United Nations of Beer

Breckenridge Brewery, Denver

by Lucia Novara
(Beer Delegate, CO, USA)

Breckenridge Brewery
Denver, CO, USA

The story of Breckenridge Brewery in Denver, CO, begins in the small mountain hamlet of Breckenridge (despite much in-depth research, there seems to be no information on where the name of the brewery came from).

There, deep in the heart of Ski Country USA, lived a man named Richard Squire who had two goals in life: to ski and to drink great beer. He had the skiing part down pretty well, but since it was the 1980s, the only beer he could find to drink was either watered down or packaged jointly with Duran Duran cassettes.

He set out to brew beers worthy of quaffing after a long day on the slopes. The happy result was the opening of the Breckenridge Brewery & Pub in 1990.

Two locations in Denver opened in the next decade. Breckenridge beers are now available in 23 states. And the people rejoiced!

I visited the Breckenridge Brewery's Denver location at Blake and 23rd, with some highly favorable results. I had a fabulous and knowledgeable bartender by the name of Charles who obligingly served me and my crew of thirsty friends.

Links to my reviews from Breckenridge Brewery in Denver:

Avalanche Ale

Long Iron Lager

Vanilla Porter

Breckenridge 471 Double IPA

ThunderStout

Trademark Pale Ale

All in all, a night well spent on a barstool. The brews are the same at all locations, but from personal experience I can tell you they taste their best when drank after a long day of skiing or riding in Breckenridge.

It may be the altitude, or the head injuries, but experience of knocking back a Breckenridge Pale Ale in a hot tub mere yards away from where it was born is incredible. Try it sometime.