Colorado: day one

Reid and Roxanne enjoy beer. And food. And coffee. The purpose of this blog is to record our experiences as we share a quest for great places of all three. We are starting by documenting our trip to Colorado, and will hopefully continue to document our experiences at places in our home state of New Mexico as well as other places we travel. Cheers!


We began our visit to Colorado today, with a stop in Alamosa, Colorado



San Luis Valley Brewing Company
631 Main
Alamosa, CO 81101


Date of visit: August 11, 2007
4:30 p.m.

This brewery has a nice, contemporary industrial feel, with stained concrete floors,
exposed vents (painted black), and high ceilings. There is brick on the interior wall adjacent to the next business, and glass between the eating and brewing areas. The tables are comfortably spaced for privacy, The service was quick and friendly. Save room for dessert - we had a White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecacke and it was sublime.

The beers are generally timid with a mild to non-existent aftertaste, which means even the newbie beer drinker could drink them all night. Very pleasant and drinkable without a long-lasting impression. Rox's pick: Oatmeal Stout. Reid's pick: Alamosa Amber Ale. We did take a growler of the tamest lager, the Valle Especial to friends. The brewery boasts $6 growler refills on Thursdays.

For the kids, designated drivers, or other alternative beverage drinkers, SLVBC brews their very own root beer and black cherry cream soda, both very tasty!

8 craft beers on tap:

Valle Especial mexican lager
Hefe Suave hefeweizen
Alamosa Amber Ale

Grande River IPA
Oatmeal Stout

Barley Wine
Raspberry Wheat
Wildfire Red


Valle especial - mexican style lager
nice. Easy-drinking, appealng to the corona contingent. Smooth flavor, enhanced with a shmutz of lime.

Hefe suave - Hefeweizen
Another easy drinker, with a nice, but weak flavor and no aftertaste

Alamosa Amber Ale
Smooth.... Again no aftertaste Made to drink it all night long.

Grande River IPA
Hops taste remains long after. Stronger than the others, with a definite hoppiness. Flavor diminishes after a few sips.


Oatmeal Stout
mmmmm.... another smooth beer with a yummy coffee aftertaste

seasonal beers:

Wildfire Red
Surprisingly fruity. We wondered if we had confused the red with the raspberry wheat or barley wine, but tasting those allayed our fears. It's just a fruity red ale. And tasty, for those who enjoy fruity beers, it's a nice alternative to the wheat.

Raspberry Wheat
A definitely fruity wheat beer. Very raspberry, which is either good or bad depending on your taste. Certainly enjoyable and well-done, although mild.

Barley Wine
Strong and sweet.