Mountains and Western Colorado Brewpubs (all West of the Front Range)
Breckenridge
The
original Colorado ski town brewpub. I like this one better than the Denver
editions. Food and beer is good, Oatmeal Stout is always worth a pint. The
location is second to none for an apres ski beer. It is quite close to the Peak
9 base area. Most of the rest of the lineup is non-descript. (last visited
6/02)
Dillon
Dam
The pub is near the dam that created Lake Dillon and is adjacent to
the Dillon Factory Stores and down the street from the huge Silverthorne Factory
Outlet Stores complex. They have a nice deck and great views from the deck and
inside the pub. A very nice location. A wide variety of beers are usually
available. Their pale ale is far and away their best beer. A very
good example of an American Pale. The others are all clean brews, some
more impressive than others. The food was pretty good too and reasonably priced.
All in all, although it is not one of Colorado's best, it is a great place to
go. (last visited 6/02)
Pug Ryan's - Dillon Town Center nr. Lake Dillon
This place is a long
standing restaurant/bar that has decided to become a brewpub. As a bar, their
beer selection was just slightly above your corner bar hangout, budmilloors,
budmilloors lite, and an import or two. Unfortunately, after their renaissance
into a brewpub, their beer selection has not improved, it may have even gotten
worse, as a good Guinness or a Newkie Brown would do me over their house brews.
They will have 2-4 brews on tap at any time, usually a Porter and a few others.
My last visit I said that all of their beers were free of process problems, but
not this time! The wheat beer was definitely a "treat". I am
assuming that is was supposed to be a hefeweizen, but with all of the diacetyl
(butterscotch taste) it was impossible to tell. Blecchhh!! After my last
review, I didn't think that it could get worse.... Bzzzzzzt. Do
yourself a favor when driving down US 6 in Dillon... keep going! don't stop
here, you will be wasting your time. (last visited 7/00)
Frisco
Backcountry Brewing - SW Cr. of Main St. and Colo. Rt 9
This brewpub is
right on the way to/from Breckenridge from I-70. Perfect for apres ski beers,
food, etc. This place is huge. I mean huge! It has a western style
ski lodge type of motif with the exposed logs, etc, etc. There are two complete
floors with a bar on each. They usually have a wide selection of 7-9
different beers ranging the full gamut of styles and some you haven't heard of.
I had heard from a reliable source that they had changed their IPA recipe and
tweaked some of their other brews. Not wanting to take the word of others,
I had to find out for myself ;-) The IPA was indeed one of Colorado's best
and shortly thereafter they won a GABF gold for it. The other beers in
their line are clean and very well done. They even have a stout now (a tasty
sweet stout on nitro). Be sure to stop in if you are in the area, definitely one
of Colorado's best brewpubs. (last visited 9/02)
Keystone
Great Northern (River Run Gondola area)
The place is fairly fancy
looking, dark wood all around and the food and pricing thereof to match.
The beer is your standard lineup, pale, wheat, fruit wheat, stout, etc. As
a matter of fact, their wheat (American Wheat) was a fine example of the style.
The food was wonderful, but pricey. At $4 a pint it is hard to justify
staying for too many brews, but it is worth a visit if you are in the
area. (last visited 9/02)
Salida
was Il Vicino now....
Haven't been here since some local folks bought
out the Il Vicino people. In the past they have had good beer and good food.
Very good beer and high quality (not inexpensive) Italian food. The pale ale was
their best, but the other brews were quite nice as well. Just another reason to
visit a mountain town surrounded by 14,000 ft peaks. The pale ale is my favorite
(it won a GABF medal after I was there). Revisited this summer and their beers
were pretty nice. I had a fairly well done dark mild this time. (last
visited 7/99).
Crested Butte
Idlespur Brewery
Finally made it back here after many years. They
had a wide range of beers, including a scotch ale and a barleywine. Their
stout was nice, as was their scotch ale. Most of their beers hinted of
diacetyl (a bit of butterscotch), a house flavor I guess. Mostly the beer
was OK. Worth a stop if you happen to be in town. Ski town
atmosphere. (last visited 7/99).
Pagosa Springs
Paradise Brewing
Have yet to visit.
Durango
Carver's Bakery and Brewery
Have yet to visit for beer, breakfast there
was wonderful (yes breakfast at a brewpub).
Steamworks
Have yet to visit.
Steamboat Springs
Steamboat Brewery and Tavern
Good brews all around here. The Pale Ale
was hopped (if a bit too much :-) with more of the British style hops, a good
brew. The Porter was quite well balanced with roastiness and a not too stouty
background. Their strong ale was rather well balanced in general and hid the 15
or so Plato very well (~1.060 OG). They had the regular styles you see
everywhere with a couple that you just don't see very often. Well worth a visit.
(last visited 8/02)
Leadville
Boomtown Brewery
Have yet to visit.
Vail
Kaltenberg Castle - Royal Bavarian Brewhouse
This is in the building
that used to house Vail's gondola. You would never know by looking inside. Very
German interior, German food and of course German beer. Amazing what they can do
with a former gondola building!!. Their beers are a Pils, Dunkel and a Weizen
all of which are very classic editions of their German counterparts. Dinner was
wonderful. Do visit if you are in town, but bring some extra $$$. This place (as
opposed to the Hubcap) IS typical Vail. The food and especially the beer are
very classic German, probably as authentic (beer) as you can find in the US.
(last visited 7/00)
Edwards
Gore Range
Yet another Vail Valley brewpub in a town that I seem to
remember as nothing more than a trailer park a mere 5-10 years ago. They
have a rather predictable lineup of beers, but each is quite well crafted.
I would love to see what this brewer could do with a bit more creative
license. The Pale Ale stood out in my mind as the best beer of the
lot. Even the Honey Ale was worth a pint. Stop in if you are in the
neighborhood. (last visited 7/00)
Glenwood Springs
Glenwood Canyon Brewing - in the Hotel Denver
These guys get points for
maintaining a wide selection of brews, while throwing in an experiment, or
seasonal or two, and at the same time executing most brews to perfection.
Even if they are not quite perfect (as was the case of a barleywine I had there
once), the imperfections either do not get in the way of a fine brew or enhance
it. Even the food is good. Overall, there is no reason NOT to stop
in to one of Colorado's best brewpubs. Ken and company will be sure and
serve you a great pint. It is even pretty easy to find now that the
lighted sign for the brewpub is up and visible from I-70. (last visited
7/98)
Aspen
Flying Dog (now Howling Wolf??)
This place has gone through some ups and
downs over the years. It went from one of the best to one of the worst and
then back up to respectable again. My original review said...... "A very
good pub that I wish was nearer." The next year's review said....... "The
food was OK, the beer downright sucked. Oh what a disappointment!! This place
has gone from one of my biggest favorites to one I would recommend to stay away
from!! My memories of a delicious wheat stout have been replaced by...........
yuck...." And at my last visit, I can say that "the beers are
back!!" They all were quite decent, but nothing to write home about.
All of their beers were like this, decent but not spectacular. I was
looking for more here. Maybe next time. (last visited 7/98)
Telluride
Smuggler's
Have yet to visit.
Grand Junction
Rockslide Brewpub
Of Colorado's vast expanses, Grand Junction seems to
be the least likely place for a brewpub to flourish. The area is really better
known for wine than beer in recent years as the growing number of wineries will
attest to. Consequently I was not surprised when I visited Rockslide to find a
rather unexciting cookie cutter group of beers to choose from. I think that I
have tasted the same recipe for pale ale in many other of the "cookie-cutter"
style brewpubs I have been to. The food was very good, but admittedly the beer
was rather blah. Stop by if you are in the neighborhood, but don't go out of
your way for the beer. (last visited 9/00)
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by Mitch Mather, Broomfield, CO copyright 1996-2002
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