Blame It On The Altitude: Our Colorado Brewery Tour

One of the best parts about the trip out to Colorado was visiting just a small sample of the 100+ breweries that exist in the Rocky Mountain state.

We were able to visit 4 full breweries and 3 brewpubs, for a total of 7 places that brew their own beer. They were: Breckenridge Brewery and Pub across from Coors Field, Great Divide Brewing Co. , New Belgium Brewing Co., Left Hand Brewing Co., Oskar Blues Brewery, Mountain Sun Brewery & Pub, and the Colorado Brewing Company-Draft House. My biggest regret was not visiting Avery Brewing in Boulder.

Quick Awards:

Best Beers Overall: Great Divide

Favorite New Beer: Oskar Blues & Great Divide*

Best Tour & Overall Experience: New Belgium

Best Personal Experience: Oskar Blues

Best Deal: New Belgium

Best Bartender: Left Hand

*Favorite New Beers: Gubna at Oskar Blues and Wild Raspberry Ale at Great Divide

Probably, the most unique place we visited was a hippie brewpub in Boulder called Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery. The best beers they had by far were their two IPAs and the Colorado Kind Ale. Definitely a cool experience, as it was a small restaurant that had some really good beer.

I've never been a big fan of Breckenridge beers, and their pub across from Coors Field was cool, but the beers were not that special. They had a small batch Pilsner that was really good, but I can't find the name of it online.

GREAT DIVIDE BREWING CO.

The first brewery we visited was Great Divide Brewing in Denver. You've likely had their Titan IPA if you've had any of their beers (it was the only one I had previously).

G.D. was about 3 blocks from Coors Field, which immediately made me a fan, but it also had happy hour right after the game. This means $3 beers, that are mostly high gravity, and very delicious (you can imagine what happened after being there almost 3 hours in their small tap room).

G.D. had the best overall beers on our trip. My particular favorites were their Hades Belgian Style Ale, Wild Raspberry Ale (best berry ale I've ever had), and the Hoss Rye Lager.

Others in our the crew enjoyed the Yeti Imperial Stout and Hibernation Ale. I also enjoyed the Denver Pale Ale.

NEW BELGIUM BREWING CO.

This was the sign waiting for us on our tour. Lots of points for New Belgium!

Does your office have a two story slide in it? Do you have volleyball tournaments every week? Does your company give tours to 20+ insane UGA fans and then also give them FREE BEER?

Didn't think so, and that's why your life sucks if you don't work at New Belgium. Especially if you are not the "Director of Fun" that had this awesome slide installed.

A slide in the brewery. 'Nuff said.

If you've ever drank a beer, then you've likely had Fat Tire, their most popular beer. In recent times, many of the beers have become available in Georgia, so there were not too many surprises in their tap room. Don't let that fool you though, the tap room was still awesome, good bartenders, and we even got to meet the brewmaster.

The 1554, a Black Ale, was an excellent dark beer that tasted nothing like a dark beer. I know that sounds contradictory, and it is, but you just have to try it. Never had anything like it, especially a dark beer with such a smooth taste.

The actual tour of N.B. was awesome, given to us by Kaitlyn, as we got to see their beer making process, their massive bottling plant appropriately called "Thunderdome", and we got to pour our own beers and they served us plenty of free samples. FREE BEER, can you believe that!?!

I would be able to recount all of the cool things on the tour that Kaitlyn told me, but the free beer has caused me to not remember them.

The picture above is "The Thunderdome." One of the coolest things is that the brewery and Thunderdome are connected by a giant beer bridge that flows the beer from one building to another.

I learned how N.B. makes all their money though. They brainwash attendees of their awesome brewery and tap room so that they pile up on the merchandise when they leave (guilty as charged, I am a sucker!)

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY

Dale's Pale Ale is the signature beer of Oskar Blues, and it is one that you can find in almost any store and many bars in Atlanta. It is also the official craft brew of the Bubba 'N Earl tailgates as deemed by Bubba himself (those cans count for something). Mamas Lil Yella Pils is also one of their beers you can find in many stores

We visited the brewery and tap room for Oskar Blues in Longmont, as opposed to their restaurant in Lyons, CO that served as the original brewery.

We got to the brewery in time for them to pop open a cask of special ale(wish i could remember it, but it was delicious). I also got to try a new favorite beer called "Gubna." Hadn't seen it in Georgia yet, but it is a 10% alcohol Imperial IPA. This beer was insane, with a flavor I had never tasted before. Can't wait to find it here soon.

Some jerk and Dale of the Pale Ale.

Our experience was awesome at Oskar Blues because Tree, the HR director for the brewery (and is also the longest standing employee), gave us a personal guided tour of the brewery. It's a huge operation they had going on, and she even made sure we got all of the mardi gras beer can necklaces we could want (which was alot with this group).

Also on the tour was the DALE of Dale's Pale Ale (brewery founder Dale Katechis). Unknown to us was the we had previously met Dale when we pulled up next to a giant DPA RV and asked the driver where the tap room was. Just so happens that the drive was Dale himself, and he also shouted War Eagle as we drove off.

When we saw him on the tour, we found out that Dale attended Auburn before moving out to Colorado. I'm sure we bugged the crap out of him with questions and pictures, but you'd never know it by how nice he treated us and how he just hung out with us for an hour and a
half. He seemed incredibly stoked on how popular his beer was in Georgia.

We probably spent more time at Oskar Blues than any other brewery, and the personal touch and great beer they provided us was exactly why we had such an awesome experience.

The beer comes out of these things, and by the process of magic, ends up in the cans below.

We could not have asked for a better time at a brewery. Thanks Dale and Tree!

LEFT HAND BREWING CO.

Most here in Georgia have had Left Hand's Milk Stout if anything, and maybe their Haystack Wheat (which was the best wheat beer I had in Colorado).

Left Hand has a great tap room and patio. We weren't able to go on a tour of their brewery, so I can't give you the dish on that.

While Left Hand was the most expensive tap room we went to, it also had the best service of any place where you paid per glass (particularly given how full it was).

Our bartender, Josh, took care of us the entire time which was a huge help with our group of 12.

We managed to try nearly every beer on the menu, and there wasn't a single bad one.

As an awesome left handed person, kudos to L.H.!

Like I said, Aaron Murray will be the starting QB this fall

Following G-Day, many people seemed quick to anoint Zach Mettenberger the starting quarterback based on his performance. I was cautious because while Mettenberger was impressive last Saturday, he was still facing a minimum 1 game suspension and needed to continue to improve other skills such as his footwork. After his dismissal from the team yesterday, I hope that all of the Georgia fans that seemed to give up on Aaron Murray are ready to get back on the bandwagon. While I never want to see a talented kid kicked off of Georgia's team, the actions taken by Coach Richt may ultimately be a blessing in disguise. Let me explain.

With Mettenberger gone, that means there will be one less quarterback splitting reps this summer. Mettenberger had a good chance of being named #1 on the depth chart following a strong spring, but because of his suspension someone else would need to take a large portion of snaps with the first team as well to prepare for the season opener. Now, the coaches will have a clear number 1 going into the season who can become the sole focus point.

This also means we avoid any type of quarterback controversy this fall. I think most of us have come to accept the fact that Logan Gray is not going to be a big time SEC quarterback. With Murray entrenched as the starter, all of the Bulldog nation can get behind him as opposed to people calling for his job the first time he makes a mistake. A freshman QB is going to inevitably make some mistakes and I am glad we won't have to hear the lunatic fringe calling for a QB change after an interception in the third quarter of a blowout against Louisiana Lafayette.

The final reason this is could be a blessing in disguise is that it already seems to have changed the media's mind about Coach Richt's discipline practices. Many people criticized Georgia for player arrests over the last few years, but this year we have removed both of the players from the team who have gotten themselves into trouble.

In the end, it sucks that Mettenberger had to go. He was a talented player who may have become a great quarterback. I wish him luck at whatever school he lands at (as long as it is not in the SEC).

How Can Georgia Beat Tech?

Let's face Dawg fans, no one is really giving us much of a chance of defeating our in-state rivals this year. Georgia is 6-5 is coming off a loss to Kentucky while Tech is 10-1 and getting ready to play for its conference championship. After blowing a sizable lead at halftime last year, most people expect Tech to put Georgia away early this year. If the Bulldogs hope to win on Saturday, here are a couple of things I think they must do:

1. Run the football. - Tech's option attack is known to eat up the clock. The more time Georgia's defense is on the field, the more likely they are to get tired and give up the big play. The only way to counter is run the football as well. If Georgia can keep the time of possession battle close, they should be able to keep the score close as well.

2. Don't throw the ball deep so much - If there is one thing Joe Cox has done fairly well this year, it is throwing the deep pass. The biggest issue is that it has often been on first or second down, leaving Georgia in a third and long hole. They need to mix in some slants and crossing patterns early in the game. If the Tech safeties begin to bite, then they should open up the deep pass.

3. Make solid tackles - The biggest reason Georgia lost last season was missed tackles. Tech's offense is going to get yards, but keeping runs to 5 yard as opposed to 8 can be the difference in the game.

4. Try and kick the ball off deep - Directional kicks, squib kicks, and short kicks are not working. If a guy is going to get a kick off return for touchdown, at least make him earn it.

5. Play "smart" football - By this I mean don't panic and throw the game plan out the window if we get down early. If Tech takes a lead, we need to continue to try and run the ball to set up the pass. Getting away from the plan can only lead to the one thing that has killed Georgia all year long, turnovers.

It will be an uphill battle for the Dawgs to win at Grant Field this Saturday. I hope the coaching staff prepares better for this game than they did for Kentucky.

GO DAWGS!!!

Lewis Grizzard/Lucille Memorial Best Beer Joint in Georgia

Just wanted to make sure everyone saw Bulldawg Illustrated's contest to find the best beer joint in Georgia in honor of the late, great Lewis Grizzard and Lucille, the first person to ever sell him a beer.

A good read and a good contest. If you have a winner, make your way over to Bulldawg Illustrated.

BulldawgJosh and Bubba's 80's Music Video of the Week

This week's video is Henry Lee Summer's 1988 #1 Hit "I Wish I Had A Girl" (Warning, there is an annoying ad that plays before the video that I can't get rid of):


Henry Lee Summer - I Wish I Had A Girl (Official Music Video) - Watch the best video clips here

This video was chosen because Henry was recently busted for Meth Possession. We wish you well in recovery Henry.