family dining establishment, and brew pub – but just like the hills of Colorado – there’s some hidden gold, you just have to pan for it. Dostal Alley offers a variety of beer styles including their own Root beer and cream soda which are worth the in-between of a stout and porter. The brewmaster Buddy Schmalz discusses the history of brewing (with Dave Thomas) in Gilpin County and continues the tradition while also adding to it. (more…)
It’s that time of year where EVERYONE is swept up in the madness… yes – Beer Friends Final Four Beer Bracket is BACK!
Forget Louisville in the First Round and bubble teams, we’re talking ales in the First Round and drinking the suds…
This year we (kinda) followed a regional bracket match up instead of the style like last year.
Brad’s Bracket includes beers from Colorado and the Michigan area (somehow Great Lakes snuck in there…). Vote your favorite brew through and pick that Cinderella team, sorry, stout. Pick the winner and hold it over your friends heads until the next year (Brooklyn’s Dark Matter anyone?) Beer! Voting!
The 1 vs 16 match up pits Last Years winner, New Belgium’s Fat Tire against a stout from Boulder – Avery’s Out of Bounds Stout. The Out of Bounds was delicious when infused with coffee, but Fat Tire seems like the fan favorite – should be interesting. See more of this entry for voting!
This week’s Six Pack of the Week (SPotW) comes from Longmont, Colorado, Gordon from the Oskar Blues Brewery. This was a highlight on the Colorado Brewery tour in August and most Beer Friends will jump at the chance to order a Oskar Blues beer on draft.
Throughout the review you’ll notice the Beer Friends constantly on their phones – this isn’t because we don’t care what each other is saying but more that we were trying to find out more info on Gordon. What we found out: Gordon is classified as a mixture between a Imperial Red and Double IPA BUT is now discontinued in favor of G’Knight a Imperial Red from Oskar Blues. So yeah… beer!
The Breckenridge Brewery is a favorite of Colorado folks with a few locations all over the state. While the Original Brewery and Pub is located on South Main Street in Breckenridge, they have a location on Blake St. Denver across from Coors Field, a BBQ joint and brewpub in Denver, and a Ale House in Grand Junction. Known for delicious beers, Breckenridge has a firm foothold in the brewery rich Colorado beer scene and doesn’t look to be letting up any time soon. On the recent Beer Friends Colorado Brewery tour we visited the Blake Street location to try a few beers and chat up a few bartenders.
A few details on the beers:
Avalanche Ale is one of their most popular beers and for good reason, this amber ale gives the famous Fat Tire a run for it’s money in the amber scene across Colorado. While Fat Tire is more readily available, strike up a conversation about Avalanche Ale with a bartender and prepare yourself for a detailed argument.
Boom goes the Dynamite! and another month of Daily Beer Calendar polls and results… This last round takes us into March – which means the Second Annual BFFF! Stay tuned for details!
While almost everyone has heard of New Belgium Brewery, Fort Collins has another major player in beer brewing and sales, Odell’s Brewing Company. A little lesser known, but the quality of everything they do is outstanding. The Beer Friends visited on a Saturday and they happen to be setting up for a party that started at 2pm – which every Saturday they have a party that starts at 2pm! We tried a few beers and then had to run, look back in the future for Odell’s to be the Beer Friends Brewery of the Week and read below for the few taste we did get in!
Phil:
1st: Cutthroat Porter is fan-freaking-tastic! Off a Nitro Pour it has a wonderful smokey flavor that has just a hint of coffee if you look hard enough.
Corporate Kerouac
Phil
Brad
Graham
Paul
