Alamosa, Colorado, a bit north of Taos, New Mexico has two breweries offering local beer in a stunning setting. For those who haven’t been to Alamosa before, the beer alone is worth a trip from wherever you are, but this is a place to fill some growlers and head out for some amazing adventures in a low population area with great natural beauty.
If you drive up either US 285 or NM 68 from Taos, before long you are at the Colorado border where the land spreads out into a vast, high valley with a line of 14,000 foot peaks guarding its eastern edge. Come down US 285 from Salida or US 160 from Walsenburg. You won’t find any cities up here but you will find good beer and incredible scenery.
From the Colorado border north, you are in the 8000 square mile San Luis Valley, one of the coldest places in America in the winter but a place of strange beauty and a feeling of unbelievable freedom. Here you can drive an almost perfectly straight highway 17 for 40 miles while the scenery opens wide and fast. You can run around on the highest sand dunes in North America at Great Sand Dunes National Park with huge peaks looming over you. Or you can go the other way and fish in some of the most remote waters in the Southwest or climb Wolf Creek Pass where the best snow in Colorado piles deep at an almost unknown ski area (Wolf Creek). The Greater Sandhill Cranes summer in two National Wildlife Refuges and hot springs bubble out of an austere landscape of sage and long views.
Alamosa is the largest town in the San Luis Valley by far and it has a small public college, a public radio station and two breweries. Alamosa is not a hip up and coming town but it is a genuine experience and a place where you can feel real life happening. The Rio Grande flows through town and Alamosa was born as a hub of Colorado’s railroads; those that wound north to Denver and those that snaked into the San Juan Mountains and the old mining towns of Creede, Elk City and Silverton.
Squarepeg Brewerks
We could run around in the mountains or the sand dunes but first let’s go have a beer. Get on over to Main Street to taste some of the local beers. First Squarepeg Brewwerks is a highly unusual craft brewery where the owners grow their own grains for brewing a wide variety of beers right outside of town. At 625 Main Street ( 719-580-7472).
Colorado Brewery List has this to say about Squarepeg: “Square peg stands out because of their Farm to Glass approach. More and more consumers and brewers are paying more attention to where their ingredients are coming from, so it’s always rad to see a brewery open that is responsible for the whole supply chain.”
They make a wide variety of beers with their two barrel system. From Belgian farmhouse ales, sours, IPAs and wheat beers, they get high marks from the critics for their beers. And this is a new brewery, opened in 2017. (We’ll post a full review of Squarepeg later this spring).
San Luis Valley Brewing Company
Main Street Alamosa is a genuine old town with brick buildings dating to the turn of the last century. At 625 Main Street the San Luis Valley Brewing Company (719-587-2337) is a full blown brewpub with food and plenty of beer gushing from the taps. Opened in 2006 the SLVBC is a busy place, full of thirsty people. They bottle their beer for sale in regional liquor stores, and ship their kegs to places like Wolf Creek Ski Area and Crestone. They also collaborate with other brewers on some brews.
Beers from their taps include IPAs, pale ales, stouts, hefeweisen and seasonal specials that seem to kick in mostly during the summer. They emphasize Colorado grown grains and hops. (We’ll offer a full review in the Spring.)
Fill your growler and head to Great Sand Dunes National Park where a river flows past huge dunes. Managed by the National Park Service, this place deserves the careful protection the NPS offers. You can camp there, hike in the adjacent mountains that are part of the Park or drive on south or east when you are done.
If you go north, you can visit Crestone where many spiritual communities cluster around the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Fantastic hiking into the wilderness area managed by the US Forest Service. Unbelievable scenery and you will see very few people. Creeks pour from the steep granite mountains.
Or drive over to the Conejos River on Highway 17 to fish and camp, or ride the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad out of Antonito. Or go see the birds at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge where you can see the greater sandhill cranes, snow geese and any number of other birds and animals protected by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Or soak in the hot springs at the north end of the Valley at Joyful Journeys or Valley View Hot Springs. Valley View is clothing optional.
Have trout for dinner next to your tent, enjoy your beers at sunset. This is real Colorado, on the northern edge of what used to be Old Mexico before 1847. Here you can avoid the hype of expensive towns. This place is absolutely authentic.
Cheers!
Tom Ribe
