Boulder and Longmont area (Boulder County)
Boulder
BJ's Pizza and Brewery - 1125 Pearl - Pearl St. Mall
BJ's is as some
know yet another of the chain brewpub outfits to hit Colorado. Considering my
impressions of the other two major ones in the area (Hops and Rock Bottom), my
expectations were most certainly less than high. I was very surprised as
my expectations (low) were easily exceeded to the point of being impressed. All
of their brews are good, clean brews, the Blonde(Kolsch) was light but well
balanced, and the Pale was a very nice example of an American Pale (a la SNAle)
as well as a strong ale and an (almost) Imperial Stout. They usually will
have anywhere from 6 to 9 of their own beers (most regulars, but 1 or 2
seasonals) and usually a guest or two. Cask conditioned (complete with the
cask itself) Avery Barleywine has appeared here on occasion. I have capped
off a few visits with one of their 20 or so different Belgian brews and they are
always in very nice condition. (last visited 11/02)
Mountain Sun Brewery and Pub
Typical Boulder atmosphere with a splash of
Portland's McMenamin's around (their first brewer used to brew for them). Great
beers with always something eccentric around ( they won 2 GABF golds in 1995 for
their lemongrass beers). Usually has a bunch of high quality guest micros around
(a recent yearly tradition has been stout month (February) where ALL guest beers
are stouts, yum). The Java Porter is one of the best coffee beers around. They
now have an IPA that is wonderful. Good but simple food menu. A great beer
not to be missed is their doppelbock when it is on. A GABF gold medal winner for
3 years in a row. This place is a great thing that got better, who would have
thought! Definitely visit Mountain Sun if you come to Colorado! (last visited
3/02)
Average to above
average place, neat atmosphere (weird ceiling fans, you must see them, you can
on their home page) decent food and beer. I remember going to the Oasis when it
first opened and remarking to a friend, how similar most of the brews were to
the Walnut down the street, after all the head brewer came from the Walnut. How
times have changed!! I am not sure if Oasis got better or Walnut got worse or
both, but they went from a virtual dead heat to having Oasis making a clearly
superior product in every way. Their ESB is clearly one of the areas best and
their specialty or experimental products are very nice as well. All this and
reasonable prices that won't make you mortgage the house to go out (see Redfish
and to a lesser extent Walnut). BTW, the nachos require at least 2 to eat (3
recommended). (last visited 11/02)
Oasis Brewery Annex - RIP
The tasting room here was occasionally closed
and now the entire brewery is history. This review is here until the next
revision. Only a brewpub because they had to. None the less, our homebrew club
used to like it as a meeting place and the jukebox is great. Small though. They
are only open M-F 4p-8p, so if you want to stop in keep this in mind. Otherwise
just go downtown to the original. (last visited 9/01) See also Oasis above.
The Pub at Rockies Brewing Co.
Only a brewpub because they have to be.
They make Rockies for the Old Chicago and Rock Bottom chains. Average beer,
uninspired but reasonably priced food. This is Colorado's Oldest Microbrewery,
recently celebrating their 20th anniversary. The pub is starting to do a
few interesting things for beer lovers, they many times will have something on a
nitro tap and if you are (very) lucky, a beer will be available from their beer
engine (cask conditioned). The Singletrack Copper Ale (used to be known as
a Rye) is (IMO) their best effort, although the Cliffhanger and nitro Porter are
decent as well. If you stop in, do it during happy hour, $2/pint is about
the best deal around.(last visited 9/01)
Redfish Brewpub
This is a first here in Colorado, a Cajun cookery style
brewpub. To some of you this may seem a strange combination, but they do seem to
make it work. They usually have 4-6 different brews at any given time,
usually only one seasonal, and they fill up their remaining taps with guests.
All of their beers are very nice and good examples of style and very clean. The
Belgians and the Smoked Porter caught my eye (and palate) initially because they
are rarely seen in brewpubs and then are rarely well executed. Fortunately, this
is not the case here. The Belgians were wonderful and either are a reason to
come back. The Smoked Porter was nice (2002 GABF medal winner). Another
specialty highlight was a Rodenbach type sour beer that was beyond
fantastic. I even got to brew there. Sure, I bought my way in, but
that is another story. Food-wise it's a bit pricey (as was the entire
menu). Pricey Cajun they have, cheap, good and plentiful nachos they don't.
Bottom line: good to great beers, expensive, but good food. Definitely
worth a visit. (last visited 11/02)
Southern Sun
Basically the same place, and theme as the Mountain Sun on
Pearl in downtown Boulder only on the south end of Boulder (Broadway and Table
Mesa) and much bigger. What does this mean? Good place, just like its older
sibling. If you are in from out of town, you can just go downtown as it makes
for an easier pub hopping trip, but this place is still worth the visit. (last
visited 11/02)
Walnut Brewery
Boulder's yuppie brewpub. The original brewpub of the
Rock Bottom chain. Not really much to discern it from the others in the chain.
Nothing offensive, mostly nothing adventurous either. Food is good and they have
a couple of brews on cask most of the time. (last visited 11/02)
Nederland
Wolf Tongue Brewery and Pub - Closed
Unfortunately, one of my favorite
brewpubs is now closed. Review here for reference until next revision. This was
Gordon Knight's last brewpub venture before his unfortunate passing in the
Summer of 2002 piloting a helicopter fighting a forest fire. He will be sorely
missed.
It is in a small former bar right in the center of town in a kind of Old West
setting. This brewpub hosts the original 7bbl. brewing system from New Belgium.
They have gone through a few ownership and brewer changes over the last year or
so, but the beer has not changed much, it still is stellar. Last visit had a try
of the Coffee Porter and a Belgian Wit, both well done and tasty. Easy to enjoy
on the back porch at the pub with a view down the hill from Nederland. This is
one of the best, you can't go wrong with any of their regular beers or whatever
they seem to come up with along the way. The IPA (Mr. Hoppy) goes quickly, so if
you see it have some. Go out of your way to stop in. (last visited
7/00)
Lyons
Oskar Blues
Lyons is a small town north of Boulder, usually known as
being on the way to somewhere else (mostly Rocky Mountain National Park), but
they recently added a brewpub. Don't ask for directions to it, you could wander
around all of Lyons' streets in about 10 minutes. They actually do have
Blues bands at the place and a nice menu. They had four beers on at my
last visit (up to 6 now), a Belgian Dubbel, an American Pale, a Nut Brown, and
an Irish Stout. A pretty diverse set of brews for most brewpubs.
They execute them really well. All of their beers were exceptional, with
the Dubbel and the American Pale standing out (now available in cans).
Well worth a visit. (last visited 7/01)
Longmont
Pump House
This pub is themed after a fire house. There's firemen stuff
all over the place. This place has changed quite a bit since it
opened. A new brewer came into the picture and he has done a lot with the
beers here. Over-attenuation.... gone.... Bland, uninteresting beers...
(for the most part) gone. My last visit, had a mild, a pale ale and an
"amber lager". All were very nice, clean and well crafted, and hey, even
had some malt flavor left in. This WAS just another cookie cutter joint,
but is turning into a decent place to have a decent beer with a great deal of
potential. Pop in and see what they are up to now... A very good set of
beers. (last visited 7/02)
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by Mitch Mather, Broomfield, CO copyright 1996-2002
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