The recent springtime weather motivated me to take a short brewery ride and warm up for summer riding and patios. This 5.5 mile loop goes from Seedstock Brewing Company to Prost Brewing to Strange Craft and finally back to Seedstock but you could start at any of them and make the loop, and realistically a different sequence would let you put the uphill to Seedstock somewhere other than the end. All of the breweries are easily accessed from the Platte River Trail and there are also a number of light rail stops in the area for those who prefer not to drive.
Seedstock, on Colfax at Lowell, features a German- and Czech-heavy taplist. Expect to see Pilsners, Dunkels, and Bohemian beers along with a sprinkling of other beer styles for variety (including an IPA). Despite the randomness of the surrounding neighborhood the brewery feels very chill and has a good-sized patio that is nicely sheltered from Colfax. Aside from the beers, I didn’t find anything exceptional about Seedstock – just a good, solid place to kick back with a brew.
Leaving Seedstock, head south on Lowell for a couple blocks til it dead-ends at 13th, turn left and then go straight ahead for another couple of blocks into the park where you can pick up the Lakewood Gulch Trail. Five minutes on that and you’ll come to the Platte River where a left turn has you heading for REI. That’s where things get a little tricky due to the trail closure at REI. Cut through the REI parking lot to 15th & Platte (where you can stop at My Brother’s Bar for some solid refreshment if desired). You then have two choices – 1) Take 15th over I25 and go right on Central (more traffic and street riding but easier to find) or 2) Take Platte half a block to the Highland Bridge on your left and go up & over I25 and then right on Central. Either way, right after the street curves left you’ll find Prost.
Happy biking and drinking!