The peak in the back is called Mount Zion. The M was placed by, and stands for, the Colorado School of Mines.
The town is home to the Coors Brewery. It's the second largest (Budweiser is first), but has the largest brew-house in the country. We all went on the tour, so pictured above you see Patrick & his mom waiting to be picked up by the bus taking us from the parking lot to the company, with a unique backdrop, beautiful weather & colorful flowers!
Standing in front of Coors Brewery. Below is a look into the room where the beer is made. Patrick & I were a bit surprised to find out it's made through a natural process and is cold-filtered with enzymes, since we don't think it tastes good.
Biologists are employed to run multiple, thorough tests on all batches! This shelf contains examples of all the company's beer- more than I realized, since as Patrick explained, Miller bought Leinenkugel's, then Miller & Coors merged.
We were entitled to 4 samples each, but we weren't fond enough of anything to cash in all our credits. Even so, it was an interesting tour, and the parking, admission & tastings were all free! Afterward, we walked down the mainstreet to have lunch at the old state capitol building that's been converted into a restaurant. We also found out there was a second brewery in town, owned by a geologist (go figure) who makes his own recipes in 50-gallon batches. Patrick & I bought the sampler, which included a homemade rootbeer (they ran out of one of the regular samples). It was too sweet & overpowered with vanilla flavor for our liking, but there were a couple options on the tray we thought weren't too shabby.
Mid-afternoon, we stopped in Denver to shop at the flagship REI store (an outdoor sports & recreation store). I met an employee around our age from Grand Rapids, because he noticed my Oberon earrings (bottlecaps from Kalamazoo)! He went to Christian H.S. & lived near Alpine & Leonard, but came to CO for mountains and the economy. Crazy, huh?! Patrick spent a bit of his b-day money on a mountaineering book, then we left town to avoid traffic.We had a short visit at the home of Patrick's parents' friends, then returned to the hotel to do some laundry (oh the glamor of living out of a suitcase!) before meeting up with them for dinner (at the exotic Denny's- hehe) and to say goodbye.
Nothing else to report from that night, except we had to prepare for a major day to follow. It's gonna be difficult selecting just a few pictures for the next entry! :)
1 comment:
i'm kinda surprised there are no rei photos, as i thought that was a bigger attraction. you should know from the tv ads that it's naturally processed and cold-filtered. or maybe coors doesn't nationally advertise as much as they used to during the superbowl and such.
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