OCTOBER 2004
DILLON DAM BREWERY EXTRA PALE ALE WINS AT THE GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL
Denver, COLO -- The Dillon Dam Brewery won a Great American Beer Festival Bronze Medal for its Extra Pale Ale. The American-Style Pale Ale category was one of the most competitive with 74 entries. Brewmaster Matt Luhr, Assistant Brewer Cory Forster and Sales Rep. Marc Weinberger were elated with the win. The Extra Pale Ale is on tap everyday and is available in six-packs.
All in all 2004 was a great medal year for Dam Beers:
NORTH AMERICAN BEER AWARDS
- GOLD -- McLuhr's Irish Stout (Dry Stouts)
- SILVER -- Dam Chili Beer. (Flavored Beers)
- BRONZE -- Yo Han Bock (Traditional Bock category)
AMERICAN BEER AWARDS 2004
- BRONZE -- Yo Han Bock (Traditional Bock)
- GOLD -- McLuhr’s Irish Stout (Dry Stout)
- SILVER -- Dam Chili Beer (Fruit Beer)
COLORADO STATE FAIR 2004
- GOLD -- Dam Lyte (American Light Lager)
- BRONZE -- Extra Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
- SILVER -- Dam Straight Lager (German Style Lager)
- GOLD -- Sweet George’s Brown (Brown Ale)
- SILVER -- Yo Han Bock (Bock)
CRAFT LAGER FEST 2004
- SECOND PLACE -- Dam Straight Lager (Oktoberfest/Vienna)
- THIRD PLACE -- Otto’s Oktoberfest (Oktoberfest/Vienna)
August 27, 2004
2004 BEST OF THE SUMMIT (SUMMIT DAILY NEWS): BEST BREW PUB
1.Dillon Dam Brewery: Pales, wheats and darks are a-plenty at The Dam Brewery, and there's a seasonal specialty on tap too. Great pub food to go along with it, the big and bright Brewery is always pumping.
Runners Up
2. Breckenridge Brewery
3. Pug Ryan's
May 2004
THE DAM BREWERY WAS PLEASED TO BE INCLUDED IN THE FOLLOWING ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS ARTICLE BY DINING CRITIC JOHN LEHNDORFF
An appetite for fresh air
Colorado's best dining is al fresco at altitude
By John Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News
May 15, 2004
For several decades, chefs, food critics and travel writers have earnestly tried to define an identifiable, indigenous cuisine for Colorado.
They've called it "haute mountain cookery" and mentioned distinctive ingredients like buffalo, game and trout, factored in historic Southwestern influences and high-altitude cooking techniques such as grilling and smoking.
For the most part, this effort has been unsuccessful.
A slew of great restaurants have opened in recent years across the state running the culinary gamut from regional Mexican to Thai and steakhouses to brewpubs and Latino-Asian bistros. All dish wonderful fare, but all they have in common is that they are located in Colorado. It is thrilling that eateries now proudly feature Colorado-grown crops and Colorado-made foods, brews and wines.
To this dining critic, the factors that distinguish dining in Colorado from, say dining in Duluth, Minn., or Cleveland, is attitude and altitude. From Denver to Grand Junction and Winter Park to Telluride, Coloradans simply love to eat outdoors. With 300 days of sunshine every year, bright blue skies, gorgeous scenery, and an alarming lack of humidity and precipitation, dinner is an ongoing picnic.
From March or April through October and sometimes in the middle of January, you'll spy us nibbling and quaffing on every available patio, roof, porch, deck and garden.
It's not your imagination if you think that everything from foie gras to pizza tastes better eaten al fresco in Colorado. Our stellar microbrews satisfy just that much more fully under that majestic dome of stars. It's one reason why we live here and visitors come back year after year.
The following guide lists our nominations for the top outdoor dining destinations in Colorado. These are restaurants from upscale bistros to humble cafés where you can happily munch while taking in the purple mountain majesties and working on your tan.
If you need more information about culinary excitement in the mountains, visit the News' Dining Guide 2004 at www.rockymountainnews.com.
Other dining resources include: Colorado's Finest Small-Town Restaurants (Fulcrum) by David Gruber; The Gabby Gourmet Restaurant Guide 2004 (TDF) by Pat Miller; Colorado: A Liquid History and Tavern Guide to the Highest State (Fulcrum) by Thomas Noel; Culinary Colorado: The Ultimate Food Lover's Guide (Fulcrum) and the Food Lovers' Guide to Colorado (Globe Pequot) by Eliza Cross Castaneda.
Colorado's Top 10 al fresco dining experiences
• Chautauqua Dining Hall, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder; 303-440-3776
You haven't really visited Colorado until you've sipped lemonade and eaten a wedge of freshly baked berry pie on the whitewashed porch of this historic restaurant. Open more than 100 years as everything from a summer camp cafeteria to the present year-round restaurant, Chautauqua is located in a pretty foothills park. Luckily, the Colorado cuisine cooked up in Boulder-born chef Bradford Heap's kitchen is as pretty as the scenery.
• Dillon Dam Brewery, 100 Little Dam Street, Dillon; 970-262-7777
You'll be convinced of Colorado's place at the center of the craft-brewing universe after you sit on the sunny porch or in the beer garden and savor a sampler of this brewpub's fine ales. There's nothing like a Dam Straight Lager and a burger at altitude. Kids will love the housemade Quinn's Mighty Root Beer.
• Flagstaff House, 1138 Flagstaff Road, Boulder; 303-442-4640
When you absolutely, positively need to guarantee an unforgettable special outdoor meal, this place serves the best food you can eat on a patio in the state. It's expensive, and it's worth it for the commanding mountainside view, consummate service, a 20,000-bottle wine list and chef Mark Monette's superb upscale fare.
• Four Corners, U.S. 160, Navajo Nation
Navajo women hand-stretch dough balls and fry them quickly in hot oil to make Navajo tacos at the spot in the desert where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah meet at a single point. The hot puffy bread can be topped with mild pinto beans, lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese and salsa or become dessert when crowned with cinnamon, powdered sugar, jam or honey. Visitors sit at shaded picnic tables and take in a sky as deeply blue as the jewelry the Navajo craftspeople sell nearby.
• Grand Lake Lodge Restaurant, U.S. 34 north of Grand Lake; 970-627-3967
For another quintessential Colorado dining moment, start your day with breakfast on the porch of this rustic, historic eatery with views of Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain that are simply awe-inspiring. The all-American lunch and dinner items are equally satisfying, especially if you are lodging nearby.
• Highlands Garden Café, 3927 W. 32nd Ave., Denver; 303-458-5920
The gorgeous tree-shaded, bloom-filled patio at Highlands Garden Café wins any vote as the prettiest place to dine al fresco in Denver. Chef, co-owner and chief gardener Pat Perry devises a daily menu of up to 15 entrees based on the freshest ingredients available. Reservations are a must.
• La Piazza Del Villaggio Ristorante, 117 Lost Creek Lane, Mountain Village, Telluride; 970-728-8263
Ride the free gondola to Telluride's Mountain Village to sample housemade tortelloni filled with crab meat and asparagus draped in light grappa pink sauce while sitting on the patio with perhaps the most magnificent mountain views in the state.
• Shiprock Grille, Visitor's Center at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison; 303-697- 4939, ext. 111
There's nothing like experiencing a concert under the stars at Red Rocks surrounded by those majestic brick-hued monoliths. Now you can dine there year-round, too. The handsome Ship Rock Grille is tucked away in the new visitor center and music hall of fame under the top of the legendary amphitheatre. Enjoy a ribeye sandwich with green chile on the sunny patio that offers a peaceful western view toward the foothills.
• Sweet Basil, 193 E. Gore Creek Drive, Vail; 970-476-0125
Chef Bruc Yim's Pacific Rim-meets- the-mountains approach yields memorable sensual fare best sampled on the patio overlooking Gore Creek. Recover from a day of hiking with rippling waters, a flute of champagne and a portion of exquisite hot sticky toffee-pudding cake.
• Winona's Café, 617 Lincoln Ave., Steamboat Springs; 970-879-2483
Steamboat Springs is the quintessential Colorado mountain resort town. and Winona's is the place to begin a summer's day there. Sit outside the earthy bakery and restaurant and munch a huge, freshly baked, yeasty cinnamon roll with thick, sweet, cream cheese frosting. After that, you'll be fully fueled for a mountain bike trek.
lehndorffj@rockymountainnews.com or 303-892-5103
JUNE 12, 2004
DILLON DAM BREWERY HOSTS FANTASY BREW DAY
DILLON, COLO. -- Nine lucky homebrewers will brew beer with the Dillon Dam Brewery Brewmaster on June 12, 2004.
It's just like you won the lottery and now you have your own micro-brewery. Here's your chance to enjoy a day with award-winning Brewmaster, Matt Luhr and experience how the craft brewer, brews. Spaces are still available, so call today to secure your slot.
Cost of the Fantasy Brew Day is $75 per person and includes a day of brewing, beer, lunch, dinner and all taxes and gratuities. The day kicks off at 9:15 a.m. with brewing continuing to approximately 5 p.m.
Based on the amount of beer we produce, the Dillon Dam Brewery is ranked 31st out of 986 Brew Pubs nationwide. We produce approximately 1,900 barrels of beer per year.
A Night of Beer Talk and Beer Sampling with Dinner
If you would just like to join the Fantasy Brew Group for dinner and sampling homebrews, the cost is only $29 with tax and gratuity included. If you are a homebrewer, we would love to have you join us for dinner and we encourage you to bring your brews for tasting.
A special $45 per night lodging rate is available at the Dillon Inn, which is next door to the Brewery. Please call the Dillon Inn at 970-262-0801 or toll free 1-800-262-0803.
Call George Blincoe or Holli Everson today to join us for Fantasy Brew Day! 970-262-7777 or 1-866-326-6196.
MARCH 10, 2004
DILLON DAM BREWERY OFFERS FREE WI-FI HOTSPOT FOR CUSTOMERS
DILLON, CO. -- Three people were gazing at a laptop checking the weather on-line and live video from CDOT on the I-70 corridor conditions, while enjoying lunch at the Dillon Dam Brewery this week.
Since March 1, the Dam Brewery has offered free 640K Wi-Fi connections for customers with laptops and PDA's with wireless internet connection cards.
This is the first Free Hotspot in Summit County, Colorado and it is available anytime the restaurant is open: 11:30 a.m. until after midnight (11 a.m. on the weekends). The Dam Brewery Hotspot uses a B card connection - the most common connection type.
" We wanted to offer something useful and attractive to our customers. Many of our regulars and visitors work or travel with their laptops, and we thought our location just off I-70 would be an ideal place for a Wi-Fi Hotspot," said George Blincoe, Dam Brewery General Manager.
"We are also open later at night than the other Hotspots here in the neighborhood, and we thought Wi-Fi users might want to stop by for a Dam Beer and some internet surfing with friends," Blincoe added. "In just the few days we have offered the Hotspot, our customers have really enjoyed using it."
The Dillon Dam Brewery is located at 100 Little Dam Street, just off U.S. Highway 6, next to Christy Sports. For more information call the Dam Brewery at 970-262-7777
MAY 24, 2004
DILLON DAM BREWERY OFFERS FREE BREWERY TOURS DAILY
DILLON, CO. -- The Dillon Dam Brewery now offers free brewery tours daily. A self-guided tour can be taken at anytime the Dam Brewery is open, or live tours can be scheduled a day in advance. Groups can even book special brewmaster tours which include appetizers and tastings.
An attraction sign located on Interstate 70 at Exit 205 advertises the tours as a roadside stop. The self-guided tour begins on the bridge overlooking the brewery. Guests follow museum-quality signs through the brewing stages. All key equipment is professionally labeled.
Guests who enjoy the tour can purchase $1 tasters or choose their favorite pint of Dam Beer at a special price.
Brewmaster Matt Luhr, Assistant Brewer Cory Forster and Brewery Sales Manager Marc Weinberger are excited about sharing their brewing knowledge.
"These signs and equipment labels animate and bring the equipment to life even if no one is brewing," said Luhr. "It's informal, fun and it enhances the experience at the Brewery. You can just drop in and check out the tour without a lot of fuss. We explain the brewing and fermenting processes, show the types of barley, malt and hops we use, explain our recipe formulation and show the bottling and lab work."
"We hope the tour will help to entertain guests visiting the brewery and those waiting to be seated during our busy seasons," said Weinberger. "And of course tour-goers are always encouraged to take a six-pack home with them or any of our other souvenirs."
To book a live tour, a group tour or for more information call the Dam Brewery at 970-262-7777. Live tours can be booked until 3 p.m. the day prior to the tour.