Are there any Il Vicino micro breweries that still actually brew their own beer, specifically the once excellent Wet Mountain IPA? The IV in Salida CO sold to another owner, so that's gone. The one in Colorado Springs tore out the brewery and started serving that contract brewed crap that is sold in liquor stores. Yuck!! They also cheapened their pizza to the point I'll never be back. Any of the "real deal" places left? I'll be in Albuquerque later this summer and I'm crossing my fingers.
nb
I don't know about cheapening the pizza, but I lived in Colorado Springs for the past 3 years and watched the once-excellent Il Vicino slide beer-wise. Evidently the brewer they had when I first moved there had quite a bit of control over the recipes and he made *great* beers and wonderful seasonals. The 5C IPA and Rye IPA were delicious. One day the brewer moved on and they found another. I guess it took him a while to get up to speed because the beer was instantly murky and muddled tasting. It stayed that way until one day when I walked in and found a bunch of Bristol beers on tap! Oh no! I love Bristol but come on! 99.9% of every other bar in the springs is totally dominated by Bristol!
I talked to some people there and they weren't happy with the last brewer they had and evidently "couldn't find" another candidate so they sold their equipment and contracted their porter and wet mountain ipa out to Bristol. Oh well, it was a good run while it lasted I suppose.
_Randal
I talked to the brewer they had several years ago when I came out for a visit. He must have been the good one, even though he was pretty much a youngster (everyone is young compared to me ;). The Wet Mountain he was brewing was stellar and I purchased two 5 gal corny kegs worth and brought them back to CA to show all my friends what CO was doing in the way of micro-brews. All were impressed.
When I was there last month, I talked to the owner and he mentioned nothing about being unable to find a good brewmaster. He just said they dumped the brewery because they needed the room for more tables. I suspect this was not altogether true, either, as most of the former brewery was downstairs in the huge basement and the section they removed upstairs only gained them a half dozen tables. My impression of the owner was not favorable and I suspect the change was really done because it was cheaper just to buy the contract beer. The glass of Wet Mountain they served me was crap and I didn't drink it and refused to pay for it.
I wrote IV's main office about the situation, but have received no response. Too bad. They used to make great beer and the best pizza I've ever tasted. Oh well. I'll learn to make my own pizza and CO has plenty of other good breweries. My current fave is Breckenridge Small Batch 471. Besides, I'm bringing my 10gal all grain brewing system with me when I move out to CO next week. ;)
nb
Where in Colorado are you moving to? I know lots of good places along the Front Range, for both brewpubs/micros and homebrewshops (Drydock / Brew hut is a MUST visit in Aurora - I lived in the Springs and still found excuses to go there many times).
_Randal
The Leadville - Salida area. Amicas in Salida (the old IV location) is still a functioning micro-brewery, but I didn't have time to try it. I'll give it a try when I return.
nb
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