IDAHO SPRINGS, COLORADO
Preserving Colorado's pioneering spirit while showing off sophisticated modern Industrial splendor in the olden Route 70 mill town of Idaho Springs,
WESTBOUND & DOWN BREWING COMPANY came to fruition during December '15.
Becoming Idaho Spring's second brewpub more than a decade after Tommyknocker hit the scene just down the road, Westbound & Down serve a creative menu of rangy brews (leaning on the IPA side) to go alongside a fabulous pub menu by historic cohabitants, Buffalo Restaurant & Bar.
After passing by the famous wolf man, a locally popular canine rescuer with a leashed wolf, my wife and I enter the pub and grab the Mac & Cheese as well as a tzatziki-sauced falafel sandwich (with sun-dried tomato, roasted peppers and chickpeas).
Connecting the rustic pre-prohibition Old West era to nuevo-designed architecture, Westbound's prominent left side features a sprawling buffalo stomp wall design, lively buffalo mural and trio of buffalo heads, retaining the entrepreneurial frontier tenor of the Centennial State (see below). An exquisite 1860-built, L-shaped wood bar with 18 tap handles centers a few community tables and a huge couch (with a rear 15-barrel brew system). An antique bronzed tin ceiling also captures the essence of yesteryear.
Meanwhile, the mod-decked opposing space contains a square peg-wooded central bar (with exposed pipes and wood-paneled floor) serving several contemporary aluminum-wood tables. Multiple TV's take up all corners of the cozily pristine expanse.
On a cool March '19 Friday afternoon, general manager Josh Young plays host as I quaff eight samplers and purchase another six homemade brews for outside consumption.
Demure eggshell-headed moderation,
Don't Hassle The Hefe, let stylish banana-clove-bubblegum sweetness receive a tart lemon-soured spritz and dry plantain reminder.
Serene smoked helles lager,
Kleine Keller Rauch Party, gently placed applewood-seared peat moss next to crisp pilsner graininess, leaving Band-aid-like astringency at the citric-snipped 'green malt' finish.
Dryly Belgian-styled table beer,
Soberish Monk, allowed lemon-rotted orange desiccation to prosper alongside tart orange meringue piquancy, peppery herbs, floral flourishes and mild wood-toned Amarillo hop bittering.
Another stylistically sinister Belgian-designed elixir,
Vers l'Ouest Tripel, coalesced candi-sugared lemon meringue tartness with black-peppered herbage and tingly pale malt spicing in a soft-toned manner.
On the sour side, bold
Hiver Noir Dark Burgundy Sour sought to elevate its oaken Flanders Brown lactic vinegaring with green grape-derived Sauvignon Blanc barrel aging, picking up dry burgundy, oaken cherry and leathery barnyard nuances.
Softer thirsts should seek out mild sour ale alternative,
The Curse of Lono Saison, a rustic farmhouse ale given vinous white grape tannins and salty lemon-limed bittering to contrast its sidled red wine sweetness.
Dry
Seven Sisters Stout evoked espresso, dark chocolate and black cocoa bitterness contrasted by barley-sweet Maris Otter malts.
Heavenly
Absence Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout brought sweet bourbon licks to syrupy dark chocolate malting and cinnamon-spiced coconut respite.
These were the six take-out crowlers quaffed in Breckenridge the next day:
Conformist Czech-styled lightweight,
Den'var Pilsner, maintained brisk corn-husked dryness, peaty wet-grained musk, musty citric-spiced perfuming and herbal Saaz hop rusticity above biscuity pilsner malts.
Pleasantly centrist
Colorado Pale Ale placed easygoing orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering alongside grassy hop astringency and sweet pale malts.
Easygoing candi-sugared citrus zest serenaded Trappist yeast-derived
Belgian Pale Ale, where fig-dried lemon meringue tartness and bittersweet orange peel tanginess reached spicy pale malts.
Spruce-tipped tropical fruiting engaged
Hop Blender, providing sunny zestfulness for dank piney hop oiling and earthen grain musk.
Bursting with tangerine goodness, approachable moderation
The Other IPA picked up lemony grapefruit zest wrangled by aspirin-like hop astringency above bready pale malts.
Dry-wooded grapefruit rind bittering bum-rushed
Double IPA, leaving tangerine, papaya, mango and pineapple tropicalia upon lightly pungent hops and biscuity malts.
westboundanddown.com
HOWES CAVE, NEW YORK
Just down the slope from Howe Caverns inside a pale-yellowed roadside dive posing as a Wild West outpost in the foothills of Schoharie County, SERIOUS BREWING COMPANY opened up springtime 2016.
A proud farmhouse brewery utilizing local ingredients, Serious has a small covered deck leading to the entrance of the diminutive oak-walled pipe-exposed pub.
Robin Butts BBQ serves food to go alongside the handcrafted suds. Ciders, spirits, wines and original cocktails were also available.
Though I missed out on Merlot-barreled Anniversary 1 (also aged in whiskey barrels) and Anniversary 2, there were six stylishly modeled brews worthy of attention this March '19 afternoon. Each beer is meant to showcase "New York places and events."
Caramel-spiced toasted barley malts sprung from Running Coat Red Ale, picking up a small coffee nip at the fruity finish.
Sweet orange peel, grains of paradise and coriander settled atop Schoharie Burning Wheat Ale, leaving gooseberry-soured tartness and herbal fungi Belgian yeast funk upon its fragile white wheat base.
Sulfite-infused experimental beer, Amber Waves Of Grain, let sweet honey-grained mango receive a mild habanero burn, retaining a light pilsner mouthfeel that relegated its peppered mango heat.
Spicy citrus sweetness contrasted herbal-peppered Belgian yeast and ethyl alcohol burn for feisty Bine Of My Existence IPA, serenading juicy grapefruit, orange and tangerine tanginess with sugared pale malting.
Sweet brown chocolate and bitter Madagascar vanilla enriched delightful George The Inventor Winter Porter, allowing coconut, marshmallow and hazelnut illusions to permeate the sugared mocha continuance.
Black chocolate, mild coffee and raw molasses enveloped bittersweet ALCO Oatmeal Milk Stout, a smoothly milk-sugared dark ale with musty earthen hop resin.
seriousbrewingco.com 
SILVERTHORNE, COLORADO
Inside a freestanding blue-and-gold brick edifice just off Route 70, Silverthorne's BAKERS BREWERY opened March 2015 (and closed a decade hence). Formerly the historic Village Inn, Bakers Brewery's café-styled dining space at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains offers not only a friendly assortment of beers, but also homemade pub-styled dishes, creative cocktails and freshly baked goods.
Doing a fine job creating a 'contemporary brewpub experience,' Bakers Brewery centers around its stellar granite-marbled beetle wood bar (with rusted corrugated tin siding). An open kitchen serves the bistro-like tables and chairs sidling the bar while TV's line all corners. Semi-private back seating's available near the 15-barrel brewing system and a small outside patio offers further space.
Working at nearby Dillon Dam for 15 years prior, experienced brew master Corey Forster crafts a full range of popular local faves, everchanging one-offs and infused concoctions. During my relaxing two-hour afternoon perusal, March '19, I sampled eight of Forster's delightful potions while looking out at the snow-covered Colorado mountain range.
First up, zestful Cotton Mouth Killer Session IPA laced lemony grapefruit-orange peel bittering with dainty floral herbage above caramelized pale malting.
Next, citrus-spiced dark fruiting engaged Belgian Rebellion Pale Ale, loading fig-apricot-plum niceties alongside lemony orange tanginess and peppery herbal hops atop caramelized rye malting.
Perhaps Bakers' finest offering, durable Double Diamond Imperial Red Ale brought caramel-spiced honey nut sweetness to tropical citric hop fruiting and tertiary fig-prune notions.
Leathery red wine tannins pervaded Bourbon Barrel Sour Saison
LUDLOW, MASSACHUSETTS
Right after Iron Duke Brewing opened for business in Ludlow, another distinguished player came to fruition during late 2017. Inside a homey maroon-paneled shed at the olden Ludlow mills, VANISHED VALLEY BREWING COMPANY exists strictly as a small-batch nanobrewery selling kegs, cans and bottles for outside consumption. Samples of all four current brews were provided free of charge on my March '19 stopover.
"Classic American pale ale," Take Flight, retained a soft-toned mouthfeel as tart lemony grapefruit juicing and spicy herbal snips reached the cereal-grained pale malt bottom.
Dazzlingly sharp-toned Peaches And Juniper Berry Milkshake IPA, an orange-hazed New England-styled sureshot, mingled briskly pined grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering, botanical juniper berry pining and sour yogurt milkiness with syrupy vanilla-creamed cling peach sweetness in a swell manner. Subsidiary pineapple-juiced maraschino cherry tang and honeyed whiskey backdraft increase greatness.
Excellent Lost Town Milk Stout stuffed mildly creamy cocoa nibs and Madagascar vanilla beans atop sugary oats, picking up oily hop-charred walnut bittering, soily earthen musk and ashen charcoal remnants for contrast.
Its offshoot derivative, Lost Town Stout with Chipotle Peppers, loaded creamy black chocolate syrup onto mellow cocoa-dried chipotle heat, lessening the bittersweet vanilla influence.
Look for Vanished Valley to expand beyond its restrictive bounds in the time to come.
www.vanishedvalley.com