Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Great Trip, Great Beer

Just got back from Taylor Park area in Colorado. It is beautiful out there in the middle of CO. I'll try to make this as much about beer as possible. There were four guys, our dirt bikes and a tent. They left me in charge of beer gathering before the trip since we'd be in the middle of nowhere. I thought to myself, what is a good mountain camping beer? Ah yes, PBR! And of course I'll throw in some Coors so they'll let us into the state. Going with family and being out of breath all day I didn't think it was a time and place for beer snob brews although I did throw in a couple Smokestacks and a Caldera Pale Ale for fun.
On our way out there we stopped off in Gunnison to pick up a few more supplies and I ran over to this little liquor store to see what the small town had to offer. To my surprise they had a lot of individual bottles including Boulevard Smokestacks. I picked up a couple NB Lips of Faith bottles and a Dogfish Head Theobroma to bring back home and savor. On Saturday we headed on an 85 mile round trip to Aspen with 1.8 gallons of 91 octane. We went over Taylor Pass on some difficult terrain. If anyone has ever done this, you'll know how tough that is. We wound up at the top of the ski run in Aspen overlooking the entire town. We coasted down the ski runs to the bottom and walked our muddy selves up to a fancy restaurant outside. The waiter said that we should go inside to order a beer. So we stomped our nasty boots on their rich mahogany floor to order us a nice Aspen Brewing Company Hefe. It was quite delicious after a tough ride. On the way back I was swept off my bike by a tree branch! I have the whole thing on video from my helmet cam. Then I fell on some boulders. So when I got back to camp I was ready to have a few PBR's and hit the hay.On our way back from the trip we stopped off at Phantom Canyon Brewing Co in Colorado Springs. This was an eclectic spot with tattoo'ed up people playing pool upstairs and family eating downstairs. First thing I did was order an IPA (my usual). I was sadly disappointed in the non-carbonated brew. However, I sampled their Blonde and Amber then was happy to then order an Oatmeal Stout which was perfectly silky smooth. Then I ordered a Hefeweizen which was incredible, one of the best I've had. Overall the place was B- or so.

No comments: