I am going to go back in time a bit to catch up on a previous post that never quite made it online.  I traveled to Colorado about a year and half ago to visit some friends. While there, of course, I enjoyed a few brews.  This was during the time when I wasn’t keep the blog so my descriptions will be kind of vague.

We made a trip out to the Rocky Mountain National Park and stopped at Grand Lake, Colorado, which is a small town right outside one of the park entrances. There we happened upon the Grand Lake Brewing Company. The weather was quite nice and we enjoyed beer and a meal outside on their back deck. It did start to rain and the covering wasn’t exactly solid so we did get a little wet. I remember a Scottish Ale here that was quite nice. The beers were all good and the atmosphere is spectacular, as are the nearby views.

Another stop I made on this trip was to the Coors Brewery, which everyone knows from the commercial is located in Golden, Colorado. I know this sounds awful cheesy but it really is worth a trip if you find yourself out that way. The worst part of the trip is waiting for the shuttle bus which takes you from the parking lot to the brewery entrance. Once at the brewery, you are given an audio tour wand and you are pretty much on your own. The tour takes a while, about an hour, and is very informative. About halfway through the tour, you are given a couple of dixie cup sized samples of a few of the beers. However, the best part of the tour is the end. At the end of the tour, you enter a tasting area.  The decor is awful, making you feel like you are in someone’s basement, but the beer is actually good. Instead of only offering you Coors and Coors Light, the tasting rooms offers three full size samples of some of their less known beers, as well as Blue Moon and whatever Blue Moon Seasonal is being offered. The tasting room can be quite crowded and tables are scarce so be prepared to stand. In addition, try to do the tour early as they begin to run out of some of the better beers by the end of the day. We have several that we wanted to try but were not available.

Yes that’s right– I said the Coors Brewery is worth the trip!