1. Ouray Brewery, Ouray
This one is kind of a no-brainer. It's walking distance from the RV. It has good beer. The bar seats are swings. There's a rooftop deck. And even though we've only been there 3 times, the staff already knows our name (cue Cheers theme song here). The only downside is that they don't allow dogs.
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| That's right, kids, we're swingers! |
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| Rooftop deck with amazing views ..... that's now closed for the winter. 😕 |
Why yes, yes in fact I did wear my Garmin the last time we went. 2.7 miles round trip and we (allegedly) burned 395 calories along the way. That's like 2 beers, right??
2. Ourayle House Brewery (a/k/a Mr. Grumpy Pants Brewing), Ouray
This is kinda like going to a Dick's Last Resort, but in a tiny town with hand-painted signs and a woodstove. The beer is OK, and they have all the usual suspects on tap. The owner, Mr. Grumpy Pants, can be viewed through a window, mixing up his latest brew. The bartender - at least for the winter months - is a Scot who also owns a mobile axe-throwing business. (Yes, axe throwing).
Apparently if you dare to ask for a taster, its served in a plastic sippy cup. They charge $.50 extra for IPA (because, you know, hops). The insults and dry wit are free flowing. The hand-painted signs hanging on the walls are entertaining. There's no schedule of open or closed - you just get lucky or you don't. While we've only been once, I do foresee a few winter trips if not for the beer, then for the rocking chairs around the woodstove.
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| Considering that my pet name for Doug is "Mr. Grumpy Pants", this place has promise. |
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| Reminds me of the "closed on powdah days" signs in North Conway. And yes, that is Mr. Grumpy Pants on the other side of the window. |
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| This one definitely spoke to me. |
3. Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery, Ridgway
On the very first day when we checked in to our RV Park, the owner told us the best pizza and beer -- where the locals go -- was at Colorado Boy. She was right.
The Ridgway location is just 10 miles to the north of us, and conveniently located on the way home from a lot of the good trails in the Sneffles Wilderness. There is also a location in Montrose, but we haven't tried that one yet.
We've eaten there once and ..... Oh. My. Gawd. The pizza was amazing. Also, how do you not love a place that gets all of its electricity from wind generators, all of its hot water from solar panels, and feeds all of its spent brewing grain to local cattle? I mean, really.
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| Sharing a table outside after a motorcycle ride to Telluride. |
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| Picking up freshly canned beer is my assigned task after hikes! |
4. Red Mountain Brewing, Ouray
Red Mountain is in downtown Ouray, and has only been open for a year or so. The day we went, they only had 2 of their own beers on tap, and the rest were just big commercial beers. The menu didn't do anything for us, and the seats were wicked uncomfortable, so we didn't stay. Maybe we were just tired and cranky, but with so many other better options, we haven't been back. Maybe in the spring, we'll take the pups to their patio.
5. Avalanche Brewing, Silverton
Loved this place! We stopped in Silverton on the way back from riding the motorcycle over Red Mountain Pass down to Purgatory Ski Area to take in the scenery. Although it was tough to find, that was part of what made it awesome. When we couldn't find it at first (and had no cell signal to Google Map it), we settled for the Golden Block Brewery, on the main street of Silverton. But, it was filled with tourists and children, and we just couldn't get a server's attention. So we left and walked around the tiny little town, and finally saw a sign for Avalanche Brewing. The beer was fantastic and there was a tiny little deck that looked out on a snowy mountain. The pizza looked amazing, but we settled for just our beers and got back on the MC. This is definitely a go-again, the next time we're in Silverton (which probably won't be until spring unless I can convince Doug to take me to the Silverton Skijoring event in February).
6. Steamworks Brewing, Durango
Durango totally can't be considered the "Ouray Area", but we went there from Ouray on the motorcycle so it gets blog recognition. Durango was supposed to be the next stop after Ouray, back before we fell in love with Ouray and decided to stay. We had some hiking boots that we had ordered and had shipped to the Durango RV park before we knew we wouldn't be going there, so we had to go pick them up. Since we hit all the local breweries on our 2014 trip to Durango, we knew which ones were worth revisiting. Steamworks was one of them, mostly because of the awesome deck out back, overlooking the mountains. Unfortunately, on this visit, the deck was closed for the season already, so we had to settle for a table in the bar. The beer was good, the food was pretty good, and we were nourished enough for the long MC ride back to Ouray that afternoon.
Side note: although we loved Durango in 2014, we both agreed that it is way too crowded for us now. And this visit was during the off-season. Clearly, we're getting old.
