Denver on a Budget
 

We are two couples who are basing our trip to Denver around beer. Planning on doing the Coors tours. What brewpubs are a must? We are staying at the Comfort Inn Downtown. We are looking for cheap uniquely Denver dining. We want to find a bar within walking distance of our hotel with cheap drinks and no cover charge. It can be a whole in the wall. Any advice would be great.

What time does the free bus (on 16th) stop running?
THANKS!!!

The best inexpensive food in Denver:

www.chedds.com

Thanks...it looks like a fun place.

Here are some websites about brewpubs etc in Denver. Be sure to check out Wynkoop Brewing Company http://www.wynkoop.com/ started by the current Denver mayor. Here are other websites
http://www.denver.org/Listings.aspx?SID=4&CID=109
http://www.beer100.com/brewpubs_a_to_k/colorado.htm
http://www.denversbestbars.com/


Benny's Ristorante http://www.bennysrestaurant.com/contact.htm --cheap good Mexican food about a 5 minute drive from downtown.

Another real deal is the happy hour at McCormick's Fish House bar--located on Wazee in Lodo. Drink specials and a menue of $2 dishes including a cheeseburger with fries.

Another great happy hour deal is at the Kona Grill, Cherry Creek mall. You'd need to take a bus or a cab to get there from downtown. Every weekday evening, I think from 4:30 to 7, they offer half price 'appetizers' and pizzas. The appetizers are actually a lunch size portion and are plenty for one person's dinner. Drinks are reduced, too. It's not a brewpub, but a great dining deal. I usually get the Maui tacos, with macadamia nut chicken in them. There are two of them, with an ample serving of shrimp fried rice, and it's about $4.

There's also the Rock Bottom Brewery downtown. The Wazee Supper Club in LoDo has great pizza and a funky atmosphere. The Wynkoop Brewery is good, as already mentioned.

Is Fat Tire beer made in Boulder? Maybe it's worth an excursion up there.
:)>-

Fat Tire is brewed in Fort Collins, part of the New Belgium Brewing Company. It's about an hour north of Denver and they do have brewery tours. There is also a Budweiser brewery on the north side of Fort Collins that, I believe, they also do tours.

No idea when the free bus runs till. Check out the rtd web site.

Beer, you must go to http://www.fallingrocktaphouse.com

cheap eats and beer you will not find anyplace else.

If you can get to Fort Collins, you can do a fun day trip around beer.

We did this day trip last month:

We started our morning with the Anheuser-Busch tour in Fort Collins. Great tour guide, very informative and free samples at the end of the tour.

Next we headed to New Belgium.

www.newbelgium.com/index.php

The atmosphere is fun, lively and very laid back. You can choose 4 samples from a list of beers. We had a great time chatting with the other visitors at our table. We were unable to secure a guided tour, but did the self-tour and enjoyed the beer.

Visiting both breweries is an interesting way to compare a corporate giant versus a small local brewery and try free samples of their products. Suprisingly, one of my favorite brews of the day was made by Budweiser and I'm a big New Belgium fan.

For a late lunch and keeping with the beer theme, except no beer this time, we headed to Coopersmith's Pub & Brewing (down the street from New Belgium) for some tasty burgers and iced tea before heading back to Denver.

www.coopersmithspub.com

As previously mentioned the Wynkoop is good and has a beer sampler available for purchase.