This was the longest day of our road trip by far! After Denver there really isn't anything very interesting until you get to Chicago (unless you're really really into prairie). We decided to do the drive straight with a couple of one hour breaks here and there. So we started Thursday at 6 am in Arches National Park in Utah, went through Colorado, through Nebraska, through Iowa, through Illinois, through Indiana, and finally ended up in Detroit Michigan Friday at 6pm. Needless to say, I hated the car by the time we got out.
The majority of our quick breaks were spent exploring the various Colorado Breweries. Although we barely scratched the surface I was still very impressed.
Avery Brewery has been a long time favorite. They pump out classics like "The Reverend", "Hog Heaven", and "The Maharajah". Since we are pretty familiar with their brews we stuck to trying the tap room only specials. We also picked up a 12oz bottle of their "Samael's oak aged ale" which they call the "port of beers". Its one of three in their "Demons of ale" series. They are all dark, intense and well over any alcohol percentage you would expect to find in a beer. Did I mention it was absurdly delicious?
We had big plans to visit New Belgium Brewing, until we went in and discovered that it was a total mad house. It was chock full of sweaty, pseudo casual business men just back from one of New Belgium's bike trips. I really didn't expect this brewery to be such a caricature of itself; all you get are bikes, bikes, bikes. I love bikes, I have nothing against bikes, but just stop trying so hard.
Odell Brewing Company more than made up for the New Belgium disappointment. Located right down the road from New Belgium it provides a far better experience with more unique and interesting beers. We did a taster set of their heavier beers known as the "Copilot Taster Tray". They do a lot of creative stuff with hops and are not afraid of crossing styles. My favorite of the night was their "
Hopfen- Hoppy Hefe" which is essentially a hoppy Hefeweizen and perfectly delicious. I like my beers to have a bit of substance to them so as much as I enjoy typical Hefeweizens they are too light for me. This beer was the perfect compromise; it had the delicious Hefe flavor but with a maltier richer mouth feel and finish.
We picked up some friends in Chicago to give them a ride to the wedding and in the first 15 minutes of us being in Chicago we unintentionally ran into an old friend while picking up lunch. It made me feel like Chicago was still "our city" in some small way. Since then there have been other run ins and random meetings and each time I get so excited. It brings to mind the saying "you're not truely gone until your forgotten".
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