BRU Brewing in Boulder

There seems to be no shortage of new breweries popping up all over Colorado, we recently visited a new one in Boulder, BRU Hand Built Ales.  It is just three weeks old and it's a hit with the locals.  The place was full when we were there with 2 spaces left at the bar.

The head brewer or brewer chef is Ian Clark who spent 14 years as an executive chef in major restaurants, Centro Latin Kitchen and Jax Fish House in Boulder.  He was a home brewer who became passionate about beer that he decided to open his own brewery.

The brewhouse is one of the first thing you notice as
you enter BRU.

BRU isn't just a brewery but a restaurant with an upscaled pub food menu.  At the time we ordered a bread appetizer that was delicious, made me want to order another.  The beer was surprisingly good for a new brewery and is naturally carbonated.  I have noticed that most breweries take awhile to get the recipes correct for a larger brewing system.

As you can see, the restaurant is very spacious.

We ordered a taster set of five beers, a Quad Ale that is 10.7%ABV, a Barleywine is 9.86% ABV,  a Red IPA is 6.8% ABV,  the Obitus Brown Ale is 7.6% ABV  and the Saison is 6.9% ABV. My husband enjoyed the Quad and the Barleywine but I liked the brown and the Saison. We will definitely come back and try the rest of their lineup.

BRU Hand built Ales

5290 Arapahoe Unit 1

Boulder, CO

(720) 638-5193 

Rickolis Brewery in Wheat Ridge

Yesterday my husband Larry and I decided to go to  Brewery Rickoli, we heard so much about it from a few different sources.  I have to say we were there a the wrong time, they were hosting a charity event and it was very noisy. We were assured that Sunday's aren't normally like that.

The server at the bar were a mother and son team, Deb and Collin Zanker, the family is part owner in the brewery.  Let me restate that, nano-brewery.  Rickoli has been open for only 7 months and is all ready a local hangout. Collin showed his playfulness with clanging on a cowbell to Blue Oyster Cults, "Don't Fear the Reaper".

Collin Zanker

The head-brewer is Rick Abitbol, he brews on two half-barrel system which is 15 gallons of beer. Collin gave us a private tour of the brewhouse and it was impressive in that Rickoli is open very day, that means Rick is brewing most days to keep up with demand.

The beer is quite good. I like Elks Brown Ale that is 6.8% ABV, 40 IBU and the Rye Stout which is 7.0% ABV, 45 IBU from their static tap list but what wowed me was the special brew. Monolith is a Russian Imperial Stout that is 12% ABV, a big stout that was delicious with a rich bourbon flavor. The other special brew was Old Rickoli barleywine that was so smooth that it hid it's 11.5% ABV. 

Dispite Brewery Rickioli's lack of advertising, the brewery is filling a niche in the Wheat Ridge area with word of mouth amoung the beer lovers.

Brewery Rickoli
4335 Wadsworth Blvd.
Wheat Ridge, Co
(303) 344-8988