Mr. Oyster's Top 10 Colorado Beers

Mr. Oyster loves beer, he loves Colorado, and he really, really loves Colorado-brewed beers. We are fortunate in Denver to be surrounded by so many great breweries, and Mr. Oyster takes advantage by trying just about every local beer he can get his hands on.

After all that taste-testing, he has narrowed down a list of his top 10 favorites.

To make the list, contending brews had to meet the following criteria:
- Be brewed in Colorado
- Be available for purchase outside of a tap room or brew pub (sorry, Mountain Sun)
- Be available for some indefinite time into the future

Here, in no particular order, are his top 10:

Odell Mountain Standard
Double Black IPA
Odell Brewing Company  Fort Collins, CO

Odell Mountain Standard

Mr. Oyster says: Complex beer with a deep flavor profile. Citrusy, fruity notes mix with roasted, chocolate and toffee flavors.

---

Odell IPA
India Pale Ale
Odell Brewing Company  Fort Collins, CO

Odell IPA

Mr. Oyster says: Traditional and distinct hop profile. Strong grapefruit notes. Very drinkable and smooth.

---

Odell Friek
Oak Aged Sour
Odell Brewing Company  Fort Collins, CO

Odell Friek

Mr. Oyster says: Has an intense cherry/raspberry flavor and fruitiness. Oaky, slightly acidic, slightly sour.  

---

Left Hand Brewing Company Nitro Milk Stout
Sweet Stout
Left Hand Brewing Company Longmont, CO

Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout

Mr. Oyster says: Love this beer on nitro. Creamy, smooth flavor. Strong chocolate and vanilla flavors.

---

Dry Dock Vanilla Porter
Porter
Dry Dock Brewing Company Aurora, CO

Dry Dock Vanilla Porter

Mr. Oyster says: Intense vanilla smell and flavor. Not too sweet and very drinkable. This is my "dessert" beer. 

---

Dry Dock Hefeweizen
Hefeweizen
Dry Dock Brewing Company Aurora, CO

Dry Dock Hefeweizen

Mr. Oyster says: Very drinkable and refreshing. Strong banana flavor, also hints of clove and bubblegum. I could drink this every day and never get tired of it.

---

Great Divide Titan IPA
India Pale Ale
Great Divide Brewing Denver, CO

Great Divide Titan IPA

Mr. Oyster says: Grapefruity and malty. Plenty of hop flavor and bitterness. A very solid IPA.

---

Avery Samael's Ale
Oak Aged Ale
Avery Brewing Company Boulder, CO

Avery Samael

Mr. Oyster says: Think of it almost more like wine than beer. 15% alcohol content. This ruby-colored beer is very sweet, oaky, and fruity.

---

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
Imperial Stout
Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont, CO

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Mr. Oyster says: The name Ten Fidy is a reference to the beer's alcohol content - 10.5% ABV. Very dark and smooth beer, with strong malt and chocolate flavors.

---

New Belgium Mothership Wit
Organic Wheat Beer
New Belgium Brewing Company Fort Collins, CO

New Belgium Mothership Wit

Mr. Oyster says: Wit with citrus and spice flavors. This is a refreshing, light beer that is great for summer.

Dry Dock Brewing Company

In our quest for delicious beer across the state of Colorado, I can't believe it took so long for Mr. Oyster and me to visit Dry Dock Brewing Company in Aurora.

Dry Dock is less than a 10-minute drive from our respective workplaces, and the brewery makes an outstanding Hefeweizen and Vanilla Porter.

So a couple Fridays ago, we dodged out of work a bit early to sample some beers at Dry Dock.

Dry Dock's exterior is just as unassuming as you might imagine for an Aurora Brewery.

The brewery won't catch your eye as you drive past it on Hampden, but the interior is impressive. The tap room is a giant, L-shaped space with a small bar and numerous long tables. The nautical motif pervades the decor and beer names.

Dry Dock seems to be the spot to grab an end-of-week beer for the local office-dwellers. In fact, we ran into several of my husband's coworkers there. It was moderately busy when I arrived around 3:30 pm, but was completely packed to standing room by the time we left just before 6 pm.

Dry Dock's brewing philosophy seems to focus on simple yet sharply-flavored beers. Their Hefeweizen is smooth, light, and easy to drink in large quantities, and it has an intense taste of bananas and bubblegum. Their Vanilla Porter tastes like dessert in beer form, with a very strong, sweet vanilla taste.

Dry Dock Vanilla Porter

We tried most of Dry Dock's other brews while at the tap house, but unfortunately none of them lived up to the perfection of their Hefeweizen or Vanilla Porter.

Adjacent to their tap room is Dry Dock's extensive home brew shop, where the staff was happy to provide the recipe for their Hefeweizen free of charge.

Dry Dock's expansive and popular Aurora tap room proved to be a great place to enjoy some of their excellent beers in a low-key suburban location. The ample seating room would make it a great place for a large happy hour - if you can get there early enough.


Website:
http://www.drydockbrewing.com/tap-room


 

Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabars

Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabars what?!!?

I thought I was a Larabar superfan but I was completely blindsided by the presence of this little guy at my local Whole Foods on Monday:

Where did this come from? I couldn't find a single mention of this new flavor on Larabar's website, nor on their Facebook page. All I could come up with were a few random blog hits mentioning the new bar.

Larabar, I thought we had something special. YOU WERE MY FIRST BLOG POST! But apparently you don't care and you go out with new flavors without any regard for my feelings.

Anyway, let's talk about the Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte flavor.

I love chocolate in any form, but I generally eschew cherries outside of their fresh and raw state. Even not being a huge cherry fan, I really enjoyed the new Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabar. The cherry flavor isn't nearly as intense as the Cherry Pie Larabar, and the addition of cashews and almonds into the mix makes it taste like a decadent dessert. Oh, and the chocolate chips were fantastic, of course.

And the nutritionals:

Apparently, along with the arrival of the Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte flavor comes the retirement of the Cinnamon Roll flavor. I can't say I'm too upset about that, as the Cinnamon Roll flavor was one of my very least favorites and was always difficult to find, presumably because no one was too interested in buying it. Larabar keeps coming out with better and better flavors (hello Blueberry Muffin) and it only makes sense that they throw out some of the dead weight along the way.


Website:
http://www.larabar.com