We’re not from here.
Denver is a desirable place to live. It has great culture, affordable housing, friendly people, an abundance of things to do, a public park every where you turn and a 30-minute ride into the Rockies. If you’re a guy that grew up in (insert boring state like Iowa here), it’s a no-brainer to end up here; in one of the greatest states in America.

We ski, hike, camp, fish, climb, bike and paddle.
We’re all outdoorsy, but we hate the word “outdoorsy”. Please don’t use that word.

We occasionally grow full beards.
No goaties, chinstraps or soul patches. I’m talking the trustworthy kind of beard.

We have 5+ flannel shirts and a Patagonia jacket.
The jacket could also be Mountain Hardwear or North Face.

We’re training for a race of some sort.
Denver is ranked ninth in Most Active Cities according to Men’s Health Magazine. It makes sense. There’s some kind of race every weekend here. Marathons, decathlons, biking, boating, obstacles, zombie chases… there are literally hundreds to choose from.

We go to ski porn movie premieres.
I used to think Warren Miller was a congressman. Now I know him as the extreme skiing film maker that sells out the Paramount theater every year with his latest movie premiere. It’s a great place to hear an abundance adjectives such as “epic”, “sick”, “gnarly” and “tight”.

We drive an SUV.
It has at least one exterior rack installed. It’s probably a Subaru or a Jeep. It has an ironic or obscure outdoorsy brand sticker or two on the bumper.

We have a dog.
It’s probably a labrador, but it could also be a Bernese, Golden Doodle, Visla or Aussie mix.

We’re beer snobs.
If it’s not a small batch microbrew made with six different kinds of hops and barrel-aged in 25-year oak, it’s probably just as good as a PBR.

We paid only slightly less for our mountain bike as you did your motorcycle.
It’s pretty fantastic though. The more you pay, the better the bike. I’ve also found, the better the bike, the more repairs it needs.

We eat healthy and organic.
This is probably our northwest neighboring city (Boulder) rubbing off a little. We’re not quite full-blown hemp milk over pine cone granola w/ goji berries, but we’re getting there.

If we don’t like bluegrass music, we will eventually.
Just give in. It’s everywhere and it’s fantastic.

We can’t see moving back.
I think it’s a much better idea for all of our friends and family scattered around the country to move here, than for us to live anywhere else.

Photo by staythirstyblog.com

The folks down at Great Divide Brewing in Denver know what they’re doing with this spectacular winter ale. I know it’s not new. They have been brewing it since 1995, but it’s new to me and I think it’s damn delicious.

I am not going to claim to be a beer or wine expert. The phrase “finishing with slight note of grapefruit” will probably never be uttered on this website unless encased in quotation marks. I do most of my beer research on beeradvocate.com. If you want in-depth expert opinions on a vast array of quality micros and have an hour or two to kill, I highly recommend visiting that website.

Back to Hibernation and why it’s exactly what I want in a winter beer:

• It’s best served between cold and room temperature.
• The hops are there, but it’s rich, malty and easy-to-drink.
• Boasts an alcohol content of 8.7% making it just powerful enough to buzz after a first glass.
• Greatly named. It makes me want to crawl into a warm cave with a case of the stuff.
• Comes in a brown bottle, but it’s way better as a draft.
• Brewed in my backyard. I could ride my bike there.

Hibernation is a winter seasonal beer and is only brewed from October through January. I generally only crave these heavy malted beers when it’s cold outside so that works for me.

Here are some quotes, accolades and food pairings for Hibernation on Great Divide’s website:

Hibernation Ale has been our celebrated winter tradition since 1995. This robust, dry-hopped ale has a malty richness balanced with a complex hop profile and hearty, warming character.  8.7%ABV

Gold Medal
Great American Beer Festival, 1997

Silver Medal
Great American Beer Festival, 2006

Silver Medal
Great American Beer Festival, 2003

Enjoy with:
Roomano, an aged hard Dutch cow’s milk cheese, grilled beef tenderloin, apple crisp with ginger ice cream.

Great Divide Brewing has been making fantastic beers here in Denver since 1994. If you haven’t been down to their tap room on 2201 Arapahoe Street, I highly recommend going. It’s small and cozy, has a friendly, knowledgeable staff with heavy pouring hands.

Photo by bathtubbrewery.com

I was testing out my SLR on some still life in Breckenridge over the weekend. This picture turned out the best of the lot. I recently learned that it’s called a Lavender Columbine and it’s Colorado’s state flower.

Photo by KNM

If you’re into reading about origins of things, I copied this excerpt for you. I found it interesting, but I’m somewhat nerdy.

Colorado’s state flower, the white and lavender columbine (Aquilegia caerulea) is commonly known as the Rocky Mountain columbine. Its journey to become the Colorado state flower began near the end of the 19th century in 1891 when Colorado school children voted the Rocky Mountain columbine their favorite flower, overwhelmingly, over the second-place cactus. Of the 22,316 votes cast, 14,472 went to the Rocky Mountain Columbine.

Nine years later, in 1899, a Colorado women’s club, in Cripple Creek, discovered that the Rocky Mountain columbine had never been officially adopted as the state flower. They went right to work.

Senate Bill 261, declaring the white and lavender columbine the state flower, was approved by the Colorado Legislature on April 4, 1899