Rockyard Brewing Company, Castle Rock

Rockyard Brewing Company, visited on 2/24/12  (http://www.rockyard.com/)

I've been to Rockyard copious amounts of times given that it's the closest brewery to my homestead. They've also got pretty good beer, and every Friday tend to tap a firkin or small-batch keg that in my experience has usually been quite good. The brewery is really a huge restaurant too...very family-friendly and usually pretty busy. I've been here in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday and it was slow, but otherwise, it's usually hoppin...clear signs that a one-horse brewery in any town can do well.

While discussing plans for an upcoming BIG event, Holly and I enjoyed the following:

Jellyman's Deviation - 6.1abv; a 'Belgian Hopyard IPA', or so I'm told; Jellyman is Rockyard's head brewer I believe (Kjell Wygant); the beer has a light head; little lacing; almost a light ale in color; subtle Belgian style iteration IPA; light grapefruit and citrus flavor; hop on the front, Belgian bitter towards the end.

Nitro Strike Stout - 6.2abv; Holly ordered this as we've come to acknowledge that she's the dark beer drinker in the 'family'; good half-inch head; light lacing; good roasted chocolate nose; really creamy because of the nitro; good stout flavor; balanced.

Old BroAle - 8.5abv; English style old ale; from the Brew Bros of Pikes Peak (I believe a collaboration with Rockyard); almost no head; very minimal lacing; immediately taste some sugary sweetness; similarly lightly sweet on the nose; good balance; kind of raisin-y; lightly malty; very good beer I enjoyed above all others here.

Rockyard has a full menu, a huge restaurant space, and is one of the better places to grab a decent beer in all of Douglas County. The food is usually pretty good, but I've never had anything spectacular. You don't usually come to breweries for the food though, do you? Except you wouldn't know if they are trying to be a really good brewery or a really good restaurant. I'm just happy I can do some good drinking and good eating so close to home. The Rockyard Knots, two giant jalapeno-cheese stuffed pretzels, are fantastic and great companions to beer drinking.

Avery Brewing Co., Boulder

Ellie's Brown Ale and duganA IPA

Avery Brewing Company, visited on 2/4/12  (http://www.averybrewing.com/)

I've long since loved Avery and count it among my top 3-4 breweries in the state. I realize these are blog-related pre-conceived notions. But their Maharaja is one of the better imperial IPAs I've ever tasted. Avery is popular and makes good beer. It's ok that I've enjoyed their offerings many times. It was finally time however to visit their brewery. And after a 2 day stretch of unending snow fall on the front range, Holly and I needed an 'outing'. We met some friends in Boulder for a show at the Fox Theatre, but not before we got our hands on some colddankbeers. Here's what we tried:

Ellie's Brown Ale - 5.6abv; I've enjoyed this beer in a bottle and a can, as far as I can remember, and know it's good; the beer is a moderate brown, good hue but not too dark; quarter inch head; a lot of lacing, particularly from a brown; light ale on the nose; delicious light chocolate flavor; small hints of brown sugar; really good sessionable brown ales; in fact, one of the best I can remember

duganA IPA - 8.5abv; solid golden hues; small head; good solid lacing; delicious pine smell; Holly thinks it was "made with giant grapefruits"; indeed, very noticeable grapefruit flavor; love and taste the 93 IBUs; subtle hop nuance that makes it accessible to non-hopheads; still big and danky; well-hidden ABV; lighter in 'hop-punch' than Avery's Maharaja; great balance here

Salvation Belgian Golden Ale - 9.0abv; half inch head; lacing stays, then magically disappears; taste and smell the Belgian style right away; very very light apricot and honey flavor; good bubbles!; overall, pretty good, but Holly says, "too plain!"

2011 Beast Grand Cru - 16.83abv; 68 IBUs; drinking from a 4-oz snifter; still, good head...half inch; still fizzing as it sits; dark cherry in color; says its made with 6 hops, 6 sugars, 6 malts; smells very malty, sweet; on a first sip, it's got serious punch; tastes ALOT like Samiclaus; very cherry sweet; has a bread flavor on the backend, oddly enough; I can't get over the malt taste in it; love the experimentation here, although there's a flavor profile that is a little bitter; this has to be the last beer I try here...it's a palate destroyer! Both Holly and a group of young men near us exclaimed at different times, "it tastes like cherry cough syrup!" It's def. better than that.

Avery's is a great little brewpub; the place was bumping on a Saturday afternoon; slight view of the flatirons...would be great to drink outside; tucked away in a commercial complex...what's up with that lately? Pretty hardy menu of grub; we ate stuffed jalapenos that were ok; good place to day drink.

Salvation Belgian Golden Ale...and a pretty background...

Phantom Canyon, Colorado Springs

Phantom Canyon, visited on 1/21/12  (http://www.phantomcanyon.com/)

Following our stop at BierWerks, we made our way to downtown Colorado Springs for a stop at Phantom Canyon. From what I know of the brewery, now-Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, whom I've toasted with at Brew at the Zoo, purchased the historic railroad office building back in the early 90's. It's on a little strip of neat 'old-town' feel CoSprings on Pikes Peak Avenue. They've got one helluva selection of on-draft beers at all times it seems with a list of upcoming and 'in the tank' beers viewable, as indications of hopes for planned future visits. I couldn't stop thinking about the Oatmeal Cookie beer that's "upcoming". The Phantom IPA is apparently PC's flagstone beer, but we were a little pressed for time and enjoyed two others instead:

1877 Strong Ale - 9.5%abv, obviously this was the one that I picked to try. Some might call this a strong ale, some might call it something else, I call it delicious: a copper red in color, not too cloudy but somewhat dense looking; thin head, light lacing around the sifter lips; seemingly served cool, not chilled; complex flavors, like sweet earth w/o the dirt feel; tastes like baked fruit, both apples and pears (mentions a taste of sugar cookie, but I didn't taste that); real good overall and would easily get your drunk after 2-3.

Railyard Ale - 5.2%abv; good medium amber hue; very drinkable session amber; easy fall ale; light on depth; light head, little lacing; like an Oktoberfest brewed w/o anything bitter; not amazing, but I also tasted AFTER the Strong Ale (woops!).

The brewery is huge, with a 2nd level pool hall and a third level 'party room'. Full menu of food; we ordered soft pretzels with beer cheese and course mustard; pretzels were delicious and both the cheese and mustard were great dips. Will be back here as well to expand on the menu for a longer session of consumption. Good stuff.