Bless me Father for I have sinned. I coveted my neighbor’s brewers pass. But aside from thinking evil thoughts about those able to secure those golden tickets or media badges in the weeks leading up to GABF, I eventually came to terms with my own mediocrity and came to the stark realization that Denver and its environs have so much to offer beyond what happens at GABF, that attending the festival is never the highlight of a trip to the area. In all honesty, as with any conference or festival set in the same place every year, going to GABF can sometimes become stale and repetitive. Of course for the purposes of self promotion I should clarify that I always welcome the opportunity to represent some of my favorite breweries, and perhaps someday if I start a food blog I might also procure a media ticket(more beer related recipes to come just for you Brewers Association!).

Regardless, this is a travelogue, not a self serving review. If you want a good account of what happens at GABF I am sure the multitude of other bloggers that covered it (with media passes) will do a much better job than I, suffice it to say there were some excellent breweries and beers represented. A few like the fruit beers made by Rocky Mountain Brewery probably won’t win any medals, but they were very interesting none the less and the experimental beers offered by Shorts also proved very thought provoking. One highlight was seeing Austinite Corey Martin win the Sam Adams longshot and serve his beer and another was seeing Greg from Stone dumbfounded at being presented an anotomically correct sheep (for at least the second time in his life). There were a few lessons learned this year as well. First, although the festival sold out within days, scalpers offered tickets before and during every session, which says something about the assertion that any remain “members only”. Also note that face value tickets can be had at steep discounts after the sessions begin and there are reports of a lucky few working scalpers down to $20. Also, for those that actually spend extra to attend the Farm to Market pavilion, note that almost all of the food and a significant amount of beer ran out an hour or two before the designated end time (after contacting the BA they acknowledge and reported working on the problems this year).

With a few comments about GABF duly noted, let’s turn our attention to Denver and the surrounding beer-centric hinterlands. The iconic Falling Rock on Blake Street was the center of many new beer unveilings as well as promotional tastings again this year. Thankfully a number of other new beer venues attracted people away on Wednesday and Thursday nights. One that billed itself as the Summit Beer Garden located just across the street claimed to have over 100 beers, but questioning the bartender in the dark drab interior revealed that the total appeared to reflect counting 25 mediocre brands four times over. Better bets included The Vault and Euclid Hall, although both got extremely crowded on the weekend much like the zoo Falling Rock turns into on Friday and Saturday. The Great Divide taproom was a better bet for a more relaxed atmosphere, and for those with wheels the Bull and Bush was a welcome respite and it just could be my new home away from home in Denver (if only it wasn’t so far away from everything).

One day was spent touring Fort Collins with like minded Zymurologists on Wednesday before the GABF. The rounds this time started at Equinox in the downtown area where Austin’s own Keith Bradley’s ESB delicious Pro-Am entry was served. A small place, Equinox served solid beers exhibiting few flaws and a good range of styles. Nearby we visited one of my personal microbrewery favorites in the form of Odells where a BA/AHA card gets you a good sample of several beers. Cask Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout and a firkin of Freak Framboise lambic were standouts. Unfortunately the first two places did not serve food, so the next stop was Fort Collins Brewery, which recently expanded into new digs with a massive space including an attached restaurant. In the past FCB beers never impressed me and on occasion while at the last location they inhabited some were clearly infected, although this time all of their selections, while still somewhat mundane aside from a few notable exceptions including a Dopple Bock, appeared clean and free of flaws. Our final stop of the trip led us to FCB’s prior digs now inhabited by Funkwerks, a brewery focused on making saisons, or rather a range of beers using the same saison yeast strain. If I recall they had 9 of their own and another 3 made by another enterprise, Crooked Stave, which ferment with Brettanomycees. Crooked Stave apparently utilizes the Funkwerks brewery but maintains their own barrels and yeast bank etc. The Funkwerks beers ranged from classic saisons to malty beers that tasted more like Belgian Dubbles. The Crooked stave beers focused on the dry barnyard qualities of the Brett with fruit additions or wine barrel attributes. If you like the character of saison yeast please visit this small brewery, you will be glad you did.

After GABF we were fortunate to visit Boulder, another must visit town on the grand tour. Two new breweries were on our must visit list this time. Asher is located in Northwest Boulder and has been open roughly two years. They bill themselves as an all organic enterprise and name most of their beers something “green”, which was very appropriate for both their IPA and IIPA which contained considerable acetaldehyde. The Amber was more approachable and could pass for a strong English bitter, but other selections were either flawed or very mediocre at best. We can only hope their recent expansion leads to better quality control. Upslope has also been around only a few years and sells cans across Colorado. They had several beers on tap, but sadly not the Pumpking ale that won at GABF this year. Their Pale Ale was extremely light and watery, while the IPA was malt forward with a touch (not pronounced) of acetaldehyde. A Black “IPA” was also malt forward but clean and generally well made, but the surprising standout for me was a Kolsch which was textbook and seemingly flawless. Also a good choice was the clean and balanced brown ale, which is available in cans as well. The lager was also clean, but slight residual sweetness detracted somewhat… at least for me. Another new-ish place visited was Oskar Blues Liquid and Solids in Longmont, a large restaurant complex where the food was good and the beer was even better. Other quality and highly recommended places visited on this trip included Twisted Pine (now serving food) and Boulder Brewing, located very near one another and both with great selections, in addition to Avery (now open until 11pm and also serving food) and Mountain Sun.

Despite massive billboards and a flood of tourists, the existence of a new brewpub in Amarillo somehow escaped my attention. The only commercial brewery I am aware of in the Texas panhandle is currently located in the Big Texan Restaurant and Motor Inn on I-40, a place made famous for Las Vegas type kitsch and its 72 oz free steak challenge, which on the night of our visit was unsuccessfully attempted by four “Europeans”. That was the announcer’s description not ours by the way, although the realization that one of the young men chose a red wine to wash down his meal was a sure give away that they “weren’t from around here”.

I quickly found out that few people working at Big Texan knew much about their new brewery and the bartenders on hand that night were as helpful as a one arm man using a wheelbarrow (I am sure that is a west Texas euphemism). Finally someone that knew something informed me that the brewer’s name is Tom Money (perhaps 1980s super-rocker Eddie’s distant relative) and he makes batches of 2 to 2.5 bbls at a time. The brew system is currently hidden from view in their unused “beer garden”, although they claim to be working towards fixing the area up so it can be viewed. The beers they serve are available only in full size pours from 12 oz for $3.95 to 60 oz mugs (yes 60 oz mugs) for $23.95. They also have 120 oz beer towers for binge drinking cow pokes.

The beers were clearly marked and included some interesting selections. On tap the night we visited were a Blonde, Raspberry Wheat, Pale Ale, Red Ale, IPA, Pecan Porter and a Chocolate Bock. We started with the Chocolate Bock which at 7% ABV was much better than expected given the amusement park surroundings, although it did lack any melanoidin attributes and the flavoring tasted more like caramel instead of chocolate. One of us also suggested there were slight hints of diacetyl, although if present, the buttery aroma and flavor wasn’t pronounced and at the time it seemed almost complimentary. Next we tried the Pecan Porter, which was a cleaner and more balance robust porter with only the faintest hint of pecans or something similar. This was the best of the three beers tasted. Lastly we tried the IPA which was a light straw color and hopped with a fruity, almost lemon-like varietal, perhaps citra or something similar. It seemed a clean but somewhat one dimensional light bitter beer.