It’s always a great thing having friends who know Denver better than you. That way I’m able to get great recommendations on bars and cafes I’ve never been to before. A few days ago, a friend suggested that I check out The Cheeky Monk. It’s a Belgian beer cafe that has locations in Denver, Winter Park, and its newest one in Westminster. I’m a huge fan of Belgian beer so I decided to check it out, with my grandma along for the ride. We arrived around lunchtime and the cafe was fairly quiet. I picked up a menu and was extremely excited to see all the choices of traditional Belgian beers the cafe had on tap. From Cuvee de Troll to Chimay Grande Reserve, the selection did not disappoint. They also have a great lunch special! From 11 to 2, you can choose from several different food specials, all $5.99, and all draught beers are half off. We decided to to stray away from the lunch food specials since their other options sounded too good to pass up. My grandma ordered moules frites (mussels with fries), a Belgian flagship dish. The mussels had been steamed and cooked with Blanche de Buxelles and a mustard sauce, incredibly good! The Affligem Blonde trappist ale she had with her lunch made it that much better. I ordered the Croque Madame, which is a roasted turkey sandwich on fresh sourdough with melted smoked Gouda, mornay sauce and a fried egg on top. Most of the food items on the menu have a suggested beer pairing which I thought was very nice. I decided to to with what they suggested for my meal which was Cuvee de Troll. It’s a Belgian golden that has a subtle hoppiness with great aromatics and flavor and a nice dry finish. It went very well with the dish but because of the great beer selection, next time I’ll be sure to improvise my pairing rather than going off what the menu says. The Cheeky Monk offers an authentic Belgian menu for both beer and food and is quite affordable, especially during lunch hours. The cafe also offers weekly music shows and nightly happy hours. With the brews they have to offer, both on tap and in bottles, you won’t regret any choice you make. If you’re looking for a new place for great food and beer, check ‘em out! (Click on the link below to check out their site)

Prost!

The other night my parents, some family friends and myself celebrated an “end of summer” dinner. We had cajun-style crab cakes, mussels and clams that were cooked in a reduced white wine sauce, gouda grits and a spinach salad with stilton cheese, pecans and a fantastic sweet vinaigrette dressing. So much food and so many beers for me to choose from. Since the majority of the dinner had seafood-based dishes, I decided to bring a saison and a Belgian witbier to the table. We had Saison Dupont and Blanche de Bruxelles. The saison went perfectly with the crab cakes. The black pepper and cajun spices melded with the spices in the beer, while at the same time, the beer cut through the heat of the crab cakes making each bite as good as the last. Another great combo were the clams and the Blanche. Put a steamed clam on a thin slice of ciabatta, squeeze some lemon juice on top, have a Belgian wit in hand and go to town. The beer went perfectly with the lemon and the sweetness of the clam. Extremely delicious and it made the dinner that much more enjoyable. Hopefully more dinners like this will be in the near future. Until then, happy drinking!

Prost!

Stone Breweries Double Bastard Ale.

Try it with portobello leek pepperjack cheese

So the other night something awesome happened. I had my first beer and cheese epiphany! I’ve done a lot of reading on how beer goes incredibly well with the right kind of cheese, but I had never gotten to experience a great pairing; that is until the other night. My parents had brought home a some new artisan cheeses for a small celebration. There was a horseradish cheddar, brie, and one I had never had before, portobello leek pepperjack. So of course, I chose a beer to try with all of them. The beer was Stone’s Double Bastard Ale. The beer overpowered the brie and the flavors between the horseradish cheddar and the ale didn’t mesh well. The jack was the last one I tried and even before the beer had come into the picture, it was delicious. The mushroom in the cheese shined through giving a great earthy flavor that went well the spiciness of the cheese itself. After taking my first bite, I grabbed my glass and took a sip of beer. The moment when the flavors of the beer and cheese met together was unforgettable. The cheese brought out a rich chocolate flavor in the beer that I had never tasted in it before. The caramelized flavors and subtle sweetness of the beer, along with the earthiness of the cheese, was very similar to eating a dish with black truffles. It’s hard for me to be specific in what I had tasted, but I think this is a start. I highly recommend trying this pairing. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did!

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GABF Photos

This last Thursday evening is going to be difficult for me to describe in words on how awesome it actually was! My Dad and I got to the convention center about half an hour before doors opened and the line was already starting to wrap around the building. Lederhosen’s, short skirted dirndl’s, and hundreds of pretzel necklaces were just some the the attire worn by the attendees. It was so cool to see fans don their favorite local brewery on their T-shirts since many of the people at GABF were from all different parts around the country.

When doors opened at 530, it surprisingly didn’t take very long for the 2 of us to get into the building. Once inside, after a few stair climbs, we made are way into the festival and it was an amazing site. Thousands of people, hundreds of breweries, and a lot of beer related tents and stands for books, pairings, guilds, and plenty more. Breweries were set up to specific regions throughout the convention center. Once we had a map, it was very easy to find some specific breweries we wanted to visit. As my Dad and I were walking around, we heard a loud “Ohhhh!!!” echo throughout the building, and right away, I knew that someone had dropped their tasting glass. To anyone who is wanting to go next year, Don’t Drop Your Glass! Unless you want hundreds of people in your surrounding area yell and point at you.

Having my camera with me, I took some pictures of a few of the things we experienced at GABF. Hopefully some will give you a better picture of what was going on. I also took pics of some breweries I had never heard of before, but each one had amazing beer so if you’re in the area of the brewery, you need to check it out! Another great part to this event was that some of the people pouring the beers were the presidents and brewmasters of particular breweries. Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Garret Oliver of the Brooklyn Brewery, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River were just a few. One of the more odd things I saw at GABF was a designated dance area with no music. As I got a closer look, all the people who were dancing had headphones on. It was different seeing a lot of people dancing to themselves, but it also reminded me on how fun this event was and that every person was enjoying it as much as I was, at least I hope so.

So besides the 1200 different beers that were being poured at GABF, the second best part were the people. Since this was my first Beer Fest, I didn’t know how being in a building with thousands of drunk people was going to turn out. I can say that it surpassed all my expectations and I realized that there is nothing better than being in a building with thousands of people who for the most part, were there for the same reasons I was. My Dad and I got to meet a lot of different people from around the country and all of them were a blast to talk to! Beer was always at the forefront of the conversation and that just made it easier to introduce yourself to others. I never saw any fights or arguments the whole night, which surprised me because when you put a lot of intoxicated people in one place, something bad is bound to happen, but not at GABF. Everyone was running into one another, but that was followed by an excuse me or sorry, and sometimes led into a conversation about what brewery they need to check out before they leave.

All I can say is that I had a blast at my first GABF, and having my Dad experience it with me made it all the better. Can’t wait for what next years event has to offer!

Prost!

It’s only been a couple of days since my last post and so many amazing things have happened since, so I’m going to have to spread it out a bit…

I’ll start out with meet the brewer night with Great Divide Brewery at Duo Restaurant. A good friend and myself went to the event this past Monday and the two of us had a great time! I initially went into it thinking I was going to meet one of the head brewers, but I was completely surprised that the brewer turned out to be Brian Dunn, the owner of Great Divide Brewery! Excitement and nervousness had set in, but he turned out to be a down-to-earth person and that made it easy to talk to him about all things beer. Another awesome part about this event were the attendees. You always seem to meet great people in the most unexpected places, and I love it! My friend Cassidy and myself met a couple from Chicago who were out visiting their daughter and son-in-law. All four of them were so much fun to talk to and it just made the experience that much better. So to get more into the beer part of this event, the restaurant had three different Great Divide beers to offer. The Yeti Imperial Stout, Hoss Rye Lager, and Rumble which is the breweries new wood-aged IPA. It was all you can drink for a few hours and during which time, the restaurant had several hors d’oeuvres being served, which helped greatly since 2 out of the 3 beers were 9+ percent.  If you enjoy good food with an even better atmosphere, go to Duo restaurant in the Highlands. They hold many beer and food pairings and the staff their are great! I’ll post a link to their site if anyone is interested in checking it out.

The night ended with Cassidy and myself going to Falling Rock Tap House. It was the kickoff night for the bar to begin tapping specialty kegs from different breweries in and out of the state. They will be doing this until Saturday night so if any of you enjoy drinking beer rarities, make your way to the Tap House and enjoy! If you don’t know where Falling Rock is, it’s between 19th and 20th on Blake street, right next Coors Field. Check it out!

Blanche de Bruxelles. Go to Falling Rock Tap House to try it on tap. Unbelievably good!!