Colorado Surprises

We stood on the edge of a precipice. Looking down, a scar was cut into the countryside that ran for miles in either direction. In the distance, more gouges in the land could be seen. The next day, we encountered a posh brewpub in a dustbowl town of 20,000 residents. “This,” we thought, “is Kansas?”

When we imagined Kansas, we imagined the Kansas of the Wizard of Oz- flat, agrarian, boring. We were shocked when we discovered two delightful brewpubs along our route- in Manhattan and in Hays- as well as several wineries. Moreover, the countryside was nothing like what I imagined. Certainly not as rugged as Utah, but the western half of the state showed surprising character. Our journey from Georgia to Colorado- There and Back Again: A Travelogue of Brewpubs- was shaping up to reveal some surprising things about the country we have lived in all our lives.

Although not nearly as dramatic as Central Park in NYC, Cherry Creek State Park is a short 20 minute drive from downtown Denver and sports an 880-acre boat-OK reservoir and 35 miles of trails.

It is, more importantly, an easy 10 minutes from CB Potts in Englewood, our first brewpub in Colorado. CB Potts featured a decent lineup, but their real distinction was the ram’s horn shape of their tasting flight. Witnessing a unique tasting flight holder continues to be an interesting aspect of our US brewpub experiences.

Colorado was, as expected, mountainous and filled with great beer. It is also the home to Celestial Seasonings, which is famous for its herbal infusions, most notably Sleepytime. Herbal teas are not technically teas, as they do not contain any actual tea leaves, and would be more properly termed “herbal infusions”. The practice of creating new infusions led the founders of the company to wander the hills around Boulder, CO, collecting the various herbs to use in their concoctions. We believe the addition of a dram of rum would add character to any great herbal infusion.

Our biggest surprise was learning that vikings had discovered America in the 11th century. Well, probably not, but there is a bloody great big rock with some Elder Futhark runes which make quite an impression. In spite of this lack of historical truth, Heavener Runestone State Park was lovely, with mossy stones and a fabulous view, and worth the side trip.

It is always surprising and exciting to be a tourist in your own country. We have made many delightful discoveries, and expanded our understanding of this place we call our land. Travel is an investment in yourself, and that is true even if you don’t leave your own country.

Colorado Trip Step 1

Colorado is often considered one of the great beer states. It ranks #3 in craft beer barrel production, and Boulder is often considered one of the cooler beer towns in the country. We made it the destination for our first ever dedicated Alcohol Tour, and it did not disappoint.

The first leg of our journey took us to Blackhorse Pub in Clarkesville, TN. Clarkesville has a terrific downtown, home of Austin Peay State University, surrounded by horrible sprawl. We visited immediately after the flood of May 2010, so most of the businesses surrounding downtown were flood damaged. Fortunately, the downtown region is on a small hill overlooking the junction of the Cumberland River and Little West Fork Red River. The Riverview Inn, while expensive, was the only show in town due to all the damage. The 0.2 mile walk to Blackhorse Pub was a nice bonus.

The Pub itself was cozy and relatively quiet, even on a weekend evening. The beer lineup was good without being outstanding. Clarksville itself, though, thoroughly charmed us with the cozy feel of the downtown area, neat local shops, and adjacency to the beautiful riverfront. We’ve gone back a couple of times since that trip, and would encourage anyone who likes cool small towns to check it out. Also try combining some of Blackhorse’s beer; we discovered the Scottish beer to be especially synergistic with their stout!

From Clarkesville, it was on to St. Louis and Kansas City!

From Enjoyer to Connoiseur in 3 Weeks, 130 Beers

Beer tasting is a thing.  There are experts in it.  There’s the internationally-recognized Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).  There’s the Cicerone Certification Program, primarily aimed at servers but also covering tasting knowledge at higher ‘levels’.  There have been long-winded arguments between beer and wine lovers about which is more interesting and complex (our vote: relax, don’t worry, have a drink).  For those of us without the time or wherewithal to become officially certified, but want to expand their knowledge of alcohol, we have a solution: cram.

It was only after we returned from our grand trip to Colorado, and began posting pictures, that we started tallying the number of different beers we had sampled during the trip.  Two dozen?  A hundred?  The final count was 130 different beers in three weeks.  Dozens of stouts, porters, pale ales, brown ales, and enough IPAs to make even hop-heads weary.  When you taste that many beers in that amount of time, and pay attention, you start to learn something about beer.

Our method was simple but effective.  At each brewpub or brewery, we would order their sample flight.  Occasionally, brewpubs would have two beers which were identical but with one change (such as Maple and Imperial Nut Brown Ales from Tommyknocker).  When these opportunities arose, it allowed us to isolate the one change the brewer had made in the beer.  Otherwise, having an APA on Thursday for lunch and another for Friday at dinner allowed easy comparison, and developed an understanding of popular styles by sampling multiple examples.

Alcohol tourism is essential to this acquisition of knowledge because, unless you live in Portland or Asheville or somewhere with a similarly high brewpub per capita, you just won’t be able to encounter the breadth and depth of beer styles.  So, hit the road, and experience all the range of styles craft beer has to offer!

6 Steps to Become an Alcohol Tourist!

So you want to be an alcohol tourist?  Who wouldn’t!  Built-in travel destinations en route, convenient distances between ‘attractions’, a cultural and flavor experience unparalleled except in expensive guided tours!  Becoming an alcohol tourist is fairly simple, but here are helpful guidelines to success:

1) Be Flexible

In our opinion, this is a good rule for travel in general.  Some of our best finds have been when we couldn’t get into the winery we intended to see, so ended up at a wonderful little local winery.  Maybe you arrived after the brewery tour started (or couldn’t find it in the first place- thanks Highland Brewery).  Maybe you got up too late to hit your original destination.  Don’t worry.  Try to ask yourself, “Okay, so what’s next?”  As much as possible, we follow the homebrewer’s mantra: Relax, Don’t Worry, Have a Home Brew (RDWHAHB).

2) Identify a Destination

This is the key to successful alcohol tourism, and Google Maps is there to make it possible!  Pull up a map of where you are now and type in ‘brewpub’, ‘brewery’, ‘winery’, or ‘distillery’.  Pan out or around- you may need to refresh your search if you pan a long distance from where you started.  We usually start with ‘brewpub’ and then repeat with other terms.  Click on a balloon and see if it’s a destination which piques your interest.  NB: This works great in the US, NZ, Oz, Erie, and UK- other countries we haven’t tried.

Our second method to identify a destination is to find local tourism guides or maps relating to beer, wine, and/or spirits.  For example, there’s Tennesse’s Whiskey Trail, NZ Beer Destinations: South Island, and Tasmania’s Breweries and Distilleries.3) Be Responsible

If you are driving yourself to breweries or wineries and imbibing, there is no question you are endangering yourself and others.  We solve this by travelling together- Susan does more sampling and I drive.  When we stop for lunch at a brewpub, we always make sure to get food with a sampling flight (or tasting flight, or sampler platter- so many designations!).  We only get a tasting flight and don’t order pints for consumption- lunch is all about tasting.  At wineries, don’t be afraid to dump it!  Susan and I will often split a single taster at wineries instead of each having our own- it cuts down on consumption and cost and they usually provide plenty of wine for you to appreciate flavors.  If you are driving yourself, take snacks if you are visiting wineries, have small sips, and have a little break- maybe with a nice book and a pleasant winery view- before hitting the road again.

4) Have Interest in the Experience

This usually goes without saying for travel blogs, but it bears repeating here.  Be interested in the experience and savor it- don’t only try to hit as many wineries or breweries as possible in a day.  Try to learn a bit about the product- sample different varietals and compare them with ones back home (Tassie cellar door Pinot Noirs have become distinctly more tannic in recent years).  Try to learn about more than 300 styles of beer.  Become educated in four regions of Scotland which generate Scotch, and try to taste differences.  Compare how American, Canadian, and Irish whiskey differ from each other at distilleries.  Alcohol tourism gives you a destination, but having an interest in the subject will keep you engaged and learning about local culture.

5) Find a Nearby Place to Stay

Again using Google Maps, once you have identified your brewpub of choice (or winery, if you can afford pricey dinners there), find a nearby place to stay.  We try to stay within walking distance of our final daily brewpub so we can have a few more drinks beyond our typical tasting flight.  Center Google Maps on your final alcohol destination and type in “motel”, “hotel”, “hostel”, etc. in the search bar at the top.  You can use the ‘Get Directions’ button and then click the little walking man icon to find out how far you will end up walking.  If you can’t find anything close but want to go to a brewpub, check on getting a growler from the brewpub- we did this regularly in Colorado and simply enjoyed part of a growler back in our hotel room!

6) Wander Around

Susan and I are big fans of walking, and most breweries, brewpubs, and distilleries we have found within the US are located in cool downtown areas worth exploring.  Hit the street and wander in to shops.  This can give you a great sense of place- from cool and hip to rural and laid back.  Most wineries are located away from business areas, but there still can be pleasant walks from the cellar door.

Above all, have fun with your travel experience.  Realize that how you travel differs from anyone else, and it’s OK to do your own thing.  But alcohol tourism really is awesome.

In The Beginning…

“What do you want to do when we’re in Australia?” I asked my girlfriend at the time.  Characteristically, Susan replied, “I dunno.”  She is notoriously unhelpful in expressing strong opinions about much (except Humvees- ask her if you ever meet her).  Tasmania, where we would spend 2 of our 3 weeks Down Under, has, among incredible scenery, terrific people, and a remote location, glorious waterfalls and wineries.  “How about waterfalls and wineries?”  “Perfect.”

Tasmania, at the time, was home to dozens of wineries, mostly small operations.  Tasmania also has a bounty of beautiful waterfalls, most of them with relatively short hikes from a car park.  Susan and I rented a car and drove from waterfall to winery to waterfall to winery to… and continued around the island being led by this premise.  So alcohol tourism for us was born.

Susan and I enjoy travelling in the US as well as outside of it.  Colorado is a beautiful state, and one where I had spent some time.  For our first in-US trip, it became our destination.  The problem becomes: what do we do for the 5 days or so it will take to get there?  And, once there, obviously there’s beautiful hiking, but we don’t typically do touristy-type packages.  So, having been interested and involved in beer for some time, we decided to use brewpubs and breweries to guide our path from Georgia to Colorado and back again.  Some wineries and cider-making centers rounded out our trip, allowing us to hop from alcohol-destination to alcohol-destination, and providing purpose and structure to the entire trip.  Since this worked out brilliantly, we decided that alcohol tourism would be our preferred method of travel!