Denver: Third Report

It's Thursday morning and we're getting ready for the first session this evening at 5:30. Elaine and I picked up our media credentials yesterday and I've got an interview scheduled this afternoon at 12:30 with the BeerTapTV guys, Erik & Eli. We'll be tasting a brew or two that I brought with me from Alaska.

The last couple of days have been very busy and tons of fun. Tuesday, we drove up to Longmont to visit the Oskar Blues restaurant & bar up there, Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids & Solids. I had a very nice smoked porter, That's Some Good Smoke, and a great bowl of jambalaya. There are a couple more breweries up there, but they didn't open for tours until 3 pm, and we needed to get back to Denver by 4.

Here's a photo of the interior of the Oskar Blues joint:

The reason we wanted to make it back by 4 pm was to catch the last tour of the day at Great Divide Brewing Company, located a few blocks from our condo at the corner of 22nd & Arapaho. The brewery has a nice Tap Room, though it is a little small. We had a very nice tour from Tannea. Here she is telling us about the mashing process. Note the used whiskey barrels in the rack behind her, used for oak-aging some of their brews.

Great Divide has been undergoing substantial expansion lately. Just this week they finished installing another brand-new 300-barrel conical fermenter outside there plant. As you can see in this photo, now they have three of these fermenters, plus a 300-barrel conditioning tank. With this final fermenter, they will pretty much be at max capacity for their current 50 barrel brewhouse.



Wednesday morning was spent indulging my wife in a little shopping around Denver, but we headed back to Falling Rock about 4:30m for some more excellent brews. The Rockies ballgame at nearby Coors Field had just ended, and between the fans leaving the game and the brewers and beer geeks in town, the place was packed. The team from Alaskan Brewing was there, so I got the chance for a quick chat with them. We stayed for two brews; I had a Russian River Supplication & an Avery Seventeenth Anniversary Black Lager. I'm looking forward to getting back to Falling Rock every chance I get this week, never mind the crowds.

Until Next Time, Cheers!