And the winner is . . . Coopersmith’s NOT Brown Ale.
Just got back from my beercation in Ft. Collins, and trust me, it was hard to pick a winner.
Best Local Brewery goes to this tiny place called ‘Equinox’. I asked the Bartender how far do they sell their stuff and he said, “Within in a 3 block radius.”
Best rental car, jet black 2013 Dodge Charger, that car rocked!
Best Saturday afternoon drinking partner, my uncle Mike!
Best Saturday Night drinking partner/tour guide, Megs!
Best Hosts, Mike and Joy, who were kind enough to let me stay with them and take me out to some great places to eat.
Best Sunday Lunch, Betta Mo’s Gumbo (sp?) in Loveland, CO where I had the special of the day (shrimp boil) and homemade bloody mary’s.
Totally worth it gallery stop, Loveland, CO, Francisco Goya’s plate prints on display.
Weirdest photo wall art, The Forge, I won’t even post a picture of it because it was so disturbing.
Best place to get a pint, The Mayor. 100 beers on tap, I had a Trinity Saison and a Hoegarrden Wit.
Best detour between Ft. Collins and Denver, Estes Park.
First Brewery I hit on Friday, Fort Collins Brewery, their scotch ale was amazing and their Weisenbach was also probably #2 on my list for best beers.
Equinox Brewery, best brewery in Ft. Collins, hands down, definately craft, craft, craft beer. Their Wit, Saison and Hef were some of the best I ever had. The employees of Equinox, not so friendly, they take ‘Beer Snobs’ to a whole new level.
The one thing I will say about Ft. Collins is it is a ‘Bike Town’ Everyone rides, they even have a thing called ‘Bike Library’ where tourists can ‘check out’ bikes. The other thing that surprised me is that a town with the same population as SF has a massive DT that spans about 6 square blocks, chucked full of galleries, bars and restaurants. In fact there is probably more on two blocks then there is in all of DTSF. The problem I see with DTSF compared to Ft. Collins is ‘Marketing’ DTSF business owners need to do a better job of promoting our DT. Period! We also need to drop the ‘attitude’ DT. Ft. Collins has it’s problems though, the city government is super-duper corrupt. They just recently gave $50 million of taxpayer dollars to a Canadian company to ‘refurbish’ the mall. They also only have ONE cab company, that has a monopoly on the town, and can charge whatever rates they want to. When you ask locals about it, they say, the owner has ‘connections’
I think I tried over 40 different beers while I was there, but it is never enough 🙂