Denver is an amazing city full of fantastic breweries, delicious eats, amazing hotels, and unique things to do!

Denver Tips:

Be aware of the altitude! It's real! Stay hydrated and take things slow to avoid feeling sick, especially when you first arrive
If you are leaving the city back-ups on I-70 can be insane—so be sure to allow for extra time. My recommendations for Rocky Mountain National Park, Aspen, Glenwood Springs, Frisco, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Greeley can be found at the link below:

CHECK OUT MY COLORADO GUIDE HERE

Denver Top Recommendations:

Cohesion Brewing Company: A great brewery focused on Lagers. They have a cozy taproom in an industrial area north of RiNo. They have 5 taps and some guest beers, usually one of which is from Primitive and worth trying!
Cerebral Brewing: This is a great brewery with 3 locations around Denver: Congress Park, Aurora Arts, and West Highland. Their Stouts and IPAs are what they do best in my opinion.
Finn’s Manor: A great beer and cocktail bar in the heart of RiNo. They have a great tap list, chill vibes, and a killer patio space.
New Image Brewing: New Image has two taprooms in the Denver suburbs: Arvada and Wheat Ridge. This is a top-notch brewery that I highly recommend. At Wheat Ridge their onsite food truck Social Dough Pizza is ridiculously good as well!
The River North (RiNo) neighborhood is full of art and breweries, what more do you need?
- Bierstadt Lagerhaus: This is the Mecca of Lager beers. Get a Slow Pour Pils and Giant Ass Pretzel and don’t look back
- Our Mutual Friend Brewing: Lots of fantastic IPAs in particular. They also have rotating food trucks and an outside patio
- Ratio Beerworks: Fantastic outdoor space with cornhole and a patio. They have a wide variety of beers and it’s an overall fun & funky spot
- Odell Brewing: Another solid option in the RiNo neighborhood with a variety of beers
- Central Market is a great food hall in the heart of the RiNo neighborhood
Stay at The Maven Hotel: This incredible hotel is located at the Dairy Block in downtown Denver right across from Coors Field. The rooms and balcony views are fantastic, and the unique setup of this area takes things to the next level! There are a ton of shops, restaurants and bars all housed within this block. My favorites:
- Westbound & Down: A great brewery right behind the hotel
- Kachina Restaurant: Delicious Mexican eats in the hotel lobby
- Seven Grand: A cool whiskey bar that partners with the hotel for a very informative tasting
- Huckleberry Roasters: A cute coffee shop in the lobby—they also have a couple other locations around town as well.
- The Dairy Block Food Hall has a ton of options right in the lobby as well!
Milieu Fermentation: A great brewery with a large tap list in Aurora. Definitely recommend!
Rosenberg Bagels: Incredible spot for bagels, highly recommend!
Voodoo Donuts: Creative and crazy donuts that are incredibly delicious!
Knotted Root Brewing Company: A solid brewery with locations in Nederland and Denver. Their beers used to be extremely good and have become a little more average with time and expansion, but it is still worth checking out. Pro-tip if you are heading to the Brainard Lake Recreation Area for a hike or to hang at the lake the Nederland taproom is right down the road.
Check out Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater: The amphitheater is touristy but worth checking out! They do concerts, yoga, and numerous activities in this space. Catching a concert here is amazing!
- I would definitely recommend hiking in the park if you’re not visiting for a concert. I did a 4.3 mile trail that had diverse landscape and wasn’t too challenging.
- Fairfield Inn Lakewood is a perfectly average hotel stay near Red Rocks
Novel Strand Brewing Company: A solid brewery and coffee shop in South Denver. Great neighborhood-y vibes.
Denver Biscuit Company: A phenomenal, albeit touristy, spot for breakfast! The biscuits are massive, flaky, soft, and amazing.
Monolith Brewing: A solid brewery in a beautiful space with games, snacks, and a brewery dog!
Middle State Coffee: This coffee shop has several locations in the Denver area and is great! The Highlands neighborhood spot is cute.
Wanderment Brewing: A solid brewery with a good variety of styles. Their focus is on Saisons which I found to be tasty, but did not love their IPA.
Explore the Littleton neighborhood: This is a cute little downtown area perfect for bopping around. My two favorite spots:
- Jake’s Brew Bar: An awesome beer bar and beer garden with a stellar beer list. Highly recommend!
- Cencalli Taqueria: A tasty spot for Mexican eats.

Great Hikes Near Denver:

Mount Flora Trail: This trail is 6.3 miles long with 1,788ft of elevation gain and takes about 3.5 hours to complete. There are nice views throughout the trail, and you can also add on different segments to make the trail longer if you’d like. It is a 13er with a very exposed trail so expect quite a bit of wind at times. Mount Flora is in the Arapaho National Forest and just one hour from Denver so it is a popular trail.
Lake Isabelle via Pawnee Pass Trail: This trail is 6.6 miles long with 672ft of elevation gain and takes a little over two hours to complete. It is pretty with three lakes: Brainard, Long, and Isabelle with mountain views throughout. The trail is mostly flat aside from one section at the end. You will need to reserve parking ahead of time for the Brainard Lake Recreation Area.
Herman Gulch Trail: This trail is 6.5 miles long with 1,755ft of elevation gain and takes about 3.5 hours to complete. It leads out to a chill lake and is a nice trail overall. It is in the Arapaho National Forest just an hour from Denver and right off I-70 so it is very popular.

See the rest of my Colorado recommendations here—there are great hikes all over the state!

Other Denver Ideas:

Crooked Stave: Their Denver taproom is small but they still have a variety of beers to choose from and a huge bottle selection.
Check out the famous giant blue bear at the Convention Center!
Bardo Coffeehouse: A great coffee spot option with three locations across the area.
Hyatt Regency Aurora Denver Conference Center: This is quite a nice stay close to several breweries in Aurora and not far from the airport.
Spangalang Brewery: A microbrewery in the Five Points neighborhood with yummy beers and a patio.
Wynkoop Brewing: More of a brewpub, Wynkoop is a hot spot for lunch during the work week, being located right downtown.
Check out a bottle shop! Argonaut Wine & Liquor is a great option.
Illegal Pete’s: A great spot for burritos, nachos, and tacos!
Reverence Brewing: An average brewery with quintessential “neighborhood brewery” vibes.
Skip: The Hampton Inn Downtown. The rooms were incredibly hot, the elevators broken, and overall it was not impressive.
Skip: Great Divide Brewing: Mediocre brewery with rude staff would not recommend.

Lunchbox Series Blackberry PB&J from Funguys Brewing in Raleigh, NC

Funguys releases different variants of their Lunchbox Series of Smoothie Style Sour Ales, each that are Peanut Butter and Jelly inspired. This one is brewed with peanut butter, blackberry, and lactose, and truly tastes like you’re biting into an elementary school lunch sandwich. All of their Sours are incredibly delicious so you really can’t go wrong, but this one really exceeded expectations.

Deferred Stimulus from Cerebral Brewing in Denver, CO

Deferred Stimulus is a Double IPA with Galaxy and Cashmere hops coming in at 8.4% ABV. Cerebral makes some of the best Juicy IPAs in the game and this one is no exception! The color is warm and inviting, the smell is fresh and hop-filled, and the flavors are powerful and smooth. I absolutely love getting my hands on Cerebral’s brews and can’t wait to visit them again in the future!

Summer Jam: FrosE Collaboration from Barrel Culture Brewing and Blending in Durham, NC and Kings Brewing in Rancho Cucamonga, CA

This collab is a tiki-drink inspired Fruited Sour Ale with pineapple, mango, coconut, and key lime. At 7% ABV, this is a powerful Sour from two fantastic breweries. It is thiccc, packed with flavor, and super easy to drink. I had this one on tap during our visit to Raleigh and it was so good I also scooped a 4-pack to go!

Abstract Harvest from Heist Brewing and Barrel Arts in Charlotte, NC

Abstract Harvest is a Fruited Berliner Weisse with passionfruit, pink guava, pineapple, and lactose. It is extremely refreshing but super packed full of flavor. At 7.8% ABV it is definitely a boozy brew, but the fruits hide the alcohol and it is super easy-drinking. Pair this with a pizza from Livy’s and you won’t be disappointed!

Self-Reliance: Motueka from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

This batch of Hill Farmstead’s Farmhouse IPA, Self-Reliance, has hand-selected Motueka hops from Freestyle Farms, their agricultural partner in Upper Moutere, New Zealand. It was conditioned in oak puncheons for 3 months and then bottled since March 13, 2019. This was truly phenomenal and will probably be one of my favorite beers of the year.

Intern Backpack collaboration from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY, Shared Brewing in Maplewood, MO, and Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Intern Backpack is an Imperial IPA with hand selected Centennial and Nelson Sauvin hops plus Vic Secret and Galaxy hops. This is a true juice bomb coming from three of the best breweries in the country—Other Half, Monkish, and Shared. Shared is by Side Project Brewing and where they create their non-Barrel Aged beers. I look forward to getting to try more of their fantastic creations!

Soft Parade from Short’s Brewing in Bellaire, MI

Soft Parade was my original favorite craft beer! I grew up in Michigan so Short’s and Soft Parade were everywhere, but now as a North Carolinian I rarely get to revisit this delicious classic. Soft Parade is their flagship Fruit Ale brewed with pureed strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. It is fruity and refreshing but still 7.5% ABV!

Extra Extra Juicy Bits from WeldWerks Brewing in Greeley, CO

Juicy Bits is already a phenomenal beer and one of the best IPAs in the country. Extra Extra Juicy Bits is the Double Dry Hopped Double IPA version of this classic beer with Citra, Mosaic, and El Dorado hops. This is an incredible beer and one of the top IPAs I’ve personally had. Don’t want to take my word for it? This brew won a gold medal at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival in the Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale category.

Denver, Colorado