About 40 miles west of Denver on the 70 and nestled in the folds of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of over 7000 feet, rests an old mining town by the name of Idaho Springs. The town is small but it’s proximity to the 70 provides enough traffic to support two breweries, a taproom and a variety of other cool shops and restaurants.
About 40 minutes North is another small town by the name of Nederland. Thats where the legendary guitarist Joe Walsh wrote and recorded his best song that’s been echoing in my ears ever since my initial ascent of the Rockies: “Rocky Mountain Way.”
“Spent the last year, Rocky Mountain Way, couldn’t get much higher…”
Even though Walsh wasn’t sober yet at this point in his life, I think, given the location and the views involved in where he wrote this song–it definitely transcends into the realm of the spiritual. One gets a mystical feeling when one ascends the mountain. The air is clearer, the colors brighter, there is a certain grandeur and intensity in being here.
On this day, Saturday June 7th, my parter and I turned off the road and decided to check out a brewery called “Westbound and Down.” https://www.westboundanddown.com/idaho-springs
We had both never been here before. After about 7 hours on the road driving from Wichita, we needed a little refreshment. I ordered the “Westbound IPA (Hazy, 7%) and Alice ordered a Blood Orange Margarita, although not a fan of craft beer, Alice does love a good blood orange beverage. I’m the same way–whenever “Blood Orange” is used in a craft beer title, I usually order it first.
Then we ordered the Chicken Tinga Nachos: Wow–it’s not often that the food steals the show at a decent brewpub but it happened this time!
Everything was portioned to perfection and even though the drinks were good, these Nachos were better.
I followed up my Hazy IPA with an 8.7% double IPA called “Faster Horses.” If I had the time and lack of driving responsibilities I would have tried every beer on tap but we were not at our final destination.
The road beckons…and we have an hour and 3000 more feet to ascend before we sleep. If you ever make it out this way, a good Rocky Mountain high pairing turns out to be “Westbound and Down.” in the town of Idaho Springs. And even though we can get much higher, this is a beautiful pause along the way.
