GABF Week: Day 1 You Must Come Here: Freshcraft

Hey everyone, sorry for the long time between posts. Consider it us preparing ourselves for the journey we currently are on. A week in Denver, Colorado, a mecca of craft beer if you will. And the trip just happens to coincide with the Great American Beer Festival, which we will be attending on Saturday.

But in the meantime there are brew pubs and breweries galore to explore. Which is exactly what we are doing.

With that in mind, we began our adventure at one of the best places we possibly could. We got up in the morning and made a beeline for LoDo.

After walking around for a bit, it was time for lunch. So of course we decided to find a brewpub. And yeah, there are a lot of them here.

But our motto is "Go Big or Go Home", so we started with one of America's best, Freshcraft.

Freshcraft sits right in the heart of the action on Blake Street, just a few blocks south of Coors Field, home of the Rockies.

And much like it's name, not only is the beer fresh, so is the food.

Atmosphere: Beer Geek heaven. It looks, feels, smells and sounds like a bar/pub when you walk in. It's not a huge place, it fills up fast. If you have to wait to get in, trust us. It's worth it.

Beer Selection: 20 Rotating Taps. And not just your run-of-the-mill standard popular craft beer selections. The taps lean Colorado, but a lot of the beers are one-offs, stuff you won't find outside the state.

And...they keep about 130 or so different bottles, some fresh, some cellar aged, some very rare beers mixed in.

For me, I had 2 drafts. My favorite: Lilikoi Kepolo from Avery Brewing. An amazing wit beer that I'm quite sure I'd never find back home.

As for Chelle--she had a Pomme Baril from Epic Brewing, a good smooth Pils.

Food: One Word: Fantastic! We started out with a Fried Pickle Appetizer that was one of the best we've ever had. The pickle chips were all house made. Some were sweet, some garlic and some dill. Great variety. Plus it had some hot peppers tucked in there. The aioli on the side was a great compliment.

For lunch, I went with the B.A.R Rueben sandwich on Marble Rye. Again, great stuff. The corned beef was not thin sliced, it was more chunky, but really good. A great mix with the kraut and dressing too. But the highlight was the cole slaw side that was vinegar based mixed with barbecue sauce.

Chelle had a burger that was pure, fresh, beefy goodness. Perfectly cooked, it tasted a lot like what a chef would do on your grill at home. Again, the highlight of her meal: the side dish--Spud puppies. Think Hush Puppies made with mashed potatoes. Wow!

Our Thoughts: If you are a beer nerd, you need to come to this place. No question about it. It should be on your to do list here. The beers are the best of the best and the food is bar food done perfectly.

We totally get why this place is on every list of great Brew Pubs in America. Come hungry and go early. We got there around 11:30 a.m and were seated fairly fast, as the clock struck noon, it filled up with thirsty Great American Beer Fest participants and fans really, really fast.

Either way, it's well worth the wait.

This song has been stuck in my head all week--enjoy it while reading our review: