Since it was our last full day in the Denver area we had to go over to Big Daddy bagels for breakfast and get a bagel sandwich with hummus. That filled us up for a while and we headed down to Camenisch Park to play Badlands DGC. It was not at all what it sounds like, but it was a really nice course with open fairways and lots of rolling hills. We were lost at first, but we found a map online and that set us straight. Toward the middle there is a tee from a bridge in the middle of the pond, or you can shoot from the bank on the other side all the way across. I went all the way and I nailed it.
The end of the course criss-crosses along the rolling grass hills of the park, but a city worker came and turned on the sprinklers right in the middle of where we were playing. In the middle of the day. I have no idea why. We only skipped one basket, but it was still kind of annoying. We were able to help out a guy by giving him the map since he wanted to join us just as we were finishing up. Then we did handstands at the basket.
Continuing the beer tour of Denver, we looked into some of the breweries suggested by my bartender yesterday, including the sparkling gem, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project. They specialize in sour, Flemish, barrel-aged, and brett beers. Basically, it's heaven. I chose four beers to do tasting of. The Vieille Artisanal Saison was really tasty and light, but the Surette Provision Saison was a little more of the sour taste I was hoping for. They were both very good. The St. Bretta (Summer) was not for me at all. It was crafted completely with brettanomyces for a big bretty taste, and it turns out that is not my thing. I appreciated the craft, but not the taste.
The final beer I tasted was called the Musty Cedar Box. This may well be the best beer I have ever had. No exaggeration at all. It is a bourbon barrel-aged sour and the flavor is huge. It is absolutely exactly what I want in a sour. I'm pretty sure I was making a great face while I drank this because Joanna commented on it. I had to order a full glass of this one. I savored every last drop and did not want it to end. I knew I couldn't get a growler or a bottle of it so I just hope I'll be able to visit again.
How could anything top that last place? In short, it couldn't, but you have to go on somehow. We went to Black Shirt Brewing as the sun set behind the city and the sky looked amazing. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good shot from anywhere that wasn't the highway. The whole time I was in this brewery I kept wishing we had found a spot to shoot it. Inside the place, however, we had a super friendly bartender who guided me through the flight. The beer list was set up like a track listing, though I'm not sure of the significance. The BSB Bitter (Track 1) was fantastic. Quite a contrast from what I had been drinking previously and definitely something I'd seek out. The Red IPA may have been my favorite, however. I almost got a growler of it, but I decided I should conserve fundage.
After leaving BSB, we went to the museum steps where I could see the skyline. When I got there it was completely dark, and the view wasn't as great as the website suggested it would be. I was disappointed with the view and my contact had someone gotten stuck in my eye so I abandoned the idea of shooting and went back to the car to fix it. Our final stop for the evening was Denver Beer Company. I really like their vibe. It feels very much like California for some reason.
I tried a handful of beers here including the Kaffir Lime Wheat, which was refreshing and interested, as well as the Scotch on Scotch, which was far too boozy for my liking. I couldn't finish that one. It has been said that trying a lot of beers in a row is not a very good way to judge them as your palate get overwhelmed and it's harder to discern flavors after a while. I'm sure this is true, but the Maya Nut Brown was a fantastic beer nonetheless, and it was unfortunate that I couldn't get a full pint of it at this point. And so concluded our beer tour of Denver. We headed back to Steve's for one last night hanging out a bit and sleeping in the spare room.
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