Denver - Oskar Blues IV, The Brewery

After dinner at the Oskar Blues restaurant, we headed over to the Tasty Weasel, which is their brewery/onsite bar.  The guy we'd met earlier had told us tours were still on, despite Easter Sunday, but when we got there we were told it was closed, and one of the guys in charge was in his bike clothes, fat tired bike in the back of his running pick up.  He stopped what he was doing and took us inside so I could buy some beer.  I love it when you can buy beer at the brewery. There's something seriously wrong in Minnesota.  This is in their work place.


I don't think you can see one from this view, but they have a few Surly cans on the wall.  They were very complementary of Surly.  Note the live music that happens at the brewery.  Their beer is in cans, but it's delicious.


He couldn't get into the beer cabinet, and had to go find me some from the back.  But this had a nice display of their cans.  Next time I buy a beer fridge, I'm getting a glass door.


This is what happens to all the leftover cans.  Those blocks are hard to move.


I don't know what to make of this.  I didn't want to hold him up, so I didn't ask.


These were brand new.  They like to keep the kids busy while the parents are on the beer tour.  And I imagine they're fun to play if you're there drinking, or if you're an employee.  We need these in the basement at my workplace where the developers have shared workspace.


It looked like this at Schell's when they bought Grain Belt and all the leftover can stock.  But the black cans are much stealthier looking.


Second picture of Eryn and I near the equipment, the outer wall of the in-brewery tap room in the background.  Great brewery!  I want to go back some day when they're running the tour or just having happy hour.

Denver - Oskar Blues III

Very cool - Oskar Blues has people who just meet up to play blue grass and drink beer.  Eryn liked it that there were so many guitars.


This doesn't look comfortable at all.  But my wife would probably prefer it to my kitchen drawer that achieves the same historical perspective on my drinking history.  Maybe all those nubbins are deceptively comfortable, like a full body massage.


More fountains made out of kegs...I have a keg.  I should try this.


See...purdy.  I wonder if my neighbors would approve.


The Oskar Blues tower.  A giant can of beer.


Finally, a picture of the front of the restaurant.  Eryn loved the ribs.  And the pulled pork. And the wings.  Reminded me quite a bit of the food and ambiance at Dinosaur Barbecue in Rochester, NY.

Denver - Oskar Blues I

Eryn and I flew into Denver today to meet my parents and grandmother so we could drive my grandmother back north to the farm in Montana.  Usually we'd head down to Tucson to pick her up, but time was tight with ballet (Eryn, not me), so we only had Sunday morning through Saturday morning to make things happen.  We were still going to head down to Tucson, but my parents wanted to see more of Eryn, so they met us in Denver to trade grandma.  The best thing about that is the beer.  I haven't been to Denver before (just skirted it), and haven't even been in the area long enough to tour a brewery before, so this was my big chance.  I'm not talking about Budweiser and Coors.  I'm talking about good breweries.  Odell.  Great Divide.  Oskar Blues.  Breweries that are like Surly and Summit.

Today we went to Oskar Blues.  Unfortunately, it wasn't doing tours on Easter.  But the restaurant was open, and the guy who was on his way out of the brewery to bike stopped long enough to sell me some G'Knight from the brewery and let me look around for a minute.  Hell of a brewery.  The focus is beer.  Bikes.  Kids.  Fun.  I'm jealous.  That's what a job should look like.

This is a flight from Oskar Blues restaurant, just up the street from the brewery.  Couple of IPAs on the list.  One is 10% and smells like it's made out of crushed flowers, there are so many finishing hops in it.



I liked the flight so much I took a second picture with my stout in the foreground.  As a second beer, I had a glass of TenFidy.  That's like drinking concentrated Guinness.  It's got some real chew to it.


I know this is fuzzy, but vaguely readable, in case you want to know what was in the flight.  Check out the % on the alcohol.  Might as well be drinking two beers for every one.


Ingenious use of a keg.


Eryn trying to "pick up" the keg.


A better attempt.


When that didn't work, she went to a straight fashion shoot.


Girls' bathroom.  Flashdance is how you could tell.  What a feelin'.  I must be peein'.