Last summer, I visited Napa County in California. Rather than waste my time re-enacting the movie “Sideways” with my brother, I chose to sample the region’s various breweries. My brother would later remark, “you’re the only guy I know who can visit vine country and drink nothing but beer.”  

I found myself in a similar counter-intuitive spirit when I recently visited Colorado’s wine country on the Western Slope. The Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains sports a thriving wine-making industry. The wines produced here are thought to be quite good by some connoisseurs, but I wouldn’t know. I only know Colorado as the Napa Valley of beer. But when most people think of Colorado beers, they unassumingly associate them with the big craft breweries of the Front Range—New Belgium, Odells, Breckenridge and Flying Dog to name a few.  

Don’t limit yourself! The Western Slope sports some seriously good brews. The next time you’re passing through the mesas and valleys, don’t be afraid stop off and wet your dusty palate. 

In the quaint and walkable downtown Grand Junction, you’ll find the Rockslide Brewery . I walked in on a Friday night and easily found a seat at the bar. I looked over the beer menu and settled on a Cold Shivers Pale Ale. And it definitely gave me the shivers—this is the strongest pale ale I’ve ever tasted. While I’m sure there were notes of distinct flavors, all I got from this beer was a glacier load of hops. I’ve heard that pale ale style beers are easy to brew and this is why most brewpubs and craft breweries have one on the menu. But the Cold Shivers was so hoppy, it’s either a rookie mistake or a deliberate attempt. Either way, I loved it. I loved it so much, I sent a text message—to a man. 

After draining my Cold Shivers, I decided it was time to warm up a little so I tried a Rabbit Ears Amber Ale. This American amber ale had a journeyman-like quality to it with very light notes of caramel. It certainly won’t make any top-10 lists and wine snobs would degrade it with a “quaffable” rating, but it went well with my prime rib and fries.  

Lastly, I gave Rockslide’s Kokopelli Cream Ale a shot. I hate cream ales. But for some odd reason, I managed to drink an entire pint of this stuff. It was a very smooth pint, and managed to get me to reconsider my aversion to cream ales. Also, try saying “Kokopelli” to your shuttle driver when he comes to pick up your drunk ass. It ain’t easy.  

After finishing my pints, I made a brisk walk of downtown Grand Junction. It was nice, but inevitably I found myself in a bar ordering a pint of Farmer’s Friend Irish Style Ale. The brew comes from the Palisade Brewing Company just east of Grand Junction in Palisade.  

Farmer’s Friend is a wonderful pint for malt men. Off my first slug of this beer, I was reminded that beers can be sweet and smooth. It had a consistency more like a Stout than an ale, but its light sweetness was a wonderful surprise. My stomach never fell over burdened by this dark ale, so it turned out to be a very nice dessert pint. I wouldn’t think twice about having another Farmer’s Friend as an after-dinner aperitif.  

The Kannah Creek Brewing Company reminds me of some of the California brewpubs I’ve seen at the Great American Beer Festival. Some of the Left Coast brewpubs are pizza parlors that brew their own beer. Kannah Creek offered up some classic pies, but I managed to avoid them in favor of the beer.  

My first choice off the menu was the Pigasus Porter, which lasted less than five minutes. Five minutes only because it was so good. Porters are the greatest winter-time brew to me because they’re dark and robust in character but don’t weight you down like liquid lead. This porter was very tasty with a slight hint of coffee.  

Kannah Creek’s Broken Oar IPA stood in stark contrast to the pale ale of the other evening. This IPA was incredibly mild. In fact, it’s the mildest IPA I’ve ever tasted. Not harsh by any stretch of the imagination, Broken Oar had a robust hop flavor counterbalanced with the kind of maltiness you’d expect from a porter. Its drinkability factor was immense, but don’t ever order one of these if you’re looking for hop bitterness.  

Lastly, the Monument Irish Red was a fine brew indeed. Not a stand-out beer in terms of flavor, but Kannah Creek gets points here for brewing styles outside of the standard pale ales, wheats and brown ales found on most brewpub menus across the land.  

My experience at Kannah Creek turned to be the highlight of my trip—good food and excellent beer. I had the feeling that I had found a hidden gem out there in Grand Junction. So, the next time you find yourself in Colorado’s wine country, forget the grape juice and have a beer. 

  

Photos Courtesy of Rockslide Brewing Company and Kannah Creek Brewing Company