Beernerdness
When most people think of Texas, cattle, dusty flat deserts, and giant CostCos come to mind. All valid points. But there is so much more to Texas than that. From the craggy peaks of Big Bend National Park to the famous piney woods in the east, Texas’ landscape is as diverse as it beautiful. Recently, I primarily worked in the southern half of the state, near the Mexico border. The week after I got back from Hong Kong, work took me to east Texas. I enjoyed the change of scenery from the stark cacti dotted landscape of south Texas to the pine covered rolling hills.
Wrapping up that assignment, I would then head to Dallas for a couple of weeks for another assignment. But before that, I was off to tackle some slightly bigger hills in beautiful Colorado. One of my favorite things to do is relax with a glass of good beer. Now American beer doesn’t quite have the best reputation. In fact, American beer has been “piss in a bottle” on more than one occasion. That said, in the last few years, the craft beer industry has really taken root and produced some tasty and unique brews. The pinnacle for any craft beer lovers is the Great American Beer Festival held annually in the Mile High City of Denver. Breweries from around the country come to showcase their finest. It is definitely a beer nerd’s nirvana.
One of my friends, and fellow beer nerd, had suggested going to GABF for some time. Throw in some reasonable fares to Denver, and it was no brainer. After a couple of non-descript domestic economy flights, I arrived in Denver. My friend arrived before I did, so he grabbed the rental car and met me at the arrivals level. We would be bunking the weekend at the excellent Grand Hyatt Denver. Several events were going on in Denver that weekend, so hotel rooms were astronomically priced. Since we had decided to go to Denver months ahead of time, I was able to book a room using a cash and points rate, which cost 6,000 Gold Passport points and $60 for the night. That’s far more palatable than paying $400 per night.
We also had a nice view of downtown.
While I had chosen the points as my Diamond amenity, the hotel also sent up a very nice food and beverage amenity along with a handwritten welcome note from the general manager.
The Grand Hyatt is just a few blocks away from convention center, where GABF was being held. We got to the convention center just about an hour before doors opened. Even then the crowd was building up, and it was pretty much wall to wall by the time doors opened.
We were greeted by a group of gents playing the bag pipes, once through the doors.
Once inside, it was like being a kid in a candy store. The biggest difference is, there’s no one to stop me from getting everything I want.
Cigar City is one of my favorite breweries, and it was fantastic to be able try some of their limited edition brews.
The GABF was a lot of fun, and it was great to be able to try so many different brews. But after tasting a bunch of different brews, all of the tastes were starting to blend. Not to sound like a snob, but it was becoming more difficult for me to discern the different tastes. Another couple of hours later, my palate was shot and I was somewhat wasted after a few hours of non-stop boozing. So it was back to the hotel, but not before stopping off at a Thai restaurant on the way back for much needed vittles.
Since my flight wasn’t until late afternoon, we headed up to nearby Fort Collins to check out the mountains and, of course, more beer!
While I do appreciate a fast car as much the next guy, I have a soft spot for trucks and SUVs. In particular, I’ve always really liked the Chevrolet Tahoe. Don’t know why, but I wanted one ever since I was a kid. When I bought a new car back in 2014, I thought long and hard about getting one. But in the end, my practical side won out as the Tahoe isn’t the most practical vehicle with all of the driving I do. The Tahoe is relatively efficient for its heft, averaging about 19 miles per gallon of gas. But 50 mpg is better than 20. But whenever I have a chance to rent a Tahoe, I do. So I was quite happy that my friend was able to grab one a nice 2015 LT 4x4 model at the Executive Aisle at National.
The primary reason for our northward jaunt was to tour the New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins. While I had gotten visit a number of breweries in and around Fort Collins in 2013, I didn't get to tour New Belgium. The tours are free, but must be reserved ahead of time online up to 60 days ahead of time. I reserved our spots right at 60 day mark. For kicks, I checked the website again about an hour after I booked our tour and every single tour was full for that day.
Since our tour wasn’t until noon, we had some time to do a like hiking.
It was a quick drive down back down to Fort Collins. We found the brewery with no issues, and even had time for a quick flight of beers in the tasting room before the tour started.
Our lovely guide Tara met us at high noon and off we went into the bowels of the brewery. But first up, another sample of beer!
I should really get one of these for home.
It was cool seeing these bad boys in action.
Another tasting. Well… if you insist…
A bike rack is just a bike rack, or is it? At first glance, yes. But there’s more to it than that. The bikes are awarded to employees at their ten year anniversary with the company. The bikes are one of a kind and cannot be bought anywhere else. Tara explained the story behind the bike was that the founder of New Belgium used a bike similar to that to get around Belgium while learning how to brew.
The aging room was up next. I enjoy a few barrel aged brews, so it was quite cool to be able to see process in action.
At the end of the aging room, was a chalkboard where employees are encouraged to write encouraging words. Pun intended. Given the dynamics of my workplace, I would be hard pressed to say this would work at my office. But I guess the folks at New Belgium are always happy. I mean, they get to live in Fort Collins for crying out loud.
After the beer is finished brewing, it is sent via pipeline to the bottling facility just a few hundred feet away.
Pretty cool, huh?
Something else that would look damn cool at home.
We ended the tour by going down a slide meant as fun alternative of going downstairs for employees.
New Belgium is far from my favorite brewery. That distinction goes to Cigar City in Florida and Left Hand out down the road in Longmont. But it was my favorite brewery tour by far. The tour was very interactive, informative, and fun. Of course, all of the sampling didn’t hurt either.
Leaving New Belgium, we headed to the Mayor of Old Town, a pub I discovered during my last visit to Fort Collins. They have an excellent selection of brews and the food is quite good too. After lunch we headed back toward Denver, where my friend dropped me off to catch my flight to Dallas. My friend would be staying Colorado an extra couple of days to explore and visit family. While I could have left the next morning, I would rather arrive late and sleep in than wake up at oh dark thirty and slog it through the workday.
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 7, 2016 at 9:47 pm