Crazy Mountain Brewery

This is post two of many of my winter break catch up. Please enjoy and have a happy new year!


After a brief stop over in Denver, it was time to head up to Beaver Creek for some of the nicest skiing I have every experienced.  I started skiing last winter when I lived in Vancouver, British Columbia and I had to take advantage of the student ski pass rate.  Sure, I spent an entire winter kinda lonely, falling down the Canadian mountainside but it was worth it as I forced myself into being a bottom of the line, functioning skier.   Beaver Creek is a gorgeous resort which lacks Whister’s diversity of terrain but more than makes up for it with the quality of the snow. After a full day of skiing blues and a handful of blacks, I decided that it was time to reward myself with some refreshing pints of local beer.

IMG_1322The closest brewery to Beaver Creek Resort is Crazy Mountain Brewing in nearby Edwards. On a side note, have you ever wanted to feel like a heroine in a 90’s teen romcom? Like Macklemore in the Thrift Shop music video or  Marcus Mariota in every room he has ever entered? Then I have a tip for you! Bring a pizza into a brewery tasting room. You will never get more looks of total and utter lust. In fact, I might just start bringing a pizza everywhere. That’s the true way to make friends and influence people. Anyway, Crazy Mountain Brewing. We decided that a tasting flight paired perfectly with a veggie pizza and exhausted ski legs.  We sampled a full flight with all ten beers which were currently offered at the taproom.

Sticky Fingers Fresh Hop / ? IBUs / 6.3%

Bridge Street Holiday Ale / ? IBUs / 6.5%

Lava Lake Wit / 15 IBUs / 5.2%

Scenic Route Kolsch / 25 IBUs / 5%

Rocky Mountain High Pumpkin Pie Ale / 20 IBUs / 6.5%

Mountain Livin’ Pale Ale / ? IBUs / 5.7%

Drink A Peach / 65 IBUs / 7%

Lawyers, Guns & Money Barleywine / 80 IBUs / 10%

Cara De Luna Black Ale / 25 IBUs / 5.5%

Snowcat Coffee Stout / 57 IBUs / 5.9%


While all of the beers were fun to sample, two stood out. The Lava Lake Wit and the Sticky Fingers Fresh Hop Ale.

I found the Wit to be cloying; I hated the way it smelled. It was over the top with “herbs and spices”. This is particularly damning from me. The first beer I ever loved at 19 (I mean 21…) was the Oregon Trail Wit, brewed out of my college town of Corvallis Oregon. Not even my nostalgia could save this beer.

On a positive note, the other stand out beer was the Fresh Hop Ale. It was everything a nicely hopped beer should be and it was a stand out of our taster flight.

Two out of five cold ones for the Wit. It was sticky sweet and smelled / tasted like my fanciest bath water. I wanted to give it a 1/5 but my option was swayed by my drinking buddy who loved it.

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Four our of five pints for the Fresh Hop Ale. This beer tasted alive. It fills your mouth with a strong hop flavor. This was one of my favorite beers of the night. It was fruity, peppery and the smell reminded me of a freshly cut lawn. If your lawn was 90% hops.

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nokegkatie Written by:

Katie is a Pacific Northwest native who writes a beer blog based out of Austin. From time to time she also writes about running, eating and other urban adventures. Follow her on Instagram @nokegtostandon or untappd as KatieX.

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