Anniversary Trip Part 2: Denver

We left Austin late Tuesday morning and got to Denver late in the afternoon. It was a quick plane ride and it was actually very cheap. We got an AirBNB in a really cute neighborhood and we were a short uber ride away from almost everything we wanted to do.

Corridor 44
Our friends Amanda and Alexi told us about this place. Corridor 44 is a Champagne bar with an amazing happy hour: $5 Champagne cocktails! As soon as we landed we booked it to our place, changed, and got there immediately. We ordered two cocktails each just before happy hour ended. We also ordered a grower Champagne flight. This place was cozy, chic and super comfortable. You could learn a lot about champagne and taste some from all over the world.

Euclid Hall
We were starving after our champs so once happy hour ended we went around the block to Euclid Hall. We split cheese curds, bone marrow and some other snacks. All were super delicious . We highly recommend this place for a delicious dinner in Denver.

Snooze
We started our brewery day with a giant breakfast with our friend Andrew at Snooze.  We love Snooze. It’s a staple in California, Colorado, Arizona and other places. We need one this way (if anyone from Snooze reads this)! We split the Spuds Deluxe and enjoyed some delicious morning booze.

Breweries
We hit a TON of breweries in Denver. We’ll just share with you some of the highlights. A lot of the breweries are in pockets and close together so you can hit a bunch in a day. We hit a bunch we had planned on as well as a lot we’ve never heard of:

• Ratio Beerworks: An industrial style taproom with a large patio. The beer was good but not memorable.
• Odell Brewing Co.: We ended up staying here quite a while because the bartender was from Ohio and the place was empty, so we ended up trying a lot of beer and learned a lot about Odell.
• Epic Brewing Co.: This is one Broad’s favorite breweries, the sour IPA being one of her faves. We got flights to try a bunch of different beers and all were superb.
• Stem Ciders: We ran into Stem on the way to another brewery. These ciders were crazy delicious. Our favorites were the hibiscus session, salted cucumber and hopped cider.
• 14er Brewing Company: This was a fun stop because we had their michelada beer which was tasty and interesting.
• Our Mutual Friend Brewing Co.: This was a cozy, quirky brewing with surprisingly extraordinary beer.
• Great Divide Brewing Co.: This is a must if you’re in Denver. Great beers and they always have a food truck parked outside.
• Trve Brewing: Not only is this Denver’s heavy metal brewery but they also have delicious beer.
• Baere Brewing Co.: A small brewery in a strip mall, but we had some delicious sours.
• Alternation Brewing Co.: We actually tried to go to another brewery which ended up being closed for a private event so we wandered into this one. It was good but not memorable.
• Mockery Brewing Co.: This was a super cool and tiny industrial brewery that served tasty brews.
• Blue Moon Brewing Co.: Our least favorite brewery of the trip. Basically, everything we tried tasted just like their flagship Belgian White or worse.
• Little Machine Beer: One of the coolest breweries we went to. It was super modern and industrial and their logo is a little robot. It was also by a really delicious Mexican restaurant we ate dinner at.
  Favorites: Crooked Stave (more on this one later), Odell, Stem, Our Mutual Friend, Mockery and Little Machine.

Denver Biscuit Company
Biscuits anyone…? Yes please!  Denver Biscuit Company serves exactly what the name says…biscuits! We got biscuit sandwiches and bloody mary’s. It’s a super causal, laid back restaurant. You may have to wait, but it will be worth it.This place is a must!

Vert Kitchen
We met up with Broad’s friend from college, Carmella, for the day and she recommended Vert Kitchen. Vert’s specializes in healthy eating and makes all food in house using organic produce and sustainable meats and dairy. The café is cozy and and quaint, and the backyard patio is inviting and exactly where you’d want to enjoy your lunch and a glass of wine.

Red Rocks
We feel like this is an obvious must-do in Denver. We headed out to the Red Rocks with Carmella. Just as we got there they were closing down the amphitheater early to set up for a concert so we didn’t get to climb the big steps. We still walked around some of the trails and took in the scenery.

High Point Creamery
Carmella took us to her favorite ice cream joint, High Point Creamery, after we sweated our butts off at the Red Rocks. The highlight of this place is that they have ice cream flights! They have the usual flavors and unique ones like blackberry basil and earl grey. We split a flight of both traditional and unique flavors.

Jax’s Fish House & Oyster Bar
As is tradition, we had to find oysters since we were in a new city.  We picked Jax’s Fish House because they had a pretty good happy hour. The oysters, peel n’ eat shrimp and drinks were delicious. Jax’s did not disappoint one bit.

Sam’s No. 3
Another tradition we have is to find the best breakfast burritos in town.  Sam’s No. 3 is known for their extensive menu with over 100 items and over 20 breakfast burritos to choose from. We split the Macho Burrito: chorizo, onion, tomato, jalapeño and jack cheese. Pro tip: split the burritos because they are HUGE.

The Source
The Source is an indoor market/hall which is home to some cool shops, food vendors and breweries. It also happens to be a hotel. One of our favorite stops in The Source was Crooked Stave brewery. This was the brewery we were most excited to visit in Denver. They make some of our favorite beers and specialize in our favorite type of beer, sours. We got sandwiches at the Mondo Market and browsed the amazing booze selection at the Proper Pour. Plan on spending a good amount of time at The Source!

Linger
The last thing we squeezed in during our Denver trip was brunch at Linger with our friend Rachel. Everyone told us we needed to do brunch here (especially Rachel) and we were lucky enough to snag reservations. This super hipster restaurant was once the site of the Olinger family funeral home which once housed the body of Buffalo Bill Cody for six months in 1917 while Wyoming and Colorado argued over who would provide his final resting place (Colorado won). When it was purchased by the new owners they altered the signed to read “Linger Eatuaries” and kept other features from the old mortuary.  It’s definitely quite the experience and the food was amazing. The bottomless mimosas were also a plus.

We really enjoyed traveling to two cities for this trip. Austin and Denver were so different yet so similar. We did our fair share of beer drinking and ate the best of what each city had to offer. We probably could have spent a week in each city but this was the right amount of time for us this trip. It was also great to meet up with friends in each city!