Still in Denver, though fleeing from the land of exorbitant parking fees, I went to a microbrewery I knew was closed yet knew they had their own root beer. They had a parking lot! Since I had an hour before they opened, I wondered if I could find something else that was open right away. My search led me to Dry Dock Brewing Company, out in Aurora, a 20 minute drive from where I was. Parking there was also not a problem (I asked on the phone before I made the trek). Coming from the West Coast, I find a lot of nautical themed breweries. I didn’t expect there to be one in Colorado, because, you know, there’s not really any major lakes or oceans or even navigable rivers. Knowing this inconsistency, they went with Dry Dock, nautically themed sans water.
The Body is mild and creamy with vanilla undertones and notes of wintergreen. The Bite is pretty mild but there is little spice if you really look. The Head is non-existent, unfortunately. The Aftertaste is a mild minty vanilla that is rather pleasant.
This brau is much better than that Wyncoop swill. Nothing spectacular, but something good enough to drink with a meal. I would have liked to even stay for a meal, but they didn’t actually have any food at this brewery. They did have a book of restaurants that would deliver, but I would have rather written about the food made at the brewery itself. It makes me feel kind of like Guy Fieri when I do that, going to these breweries and root beer stands, trying their root beers and their signature dishes. But since I couldn’t do that here, I took to the airport early to chill in the United Lounge, and who should I find next to me at the buffet line, but Guy Fieri himself. Before I could make any small talk someone else asked him for a picture/autograph so I figured I’d leave him alone with the exception of a shout out when he was leaving the lounge to catch his flight. In summary, lots of breweries in Denver, and this one is decent.
The Dry Dock Brewing Company looking like a dock without water.
The Dry Dock Brewing Company Taps. The root beer is the sad one without a pretty label.
I always love a brewery where you can see the brew vats from the bar.
A week or so ago found me in Denver because, electric vehicles (EVs). I’m sure it’s no coincidence that those also happen to be my initials, but rather a higher power at work. Anyway, I was there and was talking EVs with other EV experts doing EV things because we’re going to change the way you drive and save the world and what not. When all was said and done I found myself with a rental car (non-EV sadly) and four hours before I needed to be at the airport. Since all of my expenses were being reimbursed (and even if they weren’t) I decided to go a questing for brau! I quickly searched Google maps and found Wyncoop Brewing Company. I called and when they said they had their own house root beer I jumped in the car, set the GPS, and was off! It was only when I arrived in downtown and saw the multitudes of Rockies fans heading to the nearby stadium that I realized I may be in for some problems. Parking problems. The brewery doesn’t have its own lot and everything was labeled as event parking at a flat $25. I finally found a garage a few blocks away with the much more reasonable $2 every 15 minutes. I decided to skip the meal at that price, and ran to try the root beer.
One day I decided to expand my Google Maps brewery searches of the region to a larger radius to see just what I could find. I went to the home page of Roslyn Brewing Company and saw that they have a root beer, No. 9 Root Beer to be exact. I was both elated and shocked. Roslyn is five minutes off of the freeway on the way to my parents’ house. I’ve driven past there dozens of times in the past few years and never knew there was gourmet root beer just waiting for me to try. And of course it would be another five months or so before I went to visit my parents again so I couldn’t try it right away. Roslyn itself is a tiny little town that used to be a coal mining town, a rarity in Washington State. It’s all old fashioned looking and their brewery’s taproom only has six stools. Since no minors (only miners?) are permitted, I had to leave the kids outside with a promise that I’d bring the root beer out to them after my review. Sadly this has nothing to do with the Beatles, but rather is named after coal mine No. 9 which supplied coal to the trains going over Snoqualmie Pass.
