Category — Beer

This week our search for a Beer Of The Week(end) took us 20 miles west of Denver to the Tommyknocker Brewery in Idaho Springs. Every good BOTW should start out with a picture that needs some explanation. This is Mic, a long-time friend of UpaDowna, in full-on emergency mode while helping me with a growler of Tommyknocker’s Rye Porter, which is this week’s Beer of the Week(end). Fashion model Mic is stylishly sporting Ortovox’s Gemini Single emergency bivi. More on the picture in a moment, but first we should take care of the important stuff….. the beer. [Read more →]

One of the great things about living in Colorado is the readily available wide selection of awesome beers, especially canned beers, which we prefer due to pack-ability. So it is no wonder why I have been on a Colorado brewery kick lately. One great example of local a brew done right is Old Chub Scotch Ale by none other than Oskar Blues. OB is a brewery located in Lyons, CO just north of Denver and their main claim to fame is that they can all of their beers. [Read more →]

It was another busy week for UpaDowna, but somehow we found time  for a new Beer Of The Week(end). It wasn’t just any brew either, it was another great product home brewed here in Colorado! White Rascal is a Belgium style White Ale brewed and bottled at Avery Brewing Company, Boulder Colorado. It’s unfiltered with yeast floating at the bottom, so pour it slowly into an UpDowna pint glass to let it achieve it’s full potential! It’s also spiced with coriander and Curacao orange peals which give it a refreshing zesty taste. It’s the perfect compliment to any hot day, or summer BBQ. We just finished grilling and enjoying a light evening rainfall, setting the mood with White Rascal. I hope I enjoy more BOTW’s as much I enjoyed this one.

I end this week with a toast to; a new respect for farming, huge spiders, MTB races, Crossfit competitions, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Jarhead for not giving up, the Roast of David Hasselhoff, triumphant stories of amputees conquering Mt. Kilimanjaro, the mighty Maroon Bells claiming another life, R.I.P. Spencer James Nelson, lightning, The Expendables, Drew Hayden’s bachelor party, SPF 50, the annual Craft Lager Festival, wonderful friends, White Rascal, and finally to you our readers.

Menikmati,

Bunny

This week’s BOTW is a special one. Not only is this one coming from a home town brewery, it’s an homage to man’s best friend. If you haven’t heard by now a very special yellow Labrador retriever named Camden passed away recently. Better known to most of us as the face of the Bristol Brewing Company, Laughing Lab, Scottish-Style Ale. We figured we would pay our respects to Camden and the smooth luscious ale named after her, by making Laughing Lab our BOTW. Camden lived to be 16, but her beer will live on forever!

Thanks for the many good times Camden. You (Laughing Lab) will be with me on the next UpaDowna adventure.

Here are some of Laughing Lab’s credentials:

Winner of the Silver in the Scottish Ale category at the 1996 World Beer Cup,® the 2000 and 2006 Gold Medals, the 2007, 2002, 2001, and 1996 Silver Medals and the 1994 and 2005 Bronze Medals in the Scottish Ale category at the Great American Beer Festival,®

R.I.P. Camden

Menikmati,

Bunny

It’s been a painful weekend, I don’t know how many more mountains I’ll try to climb before my knee surgery. I tend to push things too far sometimes and my body has been no exception, so probably a few more. I needed a refreshing beer, but I couldn’t decide what to choose from. So many brews so little time. While trying to make up my mind I ventured over to my friend’s from BeerTapTV’s Facebook page to see what they have been up to. I was delighted to see pics from the grand opening of the Colorado Mountain Brewery. I love local breweries, and more importantly trying new beer! Unfortunately I can’t say good things about everything they had to offer. I thought their Monumental Stout was a little flat, and I was bummed that they were out of the Ole 59er Amber Ale. Maybe because everyone liked it the best? I’ll have to wait until next time to find out.

For now I’m giving it up to their UniBräu Hefeweissen! It was a close one, I also enjoyed the Roller Coaster Red Ale.

Here’s the bio’s from Colorado Mountain Brewery’s website on their UniBräu Hefeweissen, Roller Coaster Red Ale, and the Monumental Stout:

UniBräu Hefeweissen—its our most beautiful handcrafted brew! UniBrau offers a sweet and refreshing taste that’s more than meats the eye. It features a light brown hue and a slight clove zest. This wheat-brew is sure to leave you dreaming for the German countryside, and you might fancy a game of dodgeball!

Roller Coaster Red Ale— this brew offers all the excitement of a trip to an amusement park from it’s copper color to it’s candy-like-caramel sweetness. The medium bodied flavor of Roller Coaster is a festival of taste. We don’t have a roller coaster nearby, but we do have the historic Roller Coaster Road—its got to be more fun then the first roller coaster carved out of ice in Russia.

The disappointment was the Monumental Stout.

Monumental Stout— its dark, its robust and its monumental all right! Monumental offers a roasted malt flavor as strong as the town of Monument it was named after. But please don’t be afraid of the dark. Monumentalhas s smooth, silky finish from the moment it hits your taste buds until the glass is empty.

This is just my personal opinion, so get there and try them out for yourself! To go along with the said beverages there is also a Pale Ale, and an Indian Ale. They named their burgers after some of our famous 14ers, that rocks! If it’s nice out sit on the patio and enjoy the gorgeous view! If you’re on the go or want to take some beer home with you, do like Starchild, aka, Nibbler, aka Jess and fill up a growler.

Big thanks to our server Lucas, we had a great time. Another thanks to Hodo, Turdis, Chase, Matt, Drew, Rochelle, K2, and Jess for joining me at the brewery, good times!

Menikmati,

Bunny

Great night on the Incline with temperatures in the mid 70’s and just a sprinkle or two the weather couldn’t have been much better! Although I suspect several of our faithful strayed from the path of the righteous fearing the rain, we did have a nice showing on the hike and a few of those were rewarded with a tasty watermelon reward at the top hauled by none other than UTM!!

After the top o the ‘cline beers and melon we cruised down the Barr trail which fortunately has been nice and tacky with all of the rain lately so the speed was intense!! One thing did come to mind though and that was that although I love all of the rain and it is great for the vegetation, the run off has really taken its toll on the trails so keep checking back for a near future trail maintenance day.

All in all I would say this was a pretty good evening and as the group continues to grow, our awareness of our impact on our local hot spots needs to increase as well. Lets keep our trails and open spaces clear of trash and destruction.

And to all you new members…I am counting on YOU to keep the pictures flowing in both on our Flickr site and Facebook page, show us how you live the UpaDowna vibe.

Cheers and Beers,

Yeti