Manitou Brewing Company opened up March 1st. They are located at 725 Manitou Ave in Manitou Springs, Colorado. They are operating more as a brewpub featuring five beers of their own creation, guest beers, and food.

Presently, they are serving up their Belgian Blonde Ale (4.7% ABV, 27 IBU), Session Red (4.7% ABV, 12 IBU), Smoked Nut Brown Ale (6.5% ABV, 45 IBU), Manitou Common (5.2% ABV, 25 IBU), and IPA (6.7% ABV, 65 IBU).

I started with the Session Red and a House Salad. The Session Red had a very good malt flavor with a surprisingly good body when many reds have minimal body. It would be a great session beer as the name indicates. The House Salad was very enjoyable and above the bar you would ever expect at a brewpub.

The Belgian Blonde Ale has a nice aroma with mild Belgian blonde characteristics and a note tart with a dry finish. The finish is a bit too dry.

Smoked Nut Brown Ale

The Smoked Nut Brown Ale is a light bodied beer with a enjoyable nuttiness. The finish leaves the mouth filled with the beer’s flavors long after the initial taste. I am fan of this style and this Smoked Nut Brown Ale makes me happy. This beer would go great with a steak or other grilled foods.

The Manitou Common is very un-common. It has an initial hint of fruit. The lacing is very nice for this style. The dryness over powers this beer. It would very sessionable, but the dry finish could hold it back for some.

The IPA start with an enjoyable aroma. I had to take it outside to full take in the aroma. The hops are screaming in this beer. The hops come off a bit harsh, but it gives this beer a character.

Overall, I can see great things in the future for Manitou Brewing Company. The staff is very friendly. The food service is beyond what is expected for a brewpub. The establishment is family, which is very nice for all those young pink boots out there. The beer is very enjoyable. I looked forward to trying more offerings from Manitou Brewing Company.

Bristol features a wide variety of beers. Their flagship beer is their Laughing Lab Scottish Ale.

Today, I’m trying their ESBee firkin, which is very enjoyable. It was released just a few weeks ago at the Golden Bee pub.

Bristol’s other standard beers are Beehive Honey Wheat, Mass Transit Amber Ale, Red Rocket Pale Ale, and Compress India Pale Ale.

Bristol is located in Colorado Springs next door to Blue Star restaurant.

The brewery has a tap room as shown in the photo. They provide growlers, kegs, bottles, and fill your contain for to go beer.

We are all enjoying this cask.

The maltiness is a little bit more than the kegged version of this beer.

This is a very good beer.

Karen and I are kicking back after a long day at work for me and long of herding cats for her. (I should say cat as in Katie Beth our 1 year old baby.) We are hanging out in Colorado Springs and we are enjoying our time tonight with a couple beers from Judge Baldwin's Brewing.

The Beer Advocate rating for Judge Baldwin's Brewing is way too low. I understand why some people would give a low rating. The beers are of good quality. The prices are super, because they have a daily happy hour with $2 pints and during the week days happy hours starts up again at 9:00PM for $2 pints.

Appetizers are half price during the early happy hour.

Parking is a breeze with valet parking. The staff knows me by name and I am coming in from out of town just on business travel.

My wife is enjoyed the Raspberry Wheat while I am having the Dunkel. Our beers may have been improved by us taking them back to our top floor room with balcony and view of the city and mountains.

Read more about our brews here: http://www.alereview.com/

Technorati Tags: Colorado Springs

The Rogue Brewery representative stopped in my dad's bar this week. The representative had promotional items include stickers, t-shirts, information cards, and more. But, I had to get one of these items. I will let you figure out what it is.

It works, because I drank some Rogue beers.

Technorati Tags: Rogue Brewery