Book Some Time for These Hopped-Up Stories

By Natasha Lovato

The Colorado beer scene is bigger than ever. Between taprooms, bars, festivals and bottle shops, there is a lot to cover when it comes to Colorado craft beer. Thirst Colorado keeps you up to date, but for a deeper dive into the craft beer scene, here is a roundup of some of the most recent books about Colorado brews. Who knows, maybe one of these would serve as a great gift this holiday season?

First off, “Beer Lover’s Colorado” by John Frank was released in August as the latest guide to more than 350 breweries in Colorado, as well as a handbook for many brewpubs, taprooms, festivals and bottle shops across the state, providing recommendations for all tastes.

“I bet the book offers a new brewery to visit for even the most well-traveled beer fans,” Frank said. The book also details why local breweries such as WeldWerks, Crooked Stave and Casey Brewing and Blending have garnered national attention among beer nerds.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the best features of the book: Dustin Hall’s photography,” Frank said. Author of the “Brewtography Project,” Dustin Hall’s images document the Colorado beer scene for many Colorado craft beer writers.

Speaking of Dustin Hall, he also has his own book, “Discovering Colorado Breweries.” He brings the art of brewing to life in a large-format, 232-page coffee table book, featuring photographs from more than 70 Colorado craft breweries.

For a travel guide, check out “Colorado Excursions with History, Hikes and Hops” by Ed Sealover. This book takes a 30-day journey across Colorado, and each stop includes one historical site, one natural site and one drinking site.

“Ghost Breweries of Colorado: A history of Centennial State Brewing” by Robert W. McLeod offers a different kind of brewery tour. McLeod provides a comprehensive guide to the majority of Colorado's oldest and defunct breweries. He dives into the history of beer as a guide, allowing the reader to inspect original historical information and possibly arrive at a different insight or conclusion than he might present.

What if you want to bring beer into the kitchen? Christina Marie’s “Cooking With Beer in Colorado: 75 Collaborative Recipes from Fort Collins' Best Chefs and Brewers” includes 75 collaborative recipes from chefs and brewers in Fort Collins and around the Front Range. Experiment with the recipes and read stories from beer and food aficionados.

Finally, dig into a memoir by one of Colorado’s most successful and famous brewery owners. It took a little more than a decade for John Hickenlooper to go from Wynkoop Brewing Co. entrepreneur to Denver mayor to Colorado governor. Hickenlooper tells the story of his beer-pub originated success in his book, “The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics,” co-written with Maximillian Potter.