Read about our visit to Montrose here!
COLORADO BOY PIZZERIA AND BREWERY
Colorado Boy Brewery has a legitimate brewing credentials and a long history with craft beers. This said, the Montrose location (their original location is in Ridgway) struck us as a pizza bistro first and a brewery second, aptly captured in the name Colorado Boy Pizzeria and Brewery.
We sat at the pizza bar (their small regular bar was full) and sipped on a taster while watching the cooks make the pizza. We wound up ordering Indian for carry-out, but were tempted as their pizza looked good.
The beers were decent, but I couldn’t get over the fact that they had run out of their IPA the night before. And the atmosphere just wasn’t for us.
Colorado Boy only brews for their two brewpubs and does no other distribution.
HORSEFLY BREWING COMPANY
Horsefly Brewing Company is a 7 year old Brewpub located in downtown Montrose. The brewery itself is more of a lively restaurant, with a tiki bar feel inside and a beer garden feel outside. We were there on a weekend night and there was a band playing outside and a fairly enthusiastic crowd braving the cold (for us) to listen.
Inside it was more of a family atmosphere, at least outside of the small wrap-around bar. With not many seats available, we were left with an unfortunate table by the waiters’ station.
While the atmosphere had lots of promise, we weren’t terribly fond of the beer – or the food for that matter. The waitress didn’t know much about the beer – and neglected to correct me when I thought the “Pale Ale” was just a pale and and not an IPA (I didn’t read the fine print).
Anyway, not a great experience for us, but we would try it again, provided we could get a seat at the bar.
TWO RASCALS BREWING COMPANY
Having a beer at Two Rascals is a bit like having a beer in your grandparent’s den, if your grandparent’s den were also a really cool early 1900’s citrus warehouse, allegedly with a tunnel underground that connected it to the former bordello across the street. The building is fantastic, perfect for a brewery. The atmosphere, unfortunately, was not so great. They advertise specifically as family-friendly. When we visited, there were two families at tables, with young children playing a loud game of giant Jenga on the floor. There were just two other people at the bar. There was no music playing, the only sound (aside from the children) being the softly played broadcast of motocross from the big screen on the other side of the brewery.
Two Rascals is run by a father-son team and the lady (presumably the mother) who waited on us was a delight. It’s just that the place made the two of us want to fall asleep in our beers. Speaking of beers, they were ok; not great. Perhaps it was just tough for us to get past the scene.
Anyway, this place wasn’t for us. Great room and really nice people; just not our scene.
Two Rascals does not have any distribution outside of the brewery.
