Beer! (Fort Collins, Boulder, Durango: ski resort, college, live in)

[zenkonami]

Brass tacks, baby! Best Colorado brews, where can you get them, and what makes them so great. Maybe even a nod and mention to a Colorado beer you don't like, just for balance and credibility.

[vegaspilgrim]

Tommyknocker up in Idaho Springs is pretty good.

[edesign]

The only CO microbrew I have tried that did not impress me was Fort Collins Brewery. I bought a variety 12 pack and only the pomegranate wheat tasted good to me. Everything else has been decent to great

Third Eye Pale Ale out of Durango is good
Hazed and Infused (Lots of hop flavor) as well as the Mojo IPA from Boulder Beer is pretty darn good in my book
Just had the Modus Hoperandi IPA from Ska Brewery (also out of Durango) tonight and it is pretty darn good.
Breckenridge Avalanche Ale...good stuff
and so on and on...like I said, I've liked almost everything so far aside from the Fort Collins Brewery stuff.
Tommyknocker I had tried while in Dallas a few times...good stuff too

Also, if you get a chance check out the Alaska Winter Ale (Seasonal)...it's made with spruce tips, gives it a nice Christmasy flavor. The IPA is good too but I wasn't too impressed with the Amber.

[yodi]

I love Ska beer out of Durango. Pretty much every flavor.

[jazzlover]

You can have all of the "foo-foo" beers. I don't drink much beer anymore (been there, done that in my younger days), but when I do have a hankerin' for one, I drink plain 'ol regular Coors--and I don't touch any of their foo-foo stuff, either. Of course, I have some friends who have spent their careers working at the Coors brewery, and I've gotten to drink a lot of beer fresh off of the bottling line--that is the best.

And, if I want some "flavoring" for my beer, a boilermaker will do the job just fine. I suspect a lot of the young beer "aficionados" don't even know what a boilermaker is.

[edesign]

"Foo-foo" beers? Since we're name-calling I'll bite You mean "real" beers that don't taste like rust water? Foo-foo is a term applied to fruity mixed drinks as opposed to something straight like a liquor on the rocks last I checked. Some beers are varying degrees of fruity like Wild Blue (disgusting imho, way too sweet...could barely drink one bottle), Pete's Strawberry Blonde, Abita Purple Haze, and so on. Those I could see being called "foo-foo" beers...but not Samael Smith's Oatmeal Stout or Fuller's ESB lol

Besides, Coors always gives me a headache the same night and diarrhea the next morning...you get what you pay for. Sorry if the light flavored American beers don't do it for everyone and you have a need to make yourself feel better by calling them names (or simply can't afford to drink them). I used to drink a lot of Coors and Budweiser until I discovered beer that had actual flavors and different characteristics (stouts, IPA's, ESB's, porters, whites, etc) Some people just like a basic, watered-down tasting beer...nothing wrong with that, not everyone's palette prefers variation from what they began their "drinking career" with. Some find the variations to be a great change from the mainstream American beer and barely look back.

I will say that for the large American brewers mentioned to keep their quality and taste the same from can to can with those huge batches is impressive though, not easy to do with light beers. I definitely agree that fresh on tap at the brewery is always best...

I don't touch hard liquor anymore so no boilermakers for me.

[noid_1985]

Goose Island out of Chicago

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

You can have all of the "foo-foo" beers. I don't drink much beer anymore (been there, done that in my younger days), but when I do have a hankerin' for one, I drink plain 'ol regular Coors--and I don't touch any of their foo-foo stuff, either. Of course, I have some friends who have spent their careers working at the Coors brewery, and I've gotten to drink a lot of beer fresh off of the bottling line--that is the best.

And, if I want some "flavoring" for my beer, a boilermaker will do the job just fine. I suspect a lot of the young beer "aficionados" don't even know what a boilermaker is.

Ooh, Boilermakers! I know about them! Worked along side of boilermakers, ironworkers, pipefitters, millwrongs, er, millwrights, at all those power plants I worked OOPS!!!---------------------wrong type of boilermakers! Better pour me another one! hiccup!

Hmm, let's see if I remember THOSE type of boilermakers; Let's see, empty one Coors Light (I AM on a diet, after all) hiccup, anyways one Coors Light emptied into a nice frosty mug, and add one shot of Beam, or Daniels, or Jack (rhymes with yak), that's Yukon Jack, by the way, Hiccup, pour them together, shake them up, and VOILA! a quick trip to the, um, well, you know! The end result is an ice bag over your head the next day! Or worse!

[watcher66]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Tommyknocker up in Idaho Springs is pretty good.

I will second this one. I am not much for Coors, but I dont mind a Blue Moon (still from Coors) with an orange slice.

[CDDave]

A long time ago...maybe mid 90s sometime, I worked at Purgatory Ski Resort with one Matt Vincent. He was a lift operated like the rest of us, non-descript, pretty hip, nice guy. We were friends at work, but since I don't live in Durango, not a whole lot of "hang out" time. Anyway, one day I found myself in Durango with Matt (proabably the day after some party or the like) and mid-day we decided to go get a beer. We grabbed a six pack of Guiness in the can (??..with the little nitrogen bombs at the bottom...weird...) and went up to Fort Lewis College, hiked down over the cliff overlooking Durango and just sat soaking up the late spring sun. It was there old Matt told me that he was in for a bit of cash when he turned 25 or something. It wasn't a ton of money, but something. Very matter-of-factly he stated that when he got it, he was quitting his job at the ski area and starting a brewery. Pie in the sky, but fun to dream I thought. The years slipped on and lo and behold, by the late 90s he had done it. It was Ska Brewery. It started tiny, grew, and with a ton of hard work, a lot of community involvement (I know this because not only did her reach out locally, but took care of the folks in Silverton too), good partners, a great attitude, and by inference a good business model, he made it. They have moved into a very big big building in Bodo Park, they have a keg for their mailbox, and you still see them driving around in the same Ska van delivering. They've done great work, and although I don't drink their beer too often (can't afford it...I'm with JazzLover...but for economic reasons!) it's very good, from a great small company.

Probably not groundshaking info, but it's my only claim to beer fame.