Eric, Jeffrey and I at FinCon Denver!
Alright, I’m willing to admit, I found a couple things in Denver, Colorado that were pretty awesome. Beer being one of them. A few years ago, Eric and I were at the second annual Financial Bloggers Conference in Denver. It was a blast! Not only did I get to meet up with some great colleagues in my sphere of work, but I got to taste a lot of good beers made in Colorado. For starters, I finally made it to Great Divide. I’ve been a fan of this brewery for years, but at SXSW I was able to meet their “Word Nerd” (or social media lady) Hannah. Did you know Hannah and I grew up in the same town in Oregon? This is pretty much the only reason I’m willing to admit Denver might have some good beers. Her parents are barley farmers for Rogue, a great brewery in Oregon.
I was able to tag along on a beer tour of Great Divide and learned some interesting facts about Great Divide. For starters, the building they are currently in was built in the 1920s during Prohibition (funny, huh?) When the founder, Brian Dunn, was trying to secure the building with a loan, over 10 different banks denied him! He eventually went to the City of Denver (who had just started building Coors Field down the street) and was able to get a loan from them. Talk about persistence! Another fun fact: their Samurai beer in available in Japan. We had a pre-FinCon meet up at Great Divide. Eric, Jeffrey, Adam, and I tried all 15 beers on tap. Alright, Jeffrey and I did, but Adam gets credit for taking the photo above. It was a blast, I have to say I’m a big fan of their Yeti beer, and love how they play with various forms of it. Later that night, Eric talked me into trying a Colorado Native Lager, which is produced by Coors. It was terrible. Seriously, Colorado, you are loosing points with me already. Good thing Eric redeemed himself during our FinCon beer tour. We checked out another brewery called Wynkoop Brewing Co; which had two notable beers. First was the Patty’s Chile Beer, which actually tasted like a chile, pretty impressive, but I’m not sure I could drink a full pint of it. It doesn’t come close to Burnside Brewing’s Sweet Heat in PDX.
Second, Cowtown Milk Stout, which was delicious. I’m not a big fan of stouts, but this was super creamy and delicious. Guess, I’m on a mission to find a Stout in Portland, that I like now. Ultimately, my hands down, favorite, Colorado redeeming beer, didn’t actually come from Denver (sorry, Eric) but from Boulder, CO. The Tree Hugger Organic Amber from Asher Brewing Company, was the best thing I had during my stay in Denver. Delicious, balanced, perfect beer. Would highly suggest anyone going to Denver / Boulder to check them out. They definitely made my wish list of breweries to travel too. It pretty much rivaled my love for Hopwork Urban Brewery’s Organic Lager, which is saying something.
Ever been to Denver (or Colorado)? What did you do? What beers did you try?
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