My must hits:
Denver:
1. Crooked Stave Tasting Room (if you like sours)
2. Hops and Pie Restaurant (if you like great food/pizza to pair with your beer from a great draft list)
3. Thirsty Monk Belgian Cafe (if you like the best Belgian beers (actually from Belgium) at half price for lunch)
4. Freshcraft (excellent food/draft list, good happy hour specials)
5. Dry Dock Brewing (very good at a number of styles, a bit out of the city proper)
*also if you do go to Denver, check the Falling Rock draft list. Which unfortunately gets update no plae online
Arvada:
1. Yak and Yeti Brewpub/Restaurant (if you like an outstanding IPA paired with excellent spicy Indian food)
Fort Collins:
1. New Belgium Brewery (if you like an outstanding, entertaining tour with plenty of free samples...note, tours fill up way in advance, book ahead...not many brewery only options though, and NB is of course widely distrusted around here)
2. Odell Brewery (if you like a cool tasting room with loads of interesting choices that don't get bottled (actually none of their bottles make it to the East Coast)
3. Funkwerks Brewery (if you like saisons...definitely the third choice for Ft Collins, but if you go there you might as well do this one too)
Boulder:
Actually, I have no "must hits" here. I was very sick the day we were in Boulder, so I'm biased because of that. Avery Brewery is probably your best bet. Comparable to Odell, though I liked Avery less. People rave about Backcounty Pizza...Excellent draft list but the pizza was mediocre.
More details in post from mid-July.
I'm heading to Boulder/Denver next week, and I'm overwhelmed with choices. Any "must-visit" recommendations? I prefer to stay on the Boulder side of things, but am willing to travel to Denver if there's a compelling reason.
