Colorado, Red Rocks, Denver, Guster!

In July 2021, the concert of a lifetime (for me to attend) happened. My favorite band on Earth, Guster, played Red Rocks Amphitheater. We bought our tickets in April, got our hotel reservations, and waited.

My sister and I flew out to Denver, we traveled with some friends we've met over the years, met up with other friends we've met over the years, including my sister's best friend for Life, Ginger, who we introduced to Guster during some "Hard Times" to steal from one of their titles. She's a hardcore fan now. 

And we were all in on this one. Freaking Denver. And. Oh my gosh -- RED ROCKS. 

I had always wanted to attend a show there, my whole life. What better thing to do than go see your number one absolute favorite band on earth in this amazing space? And here we were!

This isn't a post about Guster or the trip, it's about the beer.  And there are stories about the beer. 

Denver has a big Beer Culture, and we didn't get to dip into it all the way. I mean, go look at that list!  

Fortunately. Denver is now on my list of places I have to return to. 

First night we were there, our friend Ginger had gotten to town in the morning. She procured beer, wine, and cocktail makings for the hotel room she and my sister were sharing, and their room turned into The Bar for all of us hanging out together. The beer she got was chosen on purpose. It shares the name with  one of our favorite Guster songs, "Hercules." It was very very late at night, and this DIPA (10% ABV!) from Great Divide Brewing Company may have knocked ya boi on her ass. A little. Thankfully, I was in my own hotel room, ready for bed, and happy I remembered to take this picture for Untappd and now for here! 

For your enjoyment, you should go watch the video from Guster with the same name as this incredible beer. 

It was strong, super hoppy, really headdy alcohol aroma, and strong taste to it, almost like a barrel aged bourbon beer. Normally I don't go for those, but this one had strength and power, like its namesake. 

I sat there singing to myself "It's a simple love affair... dangerous but true," while sipping this one down before bed. 

Friday night we hit up Stout Street Social for dinner, and the menu was fantastic. Great mac & cheese, hot and spicy buffalo tenders. 

We got there kind of on the later side of things, and Denver seems to close up early. Last call was at 11, so we hurriedly ate our meals and left. Only got to try one beer while there, from Boulder Beer Company. 

Hazed & Infused, it was a good accompaniment to the hot buffalo tenders that I had. Kind of a standard hazy. 

On the website they use the word "dank" which I am not fond of. I really think of "dank" as like a marijuana description, not beer. 

This beer felt thick and tasty, maybe that's what they mean by "dank?" 

The restaurant was really nice and I would have liked to have spent another hour there kicking back and enjoying more beers but hey. Denver rolls up the sidewalks early, it seems. And this wasn't the place for "late nite" fare. 

In fact, we never really found any late nite fare in the city. We ended up with DoorDash, having it canceled on us more than once. Not really cool when your late night game is hanging out back in the room with your buddies. Other friends experienced late nite Denver but it looked as if it was dress up, or kind of a niche style. Eater has an interesting round-up of places that we never made it to, but will keep in mind for the future!

Linda, Ginger, and I went and had a kind of shopping/girls' day out. We ended up at a Bar Louie, a chain restaurant that is everywhere, for cool refreshment after a hot day traipsing around looking for hiking sandals for Linz. 

At the higher altitude, seeing as I'm totally a sea level girl, we were sure to match each drink with a glass of water everywhere we went, to keep from getting dehydrated and headachey. This limited the amount of brews to enjoy.

Readers know it is my job to try the local beers. Bar Louie didn't have an extensive list of locals, which was slightly disappointing, but overall I'm unfamiliar with the chain.

They did have a couple beers from Breckenridge Brewing company. Pictured here is the Avalanche Amber Ale, which I recall being a refreshing and light Amber Ale, nice color and an almost chocolatey/caramel flavor. 

Linda ordered a pitcher of sangria, and we drank a lot more water, and I didn't have another beer at Bar Louie. That's okay. 

Saturday night there was a bingo night with Ryan Miller calling the numbers. The event was at Park Burger in the RINO section of Denver, and we stupidly dragged our feet in getting over that direction. We didn't end up on the deck with the actual Bingo game happening but we were able to get into the bar to order some drinks. I didn't keep track of the beers I ordered, sadly, and we did have an amazingly fun time with friends coming by and hanging out with us on the picnic table outside the patio. 

We even got to hang out with some guy named Brian. 

Pictured left to right: Ginger, Linda, Brian Rosenworcel (the Thundergod, Guster's drummer) and your humble narrator. You might not believe me when I say it but, this guy. This guy is better than beer. Super sad his eyes were not open in this shot!

Behind us is 10 Barrel Brewing, and we didn't get to duck in there but people looked like they were having a great time, there was a rooftop deck where Guster fans were yelling down to other Guster fans. I was amazed at the turnout.

Show day. It's here! Holy shit. I'm about to see Guster with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. What beers am I going to drink on Game Day? 

Well. Pre-show I had really wanted to set up a gathering of Guster friends. A lot of people were staying at the hotel near the venue, but the staff at the hotel bar was not really into setting up a gathering space for us without charging a venue rental fee that I thought was exorbitant.  I don't blame you for wanting to make some money but. No. I've set meet & greets up many places and it's never been a "room rental" kind of thing. I was not about to start by paying a fee to reserve the back part of the bar for a gathering. It is organic, I'm just trying to cultivate it.

Heavy sigh.

I looked at Google Maps, and saw right across from the hotel there were a few restaurants. And one was Over Yonder Brewing Company.  I emailed them to ask if they would host us and the taproom manager was more than happy to host us. "I want to make this happen," Corey wrote to me. 

And I felt this was a match made in heaven. So, we arranged, and we did gather. And it was outstanding.

About 50 something Guster fans came through the space pre-show. A very non-official, not super hyper structured event, and it was beautiful. So Beautiful. I cannot speak more highly for the staff there who accommodated us, and made us feel at home.

I always get a little anxious when I set up a meet and greet that it is not going to be awesome, or no one is going to show up. 

But this space was amazing. The staff was amazing.  I loved this. I swear to God as anyone plans anything before a Red Rocks event, y'all should go to Over Yonder. even if you don't arrange anything official. Please Please Please patronize this brewery. 

Pictured here on the left is Window Appointment, the first beer I tried and then repeated. It was a Pale Ale, lovely color, great taste. I managed to not get a picture for a check in on Untappd for Citranade, and then a really nice sour that I cannot remember the name of. I was trying to play party host, making sure folks were having fun. It wasn't hard to do. Everyone was having a great time chatting, the staff put the Guster Spotify stream on (without anyone asking) and it was just delightful. 

The Guster show was great, Red Rocks is super cool. I learned a lot about how to "do" a show there better, notes taken for possible future visits. That's a tale for another day!

We didn't get to do much more beer sampling during our stay, so another trip to Denver will happen someday, I'm sure.