January 6th

Today I am thankful for trying new things.

Tonight we went to one of the newer breweries in Denver. Wit's End Brewing Company opened a few months ago during the Great American Beer Festival. Chris keeps up on the latest beer news in Denver including when new breweries open. Wit's End is tucked away in an industrial complex, but easy enough to find. When Chris said it was a small brewery, I expected a bar with enough room for the brewmaster to serve his beer, five or six chairs and the bartender's buddy sitting at the bar. In reality, the brewery had a large bar with siting room for about 10 people, 5 or 6 small tables, and a large group of people. We sat down at the bar and ordered a sampler so that we could try all of the beers they had to offer. We started chatting with the people next to us about breweries and some of our favorites in the state. A group of guys walked in and we talked to them for a while about beer and breweries. Then the brewmaster's neighbors walked in, so we talked to them. Then a guy that we met a few months ago at Hops & Pie walked in. We learned from the brewer that he is going to be in Vail for the Big Beer Festival. This is a festival that we have yet to attend. We also still need to visit the breweries in Vail/Avon/Eagle area. We can probably accomplish that this summer when we don't have to deal with Saturday morning ski traffic.

We walked into the brewery with the intention of trying new beer and adding another brewery to our list. I didn't realize that we were going to hanging out with a fun little beer community. This place is like Cheers. The brewer chats with everyone there and is genuinely appreciative that they are there. The art work is framed coasters from other breweries and beers establishments from around the US and around the world. I was reminded that we did not visit Elysian Brewing Company when we visited Seattle two years ago, because we hadn't heard about it yet. So Chris and I made plans to go to the new Husky Stadium when it opens for a football game and visit Elysian. Hopefully we will get to try some of the pumpkin beers that they don't sell here in Colorado.