Mountain Sun Brewpub (Vine St.)

Location: Denver, CO

Overall: *** (3/5)

Curtosy of the Mountain Sun website.

Mountain Sun originals and guest beers on tap.

This is where I spend most of my days, chillin’ out, maxin’ and relaxin’ all cool... most likely cause they’re right down the street from me.  You should know that Mountain Sun has three locations: (1) Mountain Sun on Pearl St in Boulder, (2) Southern Sun on Broadway in Boulder, and (3) Vine St Pub on (cough) Vine St & 17th Ave in Denver.  Confusing, I know.  I say, stick with one name and just have various locations.  Anyways, we’ve been to their two brewpub locations: Mountain Sun in Boulder and Vine St.  They’re both pretty similar and since I’ve been to Vine Street multiple times, most of my reactions will be coming from there.

Mountain Sun Sampler

Here are my quick notes:

Cash Money: Bring cash!  They don’t accept credit cards (I’m not sure they know what year it is…)  They do have an ATM there and it only charges a measly $1 to use, but I NEVER remember until I get there, because, well frankly, I’m not carrying cash type.  They do accept checks though... really?  Really.

Feel of Brewpub: Super relaxed.  The staff there works on a tip pool so at one time it can feel like you have 10 people waiting on you, which isn’t a bad thing.  Everyone who works there is extremely nice and, lucky them, they get to wear basically whatever they want.  Oh, and if you go around 10ish when the kitchen closes, they all conspire behind the bar, sing, toast and drink a beer.  Don’t expect to get a beer during that time.  They have board games you can play there as well and a sweet patio set up of cornhole.

Food:  I’ve only eaten there once with my friend Casie.  We both got burgers (Junk Burger & Basil Blue Cheeseburger).  Casie loved hers and I loved mine as well.  I would definitely recommend their food… easy pub fare, fairly priced but quality ingredients and interesting combinations.

Beer Here!: There beers are pretty good but there’s nothing there that I’m overly excited about.  You can do a sampler there, which I would highly recommend because it’s fairly priced.  I’m a fan of the Java Porter, the Dropkick Stout and the Annapurna Amber.  Again, they’re very similar to other beers with the same style, but they’re done right and they’re great to drink.  I hope in the future though they really start testing the boundaries of what they can do.  They are devoting September to Belgian beer which sounds interesting, except that we won't be in the great state of CO anymore.  Oh, and lastly, they always have a few of their beers on Nitro, which is pretty sick.

Music/Events:  On Sundays, Vine Street has some pretty excellent live music, which is fantastic!  Lots of bluegrass bands, yayyy!!!  Kind of sucks that they only have music on Sunday nights, but since I don’t have a job out here, I’m not one to complain.  They also do some beer competitions and I did drop in there once when they were having Comedy Debates (think Jason vs. Freddy).  Pretty fun stuff.

Fresh Hops performing at Mountain Sun (Vine St.)

Jason enjoying himself... awkwardly.

Overall and honestly, it’s not really the beer that drives me to Mountain Sun, it’s the atmosphere.  I love going there because it’s very down to earth, they draw a big crowd and they sometimes have fun, live events.  I always have a hard time picking out a beer though because nothing excites me too much.  Not that their beer is bad, but I feel like they need to push the envelope just a tad bit more and get some super creative stuff on tap.  Hopefully I’m wrong and they come out with some spectacular original brews.  If not though, I’ll still go there… it is just a short walk away.



Great Divide Brewing Co.

Great Divide Brewing Co.

Location: Denver, CO

Overall: **** (4/5)

This is one of the more impressive taprooms I’ve ever experienced.  The taproom of a brewery can be a powerful tool in gaining new customers, selling product and exposing their talents.  Great Divide has taken all of that into consideration and designed a very hip taproom that feels more like a standard bar than you would expect.  And you can tell that whatever they’re doing is working, since the first time I went there was a crowd accumulating outside before they opened which led to a bustling taproom.  The second time we visited it was slower at first (well, it was 2pm on a Monday) but it began to considerably fill up as time went on.

It was, however, a pain in the ass to find the first time, thank you Denver and your terrible street planning, well done.

Here’s how the taproom works:  You can invest in a pint, or you can do their 3 for $3 deal (it’s ballering).  For three bucks you get to sample three different beers of your choice from their taps.  The samples come in small snifter-like glasses.  After that, you can add on additional samples for $1 each.  I love it because I can design my own sampler which allows me to try new beers that I haven’t had before or indulge again in ones that I know I love.

Like a normally brewery, they do have tours that you can go on.  We didn’t do the tour… we were too busy drinking (I hear it’s great and you can take your beer with you).  The taproom also has a small selection of snacks that you can, snack, on which is pretty sweet and adds to the bar like atmosphere.  Andddd, they have a happy hour from 4-6, awesome!!

I have a few notes from some of my samples that really stood out:

Colette (Farmhouse):  Love it.  Little fruity, little tart, definitely refreshing and sessiony.

17th Anniversary (Wood-Aged DIPA): Didn’t have a good hop character for me, but it’s 10%.

Chocolate Oak-Aged Yeti (Imperial Stout): Delicious.  Thick, chocolately with subtle hops.

Smoked Baltic Porter: Yummmm… tastes a little like bacon (from the smoked barley) but it’s not too overpowering.

Grand Cru (Belgian-Style Dark Ale): Alright, a tad too sweet for me.

Old Ruffian (Barley Wine):  I normally am not a fan of barley wines but this one was pretty good.  I know Jason loved it, I think it’s a little strong tasting for me.

Most of Great Divide's beers have a high ABV, so be warned.

If you get a chance, Great Divide does a Beer & Cheese Tasting every once and awhile.  The next one will be on August 18th and I’m hoping to go, since I love beer… and cheese.



Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub

Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub

Location: Idaho Springs, CO

Overall: **** (4/5)

Oh, how I love you Tommyknockers.

One fine day, in the beginning of our trip here in Colorado, we decided to go to a small town called Idaho Springs.  I would recommend anyone whose looking for that small, mountain-life kind of town to check out Idaho Springs.  They have a small main street with restaurants, bars, shops and best of all: Tommyknockers.

Literally (I mean literally) the smell of the malt pouring into the street drew us to this wonderful little brewpub.  We decided to take a small detour from hiking up St. Mary’s Glacier to enjoy a few beers and some food in the bar.  Jason and I have been back since then one more time as well, on the way back from another hike.  Nothing like hiking and then celebrating with some buffalo meat and delicious, delicious beer.

** Okay, so here’s the deal about my blog posts from Colorado.  Since most of the time I randomly stumble upon good beer, bars and breweries, my notes are minimal but I’ll write what I can remember and try better next time.**

So here’s a condensed version of all you need to know:

Duck Drummies:  That’s right ladies and gentleman, duck drummies.  Delicious duck drums prepared like chicken wings but more savory than hot.  We ordered them immediately.

Buffalo Burgers & Nachos:  You just can’t get this on the east coast, not like this.

Black Rye IPA (Cask):  I knew the whole “Black IPA” thing was so in, but a Black Rye IPA?!?!  So freaken good and clever!  Btw… this is only one small example of the experimental beers you’ll find here.

Jalapeno Ale: This is also “in” for a lot of breweries, but it’s also a fantastic idea and Tommyknockers is definitely hitting the style spot on.

Char D’Zon:  What’s that, you say?  A chardonnay wine barrel aged saison??  Who does that?!  On a side note, I hate chardonnay, so I didn’t actually try it, but it’s worth a shot out for creativity.

If you’re in the Denver/Boulder area, I would definitely recommend making a trip out to Idaho Springs and visiting the main drag along with Tommyknockers.  So far I’ve only been able to find their beer in 12-pack variety cases in local stores but I’m hoping they start distributing to further places… Like Syracuse.

You could do the Krysten & Jason method to visiting Idaho Springs.  It goes, get up early, go for a hike (say Chief Mount. or St. Mary’s Glacier) and then hit up Idaho Springs on the way back for some brewskis and foodums.  It's also the beer that we sunck into the the Trampled by Turtles concert Winter Park.  Jason says... "next time you're in Colorado, make sure you don't 'wait so long' to try this beer."

Thunderhead Brewing Co.

Thunderhead Brewing Co.

Stop #5 of Roadtrip

Kearney, NE

Just when we thought we’d seen all of the corn the world possibly had driving through Iowa, we entered Nebraska and were greeted with more corn, more cows and some horses.  Note to self: if you see a herd of cows and there are smaller creatures amongst them, they are most likely calves, not dogs.

We took a slight detour off of our route to Colorado to camp and drink beer in Kearney, Nebraska.  Luckily for us, this is the home of Thunderhead Brewing Co.  The small city of Kearney has a desert, cowboy kind of feel to it and on a Tuesday night, it felt a little bit like a ghost town.  Surprisingly enough though, Thunderhead Brewing Co. was an outstanding small brewpub located in what seemed to be the middle of nothing.

Flight on Thunderhead (flight on Wayne…):

Peach Wheat: ***

Not too sweet; light peach taste; really good for a fruit beer.

Honey Wheat: **

Nothing too special; can’t really taste the honey.

Summer Tiny Tim: ***

High alcohol taste; Nordic style (Gruit); had somewhat of a candy taste to it (a tad too sweet for me);

Grand Cru: **

Light looking but definitely deep and rich in flavor; looks like a lager but has a heavy wheat taste; a little funky.

Sweet Corn Pils: ****

Sour/sweet aroma; slightly cloudy but has a bright yellow color; lingering aftertaste; crisp with some bitter notes. (This is the beer we tried to get a growler of, but then were denied... see below.)

Saison (9%): ****

Amber color; Clean Belgian taste; really easy to drink.

Cocoa Porter: ***

Mouth feel could be better; smooth; nice cocoa aroma.

Orange Chocolate Porter: ***

Orange peel gives it a bitter taste; wish orange taste was a tad more pronounced; still very light for a porter; wish it had a better orange/chocolate aroma.

Cornstalker Dark Wheat: *

Bland; watery; more Munich malt please; little to no aroma.

Ian MacTawisch Scottish Ale: ****

Medium-thick mouth feel; heavier stout taste; smooth yet sharp alcohol taste with a rich dark color to it.

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Notes: We enjoyed a pizza at the brewpub which was fantastic!  They're food is pretty good, but the menu is based soley on a "pizza" type theme, which I believe they could expand a little further.  I do think that their beer and flights should come with better descriptions.  We had to chat with the bartender a few times to figure out what we were drinking, what the ABV was and so on.  I’m really fond of their graphics and branding, I think it’s done really well and looks very professional.  On the other hand, the brewpub itself I felt could use a little bit of help (just to make it a little less of a standard bar and more of a stand-out brewpub with a specific atmosphere). 

Funny story though: apparently there’s some crazy law in Nebraska that says you can’t fill a beer from a brewery using another brewery’s growler…  Even though they had a line of growlers on their own bar from other breweries… odd. 

Lastly, Thunderhead was quite a surprise.  Jason and I both agree that when it comes down to the actual beer, Thunderhead wins.  They had a huge selection of their own brewed beers on tap and the majority of them were really good.  I didn’t expect this from a brewery in the middle of Nebraska, but that just goes to show you that the appreciation of beer is a cultural phenomenon that’s affecting even small towns across the United States.



Note Note:  I know I'm really behind on these blog posts but I've literally been drinking my way through Colorado... which leads to mostly drinking and less computer time.  I promise you, they're on their way... after I finish this beer...