Read about our visit to the Buena Vista area here!

EDDYLINE BREWERY (Buena Vista)

Founded in 2009, Eddyline is an ambitious little brewery with a headquarters in the whitewater haven of Buena Vista, Colorado; an apt description if you think a rural Colorado brewery opening a location in New Zealand is ambitious. Prior to opening a location this past month in Nelson, New Zealand, Eddyline had two locations in cute little Buena Vista, one a brewery that doubles as a cool little pizzeria and the other a bistro in a soulless new mixed retail/residential neighborhood that seems pretty out of place in Buena Vista (the neighborhood, not necessarily the bistro). As you might imagine, we much preferred the pizzeria with its all-wood decor and huge back patio.

The beers at Eddyline were solid. We tried a number of them and liked them all, in particular the Crank Yanker IPA and the seasonal grapefruit IPA they had tapped at the time of our visit. Eddyline sells its beers in the tall cans and seems to have pretty good distribution.

ELEVATION BEER COMPANY (Poncha Springs)

Now this is a brewery. We stopped here on the drive from Montrose to Buena Vista at lunchtime. Because their food truck purveyor was on vacation, we brought food in with us from a competing food truck in town that they had recommended. Despite it being lunchtime on a weekday, there was a handful of people in the brewery and it was a pretty lively scene. Some of the brewers assistants even came in from the back for a lunchtime beer and offered us some good advice on Buena Vista and nearby Salida.

The atmosphere suited us to a T – industrial feel, but nice and intimate, with a cool patio as well. The staff were clearly beer enthusiasts. And the beer itself was fantastic, with high quality pours while we were there ranging from a delicious Kolsch to several really strong IPAs to an interesting Chardonnay aged farmhouse ale (Lauren also liked the raspberry Saison).

Elevation bottles a number of their beers and we left with two four-packs of their awesome double IPA.

MOONLIGHT PIZZA AND BREWPUB (Salida)

Moonlight Pizza and Brewpub is one of two breweries in cute little Salida, Colorado. Given that it has a great little outdoor patio with several doggie water bowls, it was the easy choice for us (with the dog) for a quick bite and a beer ahead of our drive back to Buena Vista.

Aside from the patio, which was being enlarged while we were there, the interior of Moonlight is pretty small. The entry door opens into a small bar which, along with a handful of small tables, makes up the seating inside.

They seem to constantly rotate their taps at Moonlight and they had a grapefruit IPA when we were there. We found the beer – and the pizza, for that matter – pretty good, and really liked the folks who served us.