DILLON / FRISCO, COLORADO

Across the street from Dillon’s Best Western lies freestanding white-bricked green-trimmed PUG RYAN’S STEAKHOUSE & BREWERY, visited August ‘07. Named after a local outlaw, Pug Ryan had small front bar (surrounded by TV’s), rear dining-brew tanks, overhung patio, and wood-paneled back. Winter sports paraphernalia and tin liquor canisters lined walls. Nearby Dillon Marina’s tiki bar featured a few Pug brews quaffed after wife and I enjoyed stormy afternoon pontoon boat roundabout.

Corn-syrupy citrus-juiced orange-oiled moderate-bodied Cream Ale, blurry lemon-wedged lime-fizzed floral-hopped moderation Morningwood Wheat, and lemon-dried woody-hopped oats-barren bohemian-styled Pug Ryan’s Pali Pilsner suited lightweights. Pallid fig-date-ensconced fruit-caked coffee-oiled Kilt Lifter Scottish Ale and nitro-injected chocolate-creamy coffee-perked Irish Stout were fine reps. Over The Rail Pale Ale hit the mark firmly with its overt perfume-hopped spicing, tangy apple-pear-grapefruit fruiting, and implicit alcohol bang.

www.pugryans.com

DILLON / FRISCO, COLORADO

Beautiful Alpine area of Rocky Mountains is too gorgeous and pristine for mere words. My wife and I took a 3-hour pontoon boat cruise around Dillon Reservoir between visiting three fine area brewpubs, August ’07.

Dillon’s DAM BREWERY, a freestanding building with grain silo at the Route 6 mall, had definite sports bar atmosphere. Tan-wood-paneled green-sided Dam featured U-shaped central bar (with opposing flat screen TV’s), left brew tanks, rear umbrella-covered deck, loft level billiards-seating, and separate back dining area.

Build-your-own burger, appetizers, salmon, and rib-eye went well with lemony corn-sugared wheat-husked oats-honeyed dry-hopped Dam Lyte, light popcorn-like rye-breaded lemon-fizzed Paradise Pilsner, floral-fizzed honey-glazed vanilla-sweetened grapefruit-tangy Vienna-styled Dam Straight Lager, and exemplary lemon-candied floral-teased eucalyptus-cooled grain-dried Wildernest Wheat.

While alcohol-burned woody-hopped currant-embittered apple-orange-spiced Extra Pale Ale and mild caramel-molasses-like, hazelnut-macadamia-pecan-backed Sweet George’s Brown were just alright, banana-honeyed citric-spiced Hefe-Weizen and creamy black chocolate-y hazel-nutty Mc Luhr’s Irish Stout truly captivated. Bitterer than most Colorado competition, perfumed floral hop-embittered India Pale Ale placed grapefruit rind and wood chipped hop dryness alongside tenacious red-yellow fruiting.

www.dambrewery.com