Two and half weeks ago I set out for a cross country adventure, leaving my comfy zone of Boulder, CO. In that short time a hell of a lot has happened. There might be a book in this adventure. Way more than I can discuss here, although I could probably break it up nicely into segments. Every day has so much to talk about! I left with very little money, and a lot of faith, and abandoned some people I love, and took a chance on going totally broke on the road. I turned down some good job opportunities to do this. But it has been overdue. Visiting all the places I've meant to see for some time now. And I've been doing it. I'm still out here. Living the dream out of my Jeep (I could go for a shower and a movie at home). 
The Black Hills. Midwestern wine and beer. Chicago. Minneapolis. Fargo. Mosquito Heaven while hiking in Northern Minnesota. Flat tires in the middle of nowhere. Caves, praries, cornfields, badlands. State high points. Vegan soul food. Farmer's markets. Fights with ex-s. Craft cocktails. Museums, old homes, gardens, police encounters;on and on and on…
Life is fun with me. It's spontaneous, but kinda planned. It's challenging yet rewarding. It's expensive, but I find the deals. I secret shop. I meet people. I find the good and the bad. I've had some existential breakdowns and some renewed belief in the people in this country; sometimes I have both in the same day. It happens. I'm still searching for "something" out here, on top of the joy of going places I haven't been. But I'm figuring out what I need to figure out. I feel God with me. Thanks for flying with me…
B

Colorado beer. It's the stuff beer geeks dream of. All of my adult life I've heard about Colorado beer as legend in the hops and barley world, and after so many years of traveling so many other states in this great country, I had mostly missed Colorado, excepting for one brief pass through in 1999. I came here just under a year ago, with two jobs in hand, one at the Devil's Thumb Ranch in Winter Park, the other at Far View Lodge in Mesa Verde National Park. I chose the latter for it's location, the fact that it was still snow season in the mountains and it's seasonality if I needed to move on. Between April and August, I managed to pack in a lot in terms of exploring the landscapes, towns and, as we're discussing here, the breweries. For starters, when I told the staff at brewpubs I was sitting in that I planned to visit all of the State's breweries, they had a shocked amusements, reminding me of just how many there were. Over the last year, as so many new breweries have opened in that short time, I've been quoted different numbers, ranging from 175-300. That's a lot. But I set out anyway. From a home base in Mancos and Mesa Verde, I started consuming. Let's first start with the 4 Corners and San Juan area. 
Durango

With 5 breweries, and rumors of more, this small mountain town of 16,000 has a lot going for it. 

At Steamworks Brewing, an extremely popular family and adult restaurant and brewery that is (unfortunately in my case) known for it's house-smoked meats and such, nothing I can recommend with strong vegan ethics, but the beer did occasionally shine, and although there were many dark beer (a personal fav), what stood out most was the Chile Ale. This style of beer, I discovered, was common among the Southwestern breweries, and for obvious and good reason. This brewery also boasts a large number of Certified Cicerones, 5 when I was there, and it showed. Very knowledgeable staff. 

Onto Durango Brewing Company, a longer staple on the local scene, but which is more recently under the brewing mastery of from Boulder Brewing. The assistant brewer took me on a tour of the small brewery, where I got to see some fresh Colorado hops being seasonally used in some of their tasty beer. The IPA is winner. 

At Brew, a different philosophy exists-crafting beer with single-ingredient focuses. A flight of 4 beers, each highlighting the 4 primary components of beer showed each of the primary characteristics well, and it was a friendly and flavorful experience. 

Carver Brewing, on the main drag through town, is another always-busy kind of place. While the beers didn't bowl me over, they were all solidly crafted, and yet another brewery in this area utilizing local clean energy and good ethical practices. 

The real highlight of the Durango brew scene is Ska. This brewery has positioned itself as a staple of good Colorado beer. From the clean and refreshing Blonde, to the full bodies Red, to hoppy standard of the Modus and their Decadant Impreial IPA, we're talking about seriously good beer. An excellent, fun tour is available and they also feature beers made on premises by talented home brewers that have won the chance to brew their beer at Ska.

Two breweries also exist in Cortez, J Fargo's, with a small selection of mediocre beers in a  semi-divey family restaurant setting can be missed, and Main St Brewery downtown offers far better beer, although nothing necessarily worth going out of your way for. The town of Cortez is something that needs some better progress and happiness.

More beer travel to come...

I've been a bad blogger. I've been a great traveler and adventurer the last few months, though!! I need to write more often. I need to show you my pictures. I've been bad. I've been lacking my own computer for a year now (not the best excuse) and have been scraping to afford a new one, or at least get financing on a Mac so that lingering videos can be finished editing, my outlined non-fiction book on working in National Parks and resorts can be further written and this beloved website can be kept more up to date. In the last few months, I've explored the Bohemian culture of Salt Lake City, visited museums throughout California, climbed many high mountains in Colorado and New Mexico, visited more vegan restaurants and craft breweries than I can possibly remember (good thing I take lots of photos), visited a dozen National Parks (many of them new to me), hung out in Taos, Santa Fe, Boulder, Aspen, Telluride, Denver, Vegas, LA, Durango and..well..you get the point. I've been active. Many of the adventures have involved my partner Lynn, many have been solo. And I have a lot of catching up to do. It's been educational, fun, hard work and a great pleasure. I have now landed in Boulder for a good while. It seems a good spot to land. New opportunities as a bartender and Sommelier at a wonderful farm-table restaurant called The Black Cat. Getting inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of this town to further create my own organic and artisan products. Writing the book I've wanted to write, making the films I've wanted to film. Brewing more batches of tasty organic beer and bohemian root beer. Preparing for the Advanced level tests for the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Certified Cicerone test. Starting anew. Building on the old and beloved.
And maybe I'll just attach a slideshow of adventure to this to give a taste of the last few months...

 Woo-hoo! After many years of wishing and pondering on making beer, and after many weeks of first brewing, then doing all the necessary follow up work (tasting, nibs/vanilla bean additions, kegging, etc.), the 4-year veteran of homebrewing and friend of mine, Jeff Patterson, who helped me brew my first beer in Pleasant Hill, CA and myself finished up the process and bottled a Robust Chocolate Porter (with hints of vanilla). The whole process has been amazing, and has taught me firsthand that making beer is mostly about sanitation (think: "Glorified Janitor" as job description), with a generous dose of waiting, sprinkled with as liberal-as-practical amounts of beer drinking and rapping about our favorite beers and breweries, and then somewhere in there is a light fairy dusting of actual brewing and fermenting the beer itself..(oh, and the shopping for ingredients! Much fun in and of itself-like when you were a kid planning your big adventures on paper..).
  So how did it turn out? We were pleased. It was a beer that I would want to drink myself, and that's what I wished for at the beginning.  It was as good, if not better, than I expected. Ten gallons were brewed, and we each took half. Jeff will be bringing the beer to the 34th Annual National Homebrewers Conference (www.ahaconference.org/) June 21-23rd in Seattle, WA; wish Jeff the best with it! As for public reaction so far, I've sampled it for my co-workers at my restaurant (Mankas Corner in Suisun Valley, where I'm behind the bar), as well as for my partner Lynn, and the response has been very solid and positive. It's rich, dark, chocolatey and tastes great by itself, and with some good dark chocolate! We look forward to brewing this beer again soon, but first will be tackling an organic, caramel-amber Rye, with some mild aromatic hops to it. Looking forward to that. Cheers!