Got to hit up both The Mayor of Old Town and Equinox Brewery today.

At Mayor of Old Town, finally got around to trying the Cocoa Mole from New Belgium which I quite enjoyed. Also tried Billy's Beer from New Belgium, also pretty good, and a Peach Berliner Weiss from Crabtree which was really really good. The bar was great for its beer selection. Atmosphere was was fine for my experience but it could be interesting to see the place during school season and when its busy...and not in a positive way. Also,the place would benefit from having beer geeks as their servers/bartenders rather than generic college girls who don't know or care about the beer that place is selling.

Equinox was a cool little place. The bluegrass music playing wasn't quite my thing but I dug the laid back vibe and definitely seems like a cool place to hang out and grab a few brews. I tried their Mid Summer Pale Ale which was alright and their Jonas in the Woods, their porter aged in bourben barrels, which I liked more. Also picked up a growler of their Oatmeal Stout which I am currently drinking and enjoying, definitely the best of the brews I tried from there.


I do believe I have now checked off all the things on my TO DO list for when I moved up here to Fort Collins other than hitting up a tour of New Belgium.

let me rub this one out real quick and um..

We went on a Northern California Brewery Trip last week. Hit; Russian River, Marin Brewing, Moylans Brewing, North Coast Brewing, Drake's, Bear Republic, Anderson Valley....the definite best is obvious but one of the under the radar standouts was Drake's Barrel House, in the East Bay. They have an extensive barrel aging program on premises. Weird ass location, it's next door to a Wal Mart. Day we arrived happened to be release day for one of their IPA's so we got it fresh and it is amazing...

Before heading to Drake's we made our first visit to Beer Revolution in Oakland. Nice beer bar with excellent music, all punk and metal.

Hit up New Belgium today and took the tour. Very cool tour, place is huge and was really cool to see the operation they got going.

While there got to try their collaboration with Alpine, Super IPA, which was super fresh and good, their Fall Seasonal Red Hoptober which I quite enjoyed though can't say its the most memorable beer, their Shift Pale Lager, not a lager fan but if I am going to drink a lager I'd happily reach for that (provided my favorite, Yuengling, is not available), and their black ale 1554, which I did not enjoy at all.

Glad I hit made it their and definitely a must stop, imo, if in the area. Don't worry if you are a fan of the brewery or not, its about seeing the operation. Very cool.

Went back to Funkwerks today to grab another glass of that Monarch Saison. Definitely a cool place and I really, really like that beer a lot. Best thing I have yet to try from Funkwerks for sure. The only negative from the trip was my discovery that their barrel aged brown, Ron Burgundy, was tapped and replaced by Dark Prophet. I wasn't a huge fan of that one when I tried it but maybe I'll give it another shot in the future.

Had a couple of these today and no regrets. Good crisp summer pilsner.

To celebrate Toronado's 25th Anniversary, Alpine made up a batch of "Double Nelson"
Nelson hops and rye. A super hopped up version of their incredible regular Nelson IPA.
Danielle at Alpine poured herself the first glass, smiled and said, "It's like Hoppy Birthday, and Nelson...On Crack!"
Super hoppy naturally. Resiny, dank, fucking gnarly...

Had some at the pub Friday, brought home a growler to share with in laws last night. Wife in background working tortilla grill for the fresh grilled halibut tacos.
*in cooler to left, I also brought up Sculpin, Nelson, & Dorado (San Diego's Finest). Didn't drink any of them*

Nelson hops = Nelson Sauvin, right?

If so, love those hops. I am terrible with being able to identify strands of hops but NS hops seem to be the one strand I can differentiate. Big fan of them for sure.

Adam, yeah. Nelson the beer is made with Nelson Sauvin Hops and Rye as the malt which gives it a much different base flavor than say barley. So delicious. I am drinking one now. Enjoying reading your Colorado Brewery Adventures, kinda jealous. You have a killer beer scene out there. Love Crooked Stave and Funkwerks. Oh and Fucking La Folie!!

I've had a few beers with rye malt (Firestone Walkers Wookey Jack, Renegades (a small Denver micro) Ryetous Rye, and Sierra Nevadas Ruthless Rye. Enjoyed the FW and Renegade offerings, not too into SN's, but not sure it converted me quite to the point of being a fan of the style. Enjoy but don't seek out. That said, Rye Malt + Nelson Hops could do the trick of converting me. When at New Belgium I was debating whether to grab La Folie or the collaboration they just did with Alpine, Super IPA, and opted for the IPA. Glad I did because it is the only opportunity I am going to have at trying Alpine stuff and it was quite good. If I ever hit sother Cali, I would definitely make the trek there to check their stuff out, and Nelson will be on that list of tries.

And it was just my luck, as I moved up to Fort Collins Crooked Stave moved their operations down to Denver. And for whatever reason, I never checked out the micro's directly when I lived in Denver. I was always more interested in hitting up a beer bar (like Falling Rock or Freshcraft) instead. Here in Fort Collins its the opposite, and I have gone to the breweries and their taprooms far more than I have gone to bars.

Adam,

Go to Choice City and Tap & Handle...skip the Mayor (no one down here likes them peeps).

But you're right, there's a lot of breweries to hit up there and most of them are close together.

Been to all 3 of those places.

I liked the Mayor of Old Town for their beer list, but do think they would benefit a lot if they started to employ more beer fans/geeks as their servers rather than the generic college student who has no interest in studying up on the beer they serve.

Both Choice City and Tap N Handle have great taps and I like the atmosphere of being those places far better, but the tap list at Mayor is at least 5x the size of the others and just as quality in their choices, no filler. I mentioned this here already but I went during the day as well as it being in the summer when CSU isn't in session, thus it was dead, so I don't think I had the typical experience and I could definitely see how that place could start to suck when schools in session and that place gets crowded. My experience was positive though.

And at least they have a TV playing sports in the background. I definitely enjoyed Tap N Handle for a bar a lot more for the vibe but them not having a TV is a bit of a roadblock for me. I am not opposed to hitting bars up solo, especially now that I live in a city where the only person I know is my roommate, but I kinda need the security of a TV to do so. That way, if I don't find someone sitting next to me to talk with I can turn my attention to some sports while I enjoy some beers. ( know the taprooms don't have TV's either but I have also only gotten flights there, as well as growler fills, and then bolted.) I definitely preferred Tap N Handle to Mayor, and every time I have been in town with someone and hit up a bar that has been the choice spot (after a meal at CC), but there are times when I can see choosing the Mayor.

We drove up north to Fort Bragg (California) and hit North Coast Brewing

They make one of my all time favorite Stouts, Old Rasputin. Always available, tasty and affordable. At the Tap Room bar we were able to have it On Nitro which was pretty cool. Downtown Fort Bragg has a corner with three North Coast operations; the Brewery on one corner, the Taproom Bar & Grill on another and also a Company Store with T-Shirts, Glasses and stuff.
Next day we woke up and drove back down to spend the day at Russian River again. Before North Coast we also stopped at Anderson Valley Brewery and had some Port Barrel Aged Beers.
Adam, here in San Diego I go to way more breweries than bars. Enjoyed a couple West Coast IPA's last night after work with Ryno!! Paul, they moved your Awesome Picture at Green Flash.

Agree on Old Rasputin...a very nice stout at a very fair price. Also a fan of their Red Seal based on a recommendation by Paul.

Been a good day of drinking for me today. Thought I had a few meetings today for grad school, but turned out they aren't until next week. I then decided to use that time to hit up Odell and Funkwerks again.



Started off at Odell and checked out a Fresh Hopped EPA from the cask. Never had a pale ale from the cask and it was quite interesting....liked it but definitely quite unique.



Followed that up with a glass of their Cutthroat Porter from the nitro tap....good but think I prefer the regular version of this.



Also grabbed a couple growlers from them to bring with me this weekend as I visit Estes Park; Whopper Wet Hopped IPA and Xocolatl, the most recent variation of their chocolate milk stout (which I initially tried and really liked, initially called Chocolate Oar).

Hit up Funkwerks next.



Ordered a flight from them (from right to left): Saison, Tropic King, Bastogne, Deceit, Sceptter.



Also grabbed a bottle of the Scepter, a barrel aged Belgian Golden Ale (aged in oak cognac barrels).

Bastards!
Where'd they move it?
Pics?

Bristol Beer Factory have put out their most recent homebrew competition winner in bottles, another black IPA - bete noire.

It's good, but last year's black IPA (Indian Ink) was so full on and far out that it was a real special beer. This one is good but nowhere near as intense. I figure that if you're going to do a fringe style then there's no point in making concessions to easy drinking or smoothness.

You don't get smooth freakout psych!

Drinking a Red Duck Lambic

Had this one the other day and it was pretty delicious

It's actually in the bottling area on a huge fucking wall. Used to be on the walk-in cooler where the taps are. It's more visible but now looks small. Get out here with your mural kit. I will assist!

Got to have a few with A.C.E. the other night at Green Flash. Talked of beer, music and a bunch of other crazy shit. Finally good to put a face to the name. And I got a couple of CD's outta the deal! Good times. Thanks A.C.E.

They talked about putting it up there, but I thought they were crazy, 'cause it would look tiny up there. Where they had it was perfect. Oh, well.

Going to put the Anchor sign on the wall at Falling Rock today. Will provide pics when I can.
I'm moving, so computer access kinda sucks.

Enjoyed an "Enjoy by 9.21.12" IIPA last night. Better than most Stone beers.
A whopping 12 different Hops used throughout the process! 9.4% ABV

I'd like to try that Stone "Enjoy by..." I really like Ruination, and I think their IPA is pretty good too. Hope it comes to Ohio soon.
For some reason I thought it was a low alcohol session IPA like everyone is coming out with, but apparently I was wrong. Too bad, if it's really good, I'd rather drink several in one sitting.

Got to try the Russian River beer they produced for the 25th Anniversary of the Toronado in SF. It's a blend of six different batches of beer aged here and there with different bugs in each. A wonderful sour with a strong hit of acidity and tartness.

Apparently, we got multiple cases of it, so some will be leaking out from time to time. I know we'll have some on the menu during Beer Fest.

r.i.p. J.D. kimball

Hoping I can make it down to Denver for the Beer Fest and hit up Falling Rock, given your usual awesome beers you guys get on tap for then. Not optimistic about my chances though.



Currently enjoying an Odell IPA. Crazy effervescence going on with this one, the bubbles have been rising steadily for around 10 minutes now and still going strong.