Getting the Brews

Last year's Boulder County Brews Cruise, a brewery tour that took place during the Great American Beer Festival, sold out — so this year, organizer Marty Jones of Oskar Blues Brewery decided they needed two buses. Those buses leave today from the Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th Street, with each heading to four of the following stops: Boulder Beer, Left Hand Brewing Company, the Pumphouse Brewery, Oskar Blues and the Redstone Meadery. "We're trying to make it real easy for people who come to town for the festival, because they don't have to drive," says Jones. "And, unlike just about any other industry in the world, brewers are always doing things to promote each other."

Oskar Blues is releasing a special canned beer, the Ten FIDY Imperial Stout, that's available only at the pub. "I just got a list from the Pumphouse," says Jones, and it's chock-full of "a real mouthwatering group of specialty beers," including Passionfruit Wheat beer, a GABF entry this year.

The cruise, sponsored by Draft magazine, costs $40 and includes samples plus one free beer at each brewery, a light breakfast, lunch, a commemorative T-shirt and a 15 percent discount on beer and merchandise at each stop. The tour is sold out, but there could be last-minute cancellations; go to www.lefthandbrewing.com for details and www.beertown.org for more on GABF, which kicks off tomorrow.

Bottoms up!
Wed., Oct. 10, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., 2007