Ladies night at the Speakeasy

 

Ladies night doesn't come around near often enough, but when it does, its best served with great friends, and delicious drinks. To get our fix we meandered to downtown Golden, Co to check out the Golden Moon Speakeasy. Delightfully hidden back from the street, we found our way following the sound of live jazz music. Inside, leather bound menus featuring drinks made from each of their signature spirits made it difficult to figure out what we wanted. We all chose something different, so we could get a taste of much as we could. The drinks were strong, so moderation was necessary. My choice was something like "grey lady", but I'm not quite sure. I wish i'd photographed the menu!

In the end, my drink, at least in my opinion, proved to be the tastiest, and we were all disappointed we hadn't saved room for charcuterie.

5/5 for flavor, high value, but on the expensive side with $10-12 cocktails. Happy hour might be a better bet, but the live jazz made it worthwhile.

Zwei Bruder Brewing

The brewery tour of the Fort Collins area continues! Te other night a group of us went out to Zwei Bruder Brewing, soon to be known by another name due to some odd infringement issues. They are known for their German style brews, and have a pretty funky taproom. It was a light evening for me; I had a pint of the Englisch, a brown ale, followed by their Dunkel. Pretty much everyone found something to their taste, from the Rot, a more bitter red, to the Helles. A few weren't as liked by the group including the Zwickle which a friend got in their awesome taster size.

Overall, I liked the Englisch the best. It was a bit sweet, and had really nice malt notes. It appealed to me even more than the Dunkel, which they claim has coco notes.
I'd give them a 4/5 for the beers I had, with a 4/5 for value. Check them out if you still have time on your way through Fort Collins, that is if you aren't already full of beer.

Why I love a good Distillery Tour

 

Some days are for going hard, others are for hitting the gym and working your muscles. This was one of the former, even though I was all decked out and ready to lift. My travels brought me over to one of our larger, local distilleries: Feisty Spirits. I had no idea what i was in for when i stumbled in from a snowy evening. I had been hoping for at least a hot toddy, since this distillery specializes in whiskey. 

Well, I didn't quite get a hot toddy, but I did get to sample their AMAZING selection of whiskeys, liqueurs and schnapps. Since it was fairly early in the night, I was lucky enough to meet one of the owners who also distills. Everyone I met there seemed super knowledgeable and eager to help me learn; if you stop by, you will also get to know all about what they are pouring that day and maybe even what might be in the works around back. 

Tours are given most days when the tasting room is open so you might get to meet their awesome equipment aphrodite and athena.

Back to the booze: I was able to try a flavored whiskey "non-conformist spirit" spiced up with maple, cinnamon and oats that went down way too easy for something that strong. I might have to go back and pick up a bottle. We also tried the Rye, sharp, distinct, and the best i have ever tasted (Maestro 100% rye whiskey to be specific), and a sip of the barreled red corn whiskey, a single grain whiskey that was a bit too, well, whiskey for me. Eric however had no problem taking care of the rest of that taster for me. Next we moved on to some a more adventurous taster: Bier Schnapps BBB sour beer. This spirit imparted the sour taste from the beer, but with a very different kick. 

The final sips were of the apple brandy with a comparison to their apple jack. Both very apple, with very different finishes.

Just as a note: i'm not a huge whiskey person. I don't have the vocabulary to describe in detail how great these whiskey's were, and therefore can't do them justice. You will simply have to try them yourself.

I was hoping for a taste of the Collabsky w/ Bottle Brewery, a malt whiskey, but i think Eric absconded with his bottle of that for the weekend. Hopefully there will be some left, or i may just have to go back for another flight or two. 

In terms of the ratings, i'll give an overall 5/5 for flavor since i liked everything so much, but be prepared to scrape together more than your usual spare change, as good whiskey will set you back. 

Santa Fe, for when you want out of state fun

Isn't she lovely? Went down to Santa Fe for the weekend with Eric a few weeks back and ran our very own, unofficial brewery tour. Of course we started out at Santa Fe brewco. Their beautiful beer display didn't take away from how awesome their selections were. I was partially to the sour and the white, if I can remember that correctly. The visit did a good job of removing the oddly bad taste of their octoberfest from my mouth that I had bought in cans on Friday. 

Our favorite brewery in town was Marble who had sprung up a tap room near our hotel. While not technically a Santa Fe beer I have to give them props on how drinkable and delicious all their beers were; even the wheat beer which I don't usually enjoy. 

Down by the train station more delicious options resided. We stopped at second street brewing for dinner and a pint and were pleasantly surprised by an awesome live, one man band up from Austin, Texas. 

Some notes on Santa Fe: if you are in town, there is almost no way to go wrong with food. Go try a frog at Tomasitas, the best Santa Fe style breakfast burrito of your life at Chris' cafe, and pretty much anything off the menu at Dr. Field Goods ( although some of their fare can run into the more odd but still awesomely tasty.) I had a blast, and enjoyed just about every flight of beer, burrito, and assorted snacks we tried. Just don't visit that city while in a diet, for your own good. 

Hooray Beer!

This is an old one, but I have quite the backlog of beer to catch up on! I picked up this delicious bomber ages and ages ago. Unfortunately, I brought it to sauna night planning to share it with people who turned out not to like IPAs all that much. Whoops. Learned my lesson on that one.

This beer is STRONG (although i can't say too much about my tolerance) but DELICIOUS! The beer weighs in at a hefty 9.4%. Its not made for little girls like me. Its a seasonal special so you probably wont find it anywhere right now. You will have to be a good little beer drinker and wait to see if it comes back out next year.

Now on the beer notes: This is not your average overhopped IPA. Enjoy by 4.20.14 IPA is citrusy and well balanced. Yes, its damn hoppy, but in the best way. I would have bought more than one, but half way through, on my butt in a sauna, i wasn't feeling too great.

Remember kids, hydrate before you Hydrate.

Cheers!

Steamworks, again

This past weekend was one of my lazy in town weekends, leading to a Saturday afternoon lunch at the local brewpub, steamworks which I have previously mentioned. In town they are one of the most consistently good, moderately priced pubs. They have plenty of vegetarian and otherwise Rachel friendly options. Plus lots and lots of really good beer to choose from. 

When I go I like to pick something new, well most of the time anyways. This week I gravitated towards the Lizard head red. This friendly and mildly hoppy brew went really well with my pub fare and conversation. It was a little on the alcoholic side at I believe 5.9 abv. I would rate it a solid 4. 

Can't wait to see their new spring seasonals! Happy daylight savings, everyone!

Telluride! Not just a ski town... well... mostly a ski town

I am actually really excited that i was too freaking lazy to post this image when i first had this beer, oh, maybe 6 months ago. In general, I'm a fan of Telluride brewing company. There stuff tastes pretty out of the two beers i've tried. Plus; its just really freaking cool that every interesting little town to visit in Colorado makes their own delicious local brew.
Above you will see the cans for the Tempter IPA. Mmmm... this highly rated brew is a little on the cloudy side, but comes chock full of aromatics that really scream Colorado IPA. I like it, wouldn't say its my favorite beer, but would definitely enjoy it again. I'd say 3.5/5 overall, since its tasty, but priced pretty much where all the Colorado local IPAs happen to be.
Best when consumed after coming down from Telluride's glorious slopes!

Not my best picture, but this town is so amazingly beautiful.