GABF Day 3 Falling Rock and Bus Tour

During the day on Saturday Rod and I decided that we would hit Falling Rock before we headed out on a bus tour to a few new spots in Denver. Falling Rock is a really fantastic bar that has become the meeting point and beer Mecca for people during the Great American Beer Fest. Falling Rock always has some pretty amazing beers during GABF. Vintage beers, rare beers, one offs, and brewery only type beers all make their appearance with new kegs being added as soon as one blows. It is busy pretty much the entire time and always extremely packed. I know that can be a huge turnoff for some people, but I still think it is a place that you need to stop by and have a beer when in Denver.

The Bar at Falling Rock 

We then jumped on a bus and headed to a brand new brewery in town. Denver has added many new breweries since last GABF. You could actually take tours that hit all of the new places that have opened up in town. I don't remember exactly how many new places have opened, but I think it stands at six new breweries since last year. We hit Strange Brewing Company first. Strange was opened up by two former newspaper workers that opened up a brewery when their paper they worked for went belly up. Strange is in an industrial strip mall next to an overpass. We were met by one of owners immediately and were given several samples while touring the tight but efficient brewery they have built. My personal favorite was the cherry bomb Belgian stout I had. It is just very cool to hang out with people that have such a great story and are extremely passionate about good beer. I certainly wish them well.

The Front Door 

The brew house 

Our final stop on the bus tour was at the new Highland Tap and Burger in the Lower Highlands area of Denver. This place had the look and feel of a well thought out neighboorhood bar. We didn't have much time there, but we were greeted by Dale from Oskar Blues and the head brewer of Odell Brewing company. We got to sample the newest batch of Odell bourbon barrel stout and it was really well made with a clear balance of barrel aging and malt profile. Odell also brought their Myrcenary DIPA that is a well made beer that features lots of tropical fruits int he hop profile. My last sample was the HGH that Oskar Blues brought. HGH stands for home grown hops. This is a big American strong ale made with hops that were grown on the farm at Oskar Blues. This beer had huge hop notes followed by a big malt body to go with it.

I looked over the menu and beer list, and I sure wish I had a place like this as my local.  Most of the craft beer was $4 or $5 per pint, the menu looked really good, and you can play bags on the porch.  It was my kind of place.