Skinny tires, Lagunitas, and Ommegang

So a few of my friends and I decided we are going to do this big organized road ride in a few weeks.  It's 78 miles and over three mountain passes above 10,000 feet.  I've been doing a fair amount of riding and actually hopped in a few short track races but have been 'resting' the past week and a half.  A nice cold decided to take up shop in my head and muddy the waters a bit.  After a successful sickness recovery, I felt yesterday was prime for a ride and a good friend and I took off on a little stroll up Left Hand Canyon to Jamestown; which is a pretty popular ride in the area and one that I've done countless times.  My legs were in less than stellar shape though since I went on a hike with some buddies Tuesday morning; my quads were NOT happy with me.  It didn't take long for me to realize that the ride was going to be much slower than usual, but we cranked along and eventually made our way up to the top.  We took a quick break and my buddy informed me that he was already set for a post ride beer.  With that in mind, the descent back to the car went by fairly quick.  Down we went and 45 minutes later, we were back at the car.  After some cleaning up and cooling off, we decided to hit up a great local spot, Oskar Blues for some dinner and beers.  My buddy had just gotten back from a trip home to NY and he would NOT stop talking about this beer he had that was "like candy".  Luckily OB's has a pretty good beer list so of course we ordered up a couple of pints of this new famed Lagunitas Lucky 13 (seen below).

Listed as an American Amber/Red Ale, it had a nice head that left a bit of lacing on the glass.  It wafted bread and slight citrus, and as you can see has a nice coppery color to it.  The first pull was left me with a nice, spicy bitterness that melted into a caramel malt with a slight touch of toasty/roasty flavors.  The finish had a solid hop bitterness but it wasn't overpowering; it was a nice combination of sweet and bitter. My lasting thoughts were that this beer was a nice balance between the malt base and hoppy bitterness.  It had a smooth mouth feel that reflected the perfect carbonation.  I would definitely give this a second pour for sure.

As luck would have it, we had time for one more glass, and since he picked the first one, I picked the next round.  After some questioning about what he has tried and what he liked, I moved to the Belgian side of Oskar's list, landing on Ommegang's Hennepin Saison.  I don't have a picture of it, so bear with me.  Our server dropped off our pints and we were greeted with a nice yellowish/orange glass of goodness.  Think of a wheat field in the late summer sun, that pretty much sums up the sight.  The nose of this Farmhouse Saison was all over the map; I got a mix of spices, orange peel, and wet blanket.  Yea, that last part leaves you with a tilted head eh?  The first sip was exactly what I was expecting, a touch of pepper, orange peel, apricot, and bread.  It had a medium body but a crisp feel as well.  The fruity side finishes dry which made this a great end to a hot summer day.  Definitely check this out if you happen upon it at your local beer store.

Denver, the 2nd Best Beer City!

If you're reading this, you probably already have quite the taste for beer, and you MIGHT have wondered at one point or another, "what is the best city to be in for beer?"  Well, as you've possibly guessed, Portland, OR is at the head of the pack, but my backyard happens to be in #2!  For a full read on the breakdown and the remaining top 10, check out Travel + Leisure's spread.