Brewery Discoveries on Vacation

cyclonesurveyor

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2009
1,296
263
83
Fort Collins, CO
My wife and I are headed to Colorado in August and we are doing a beer tour. Any recommendations in Colorado. We only have a couple of days planned and the rest is discovering good beers.

What part are you visiting? There is a lot up and down the Front Range / Denver / Western Slope and I can only speak to NOCO. Every town now has something. Ault (east of Fort Collins on Hwy 14) has East Branch, Wellington (north of FC on I-25, just north of Bud plant & biergarten) has Soul Squared and 2 others, Windsor (30 mins east of FC/ Loveland) has Peculiar, Mighty River, Mash Lab and High Hops.

As for Weldwerks, its a cool spot but its an hour east of Fort Collins, so unless you are driving through, I would just look for it at the liquor store, their distro is pretty good. But if you are into the hazy's / slush beers then Greeley is worth the trip for Weldwerks and Wiley Roots.

Fort Collins obvs has New Belgium and O'dells (best table ordering service) but both will be packed on the weekend. All the local breweries are good (most are former NB or OD brewers).

Verboten in Loveland is a good one, Wibby in Longmont has an awesome outdoor setup and excellent beers.

Thats just scratching the surface LOL, let me know if you make it to FC, Prost in old town is/was the gameday watch party location.
 

Blackhawk6515

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jul 21, 2008
550
523
93
64
What part are you visiting? There is a lot up and down the Front Range / Denver / Western Slope and I can only speak to NOCO. Every town now has something. Ault (east of Fort Collins on Hwy 14) has East Branch, Wellington (north of FC on I-25, just north of Bud plant & biergarten) has Soul Squared and 2 others, Windsor (30 mins east of FC/ Loveland) has Peculiar, Mighty River, Mash Lab and High Hops.

As for Weldwerks, its a cool spot but its an hour east of Fort Collins, so unless you are driving through, I would just look for it at the liquor store, their distro is pretty good. But if you are into the hazy's / slush beers then Greeley is worth the trip for Weldwerks and Wiley Roots.

Fort Collins obvs has New Belgium and O'dells (best table ordering service) but both will be packed on the weekend. All the local breweries are good (most are former NB or OD brewers).

Verboten in Loveland is a good one, Wibby in Longmont has an awesome outdoor setup and excellent beers.

Thats just scratching the surface LOL, let me know if you make it to FC, Prost in old town is/was the gameday watch party location.

Mostly west and south. West of Aspen and down towards Buena Vista. No tourist destinations. No Denver, Colorado Springs, no big cities like that. More off the beaten path.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cyclonesurveyor

srjclone

Well-Known Member
Nov 17, 2014
11,924
11,251
113
Downtown Minneapolis
Maui Recommendations?

Going at the end of the month and only seems to be a handful, but if anyone has recs based on best beer or best location/view, I'm all ears
 

jbell71464

Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Mostly west and south. West of Aspen and down towards Buena Vista. No tourist destinations. No Denver, Colorado Springs, no big cities like that. More off the beaten path.
In the west: If you make it to Grand Junction, check out Monumental Beer Works, Head Brewer worked for me and is a friend. Beers are great. In Glenwood Springs, Casey Brewing is a fantastic stop for quality Barrel aged sours. Ball Brewing is just south of Glenwood and is good too. Ska in Durango is well worth the trip as well. Around Buena Vista, Eddyline is pretty good, the Jailhouse if open (they were moving locations) is a top notch beer bar. In Salida area: Elevation, Soulcraft, Tres Litros are all good stops and Moonlight Pizza is a decent pub.
 

srjclone

Well-Known Member
Nov 17, 2014
11,924
11,251
113
Downtown Minneapolis
Dangerous Man has the cool building but I don't love their beer. Too many of their beers don't taste like beer and Bauhaus has an even cooler building.

If you venture to the suburbs, my favorites are Lift Bridge in Stillwater, Invictus in Blaine, and Omni in Maple Grove.
Bauhaus is my favorite tap room in the cities, and the beer is solid-to-good always. Would recommend anyone to go there, and if they are trying to brewery hop, they have 612brew, Able and Indeed right there within walking distance. And Tattersall Distilling is right there if you are into that.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: jcyclonee

cyrocksmypants

Well-Known Member
Dec 29, 2008
91,283
89,016
113
Washington DC
Maui Recommendations?

Going at the end of the month and only seems to be a handful, but if anyone has recs based on best beer or best location/view, I'm all ears
There’s not a ton in Maui for breweries. The only thing I can think of is Maui Brewing Company.

I think technically there’s one in Kihei and one in Lahaina, but I don’t know if the Lahaina one is one you can actually go into. The brewery/restaurant is in Kihei, which is kind of on the “waist” of the bean island.


They are good though, and worth a visit. I think there are some good whale spotting places around there, though I believe you’ll be out of season.
 
Last edited:
  • Informative
  • Like
Reactions: srjclone and NWICY

srjclone

Well-Known Member
Nov 17, 2014
11,924
11,251
113
Downtown Minneapolis
There’s not a ton in Maui for breweries. The only thing I can think of is Maui Brewing Company.

I think technically there’s one in Kihei and one in Lahaina, but I don’t know if the Lahaina one is one you can actually go into. The brewery/restaurant is in Kihei, which is kind of on the “waist” of the bean island.


They are good though, and worth a visit. I think there are some good whale spotting places around there, though I believe you’ll be out of season.
Yeah, we are in Kaanapali and I think we were planning to try and stop at the Maui Brewing Co - Lahaina (up towards Kapalua). Seems like they have good beers but also really good food. Could be a lunch spot option. From what I saw it looks like they do have an indoor seating area now, maybe that's newer?

I also saw Kohola & Waikiki Brewery in Lahaina town. May try one of those after we bop over to Lanai for a half day.

Figured there wouldn't be much, but I appreciate the info!
 

cyrocksmypants

Well-Known Member
Dec 29, 2008
91,283
89,016
113
Washington DC
Yeah, we are in Kaanapali and I think we were planning to try and stop at the Maui Brewing Co - Lahaina (up towards Kapalua). Seems like they have good beers but also really good food. Could be a lunch spot option. From what I saw it looks like they do have an indoor seating area now, maybe that's newer?

I also saw Kohola & Waikiki Brewery in Lahaina town. May try one of those after we bop over to Lanai for a half day.

Figured there wouldn't be much, but I appreciate the info!
Kona was my brewery of choice when I lived there, but I did enjoy the Bikini blonde and the coconut Porter from Maui brewing, if you do go.
 
  • Friendly
Reactions: srjclone

srjclone

Well-Known Member
Nov 17, 2014
11,924
11,251
113
Downtown Minneapolis
Kona was my brewery of choice when I lived there, but I did enjoy the Bikini blonde and the coconut Porter from Maui brewing, if you do go.
Will do, always love a good rec. I'm thinking we are going to do that and mabey the Kohola one in Maui. Have a ISU alum friend on Oahu who will be taking us to Waikiki, so I think we got our selections haha.

Thanks again
 

PineClone

Well-Known Member
Jul 16, 2008
369
697
93
Maui Recommendations?

Going at the end of the month and only seems to be a handful, but if anyone has recs based on best beer or best location/view, I'm all ears

Maui Brewing is worth a visit. Their ice bar is pretty cool and the food is decent. Beer is okay. Maui Brewing makes their own ketchup, made with their beer. Word to the wise: Making something with beer seems like a neat idea...and that's about it. Don't spend the extra $ for their special ketchup.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: srjclone

Entropy

Well-Known Member
Oct 27, 2008
9,295
15,358
113
Cedar Rapids, IA
Just got back this weekend from a trip to WI. Finally got some time to stop at Delta Beer Lab in Madison. Picked up a few 4 packs of their pale ales, and they are excellent. The guy who started it, Pio, is an old friend from 20+ years ago.

Definitely a recommended stop for anyone rolling through mad town.
 

dmclone

Well-Known Member
Oct 20, 2006
21,265
5,566
113
50131
Just got back from the Scottsdale area.
Trevors Liquor=This place really brings home that Des Moines needs a good liquor store. They had great selection, knowledgeable staff, and a bar area where you can drink what you buy.

Wren house Brewing=Nice little taproom with a lot of really good beer.

Tombstone brewing=Didn't really like the taproom and their beer wasn't that great.

Arizona Wilderness=Didnt have time to visit but the couple of beers I had from them were some of the best I had.

Bonus pick=The St. Louis airport has a place that sells schlafly, which this time of the year has some great pumpkin choices. They are also a priority pass place but make sure to tell them before you order.

Phoenix isn't really a great beer city for a city that big but there are a few good local places and their selection of out of state stuff seems to be excellent. I saw a lot of people picking up TG so I assume they just started distribution.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Messi

Nader_uggghhh

Well-Known Member
Jul 11, 2017
780
961
93
I've seen the Sleepy Whale bottle shop in Chandler, Arizona be promoted by some of our in-state breweries. Not very helpful for Dmclone now but the bottle shop looks awesome. TG and Dimensional did visits there just off the top of my head.
 

JP4CY

A loathsome, offensive brute. You can't look away.
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 19, 2008
69,447
86,630
113
Testifying
Just got back from the Scottsdale area.
Trevors Liquor=This place really brings home that Des Moines needs a good liquor store. They had great selection, knowledgeable staff, and a bar area where you can drink what you buy.

Wren house Brewing=Nice little taproom with a lot of really good beer.

Tombstone brewing=Didn't really like the taproom and their beer wasn't that great.

Arizona Wilderness=Didnt have time to visit but the couple of beers I had from them were some of the best I had.

Bonus pick=The St. Louis airport has a place that sells schlafly, which this time of the year has some great pumpkin choices. They are also a priority pass place but make sure to tell them before you order.

Phoenix isn't really a great beer city for a city that big but there are a few good local places and their selection of out of state stuff seems to be excellent. I saw a lot of people picking up TG so I assume they just started distribution.
This.
 

dmclone

Well-Known Member
Oct 20, 2006
21,265
5,566
113
50131
OK, I wasn't on vacation but we went to Omaha for the creighton game. We're been to a bunch of breweries in Omaha but I think I found my favorite. Bearded Brewer on the far west side of Omaha. Everything we had was amaze balls and brought home a couple of bottles of stouts. Also went to Kros Strain at Millworks, which has a pretty cool location but the beer was just a little above average.
brewery-473491_6df35.jpeg