We just had to make up for that lousy pizza the other night and Karen came up with a good one in downtown Denver, Marco’s Coal-fired Pizza. When we saw the twin pizza ovens we were pretty sure this was going to be good. We ordered an Odell 90 Shilling ale and two Margherita pizzas with pepperoni and bufala mozzarella added. The taste was very good but the crust should have been more well-done. No problem, just a small critique. We were both about half finished with our pizzas when the owner came over and asked how we liked it. Karen told her how much we liked them but showed her how the crust was good on the bottom but still gummy on top. Well, she immediately offered to remake them but we said no, it wasn’t a complaint; just something that could be improved. However, just as we were each down to our last piece the owner came back with two whole new pizzas. So they boxed them up for us and we took them home. But, not before we walked two blocks over to Great Divide Brewing. They have quite a few brews and three of them stouts, although all three were their Yeti which is a high-alcohol imperial stout: regular, chocolate and espresso. Karen got a taster of the regular and I ordered the espresso stout. It was very good but strong. Luckily, it came it a 10 ounce glass that we shared.

Not far away was Prost Brewing, a Denver brewery that specializes in German-style beers. According to their website, the brewery (I assume they mean the brewing equipment) actually came from a brewery in Bavaria. After tastes of their Altbier and Altfränkisches Dunkel Bier, I ordered the Altbier (old style beer) and Karen chose the dunkel (dark). We were both happy with our choices and I was only a little disappointed when mine was served in a 25cl glass (it’s traditional, they say) but after the imperial stout earlier this was just fine.

When we first arrived in the area and while searching the internet for local breweries I came across the barbeque food truck, Texorado. Doing an internet search for them I found their website, Facebook page and Twitter page but in all cases the most up-to-date information just told where they had been, never where they were going to be. Finally, on Friday, their Facebook page listed where they would be for the next few days and that very evening they would be at Black Shirt Brewing Co. in Denver. Since that brewery was already on our list, the decision to go there this evening was an easy one. BSB was the most unique brewery we’ve seen yet. All of their beers are different styles of red ales and it seemed to me the best thing to do would be sample most of them. So, we got a flight of their Red Bitter, Red Ale, Red Saison, Pale Red Rye and Red Porter. They were all different and quite good, making it a bit difficult to choose. Another thing unique at BSB is the glasses they serve their beer in. The rim is slanted and you drink from the low end in order to enhance the aroma. After both of us selecting the red ale to start, for round two Karen chose the porter and I went with the rye. But not before ordering up two brisket sandwich plates from mister Texorado. Oh my, that was good brisket and paired quite nicely with our red ales! Along with the good beer and barbeque, we enjoyed our conversation with Randy and Trice from Colorado Springs. Randy runs the All Colorado Beer Festival in Colorado Springs each fall which is a non-profit 501(c)(3) and all their proceeds go to local charities.