Minus the Bear Anniversary Tour @ Metro: Chicago, IL

Minus the Bear rocked through Chicago last week. And I mean rocked. They played their 10th anniversary tour Chicago show at Metro. I knew it was going to be good when they announced months ago that this tour would include the entire Highly Refined Pirates album. To my delight, they also played some other new and old personal favorites, including Pachuca Sunrise. 

The music was pure listening gold. Based on old ticket stubs and rough memory recall, I estimate that this was the seventh time I've seen them live since 2007. Based on my objective and subjective opinions, this was the second best performance yet, and it was only second to my first live MTB experience (which is hard to forget and/or replace). 

If you live in one of these cities, I highly recommend grabbing a ticket while you still can. If you missed out, check out this video of Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse from the Metro show, compliments of YouTube and a fellow concert-goer, who I don't know but owe a thank you for capturing the good vibes. Thank you, fellow concert-goer.

The land of plentiful and wonderful beer

Last Friday, I ventured to Colorado for the Great American Beer Festival. The event got me there, but it was the scenery and the awesome CO breweries that almost kept me there.

I had a blast at GABF and tried somewhere in the range of 70 beer samples. It is too hard to pick a single favorite beer, since flavors blended together after about 10 deep. However, at the brewery level, I'd have to say that BJ's brewpub had the most solid showing of all-around great-tasting beers. I also saw this awesome headphone dance party though, and it makes me want to find one in Chicago:

The rest of the trip was too wonderful and I could gush for hours, so I'll just focus on the breweries and the great experiences that came hand-in-hand with each one.

The Great Divide Brewing Company in Denver, CO is a hidden gem. We stumbled upon it accidentally, and luckily. They had a fantastic beer garden in the back, complete with lights and a great bluegrass band playing. For several hours, I almost thought I was in the South.

Moving on to Longmont, CO, Left Hand's Tasting Room continued to provide that Southern comfort and delicious surprises for my taste buds. I tried their limited edition Beer Week Sauce Mocha Porter, and holy smokes, was it good. The bartender, and the brewery in general were beyond fantastic.

We almost completely missed out on New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO since I hadn't realized they were closed on Sunday and Monday. Luckily, we were able to make a quick and worthy pit stop before heading to the airport on Tuesday. And I'm so glad we did. It just so happens that the morning we stopped was the very first morning ever for New Belgium to sell beer in their tasting room. Prior to that, free samples were provided - but samples only. So, Vipin, Chris, and I bought the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd pints ever sold in the NB tasting room. And on top of that, they threw in a free private tour. I was very impressed to say the least. Great brewery with great history, stories, employees, and of course, beer. Oh, and they had a rock climbing wall in their brewery. Right?

Here's to hops, and the wonderful state of Colorado.