People seem to think the president should drink Avery: http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=104880964681&h=yqYeX&u=vXy9q&ref=mf We agree!

Avery Anniversary Party
Celebrate 16 years of Avery beer at this annual Boulder Summer ritual!

Sunday, August 2nd from 12-6PM

This summer marks our sixteenth year of business, and we want you to stop in and enjoy some beers, barbeque and bands with us! We'll have your favorite Avery brews pouring from stations all around the brewery, a huge pig roast (with vegetarian options too), a VIP area with our rarest beers, a vertical tasting (tickets sold separately) and the tunes of SIX bands.

Here's how it's all gonna work. Spread the word!

General Admission: $20 at the door for beverages, barbeque and bands
VIP Admission: $30 gets you the benefits of GA along with access to 5 samples from the VIP area full of our rarest brews
Designated Driver: $10.00 Includes BBQ buffet and soft drinks

Featuring specialty tappings every hour of beers like 2008 Beast, 2008 Kaiser, aged rarities and our special blends. And the sounds of...

Felonius Smith Trio
Acoustic Hotfoot
Lost Alamos
Cari Minor & Ray Smith
Chris and Bardusco of Meniskus
The Alltunators

No advance ticket sales - doors open at Noon

Please partake responsibly!

Call a cab at 303-777-7777 or take a bus from the end of our driveway!

All proceeds from the party will go to benefit Avery Warehouse Manager Billy Phillips, his wife Nina, and their fight against breast cancer.

Day 4!

Day four on the road saw the SkAvery Crew climbing over Cottonwood Pass and descending fourteen miles on DIRT roads to the shores of Taylor Reservoir, where we regrouped and continued to race down Taylor Canyon until meeting up with several riders from The Brick Oven racing team. The plan was for the Brick Oven guys to serve as a wind break and pull us into Crested Butte over the final 30 miles. But, as plans often do, it went slightly awry: somehow all the SkAver riders had a bit of energy left in the legs and it turned into a fast, 30mph paceline ride the whole way into Almont. Tons of fun but it sucked up every last bit of our energy. After a bit of regrouping and catching of breath, the guys got back on the bikes and headed UP the final 15 miles to CB in what was a decidedly slower--and might I say more painful (looking)--pace.

While the ride definitely sapped a lot out of all the guys, it was nothing that the mountain eden of Crested Butte couldn't fix. The Brick Oven Restaurant (which, I must add, pours a prime and educated selection of craft beer from its 20+ taps) was the perfect place for us to recharge. Surrounded by a mix of jagged peaks while sitting under a towering Spruce tree and its ample shade, we were treated to pitchers of our Karma Ale by our friends Dan, Andy and Ben from the Brick Oven Cycling team. The combination of brews, food and friends was so energizing (note that I use that descriptor with some amount of forboding and irony!) that many of us stayed right there until long past sunset. Come on, everyone knows that an Avery brewer can't resist a fresh keg of Maharaja...

CB crew, thanks for everything!

And please rest assured that after our evening there we've got our priorities straight....................RIDE > TALK!!!!

Day 2+3: Idaho Springs to Breck to Buena Vista

Two more days in the saddle and still going strong!

We spent Sunday evening in the carport of The Columbine Inn, talking over--and preparing one anther for-- the long climb up to the top of Loveland Pass the next morning (there may have been a few beers drank there somewhere along the way too, along with what seemed like a growing number of tall tales about the difficulty of climbing Loveland). A few hours of riding on Monday morning put everyone's fears of eternal suffering in the saddle to rest, as the climb above 10 thousand feet to the top of Loveland was not quite as painful as was expected and we were blasting down past A-Basin in no time.

But we've come a long ways since then...

After Loveland came Swan Mountain Pass, shorter and less steep, but decidedly more painful accoring to the crew; all because no one really expected it to be much of a hill. We were greeted upon our arrival at The Breckenridge Brewery by Tebo and Sarah, with pitchers in hand! Both lunch and dinner with the Breck folks was a blast, with our dinner being highlighted by that classic Colorado mountain weather: after sitting down on the back porch of Kenosha Steak House, we were blasted by a 5 minute downpour with the sun shining over Peak 9 down at us the entire time. Sarah and Tebo, thanks for the brews!

The first 11 miles of todays ride were spent climbing Hoosier Pass in the shawdow of 14,000'+ Quandry Peak. We stopped for a bit on top (see inset pic) and then sped off for Fairplay, where we hopped on 285 and played chicken with big rigs for 40 miles to Buena Vista. One quick note to readers: Eddyline Brewpub (only recently opened in the new South Main neighborhood in Buena Vista) makes a solid pie and a clean, crisp Pale Ale that is PERFECT after a long ride.

Next Stop: Crested Butte! Come join us Wednesday afternoon at The Brick Oven.

See ya'll on the road....

Day 1: Boulder to Idaho Springs

Sunny skies and 85 degree weather ushered all 14 SkAvery (Ska / Avery) brewer-cyclists over Lookout Mountain, Floyd Hill and into Idaho Springs today, escaping only slightly worse for wear after 46 miles in the saddle. Although I'm not sure I can say the same about the longboarders we saw going down Lookout Mtn. in the opposite direction. Man. THOSE guys were out of their mind!

After hydrating (yes, with WATER) for the past couple of days to prepare for our 6 days of riding, we promptly realized that sudsy sustenance would be necessary to power the engines up to Idaho Springs. With that in mind, the sag wagon was turned into a suds wagon only minutes before we departed from the Avery Tap Room as Matt "Handtruck" Thrall filled the coolers with Ska's Modus Hoperandi, True Blonde, Avery IPA and a limited release batch of our Piglet Purgatory (a 1/2 batch of our Hog Heaven Barleywine that is hoppy, dank and extremely sessionable).

With a van stocked full of brews we were set to depart, and it didn't take long for the Colorado sunshine to dry things out and necessitate a beer break. After climbing Lookout Mountain we rewarded ourselves with a brew and then pedaled onwards towards Tommyknocker Brewing Co in Idaho Springs.

One day down, 5 more to go, and one thing is for sure: brews, bros and bikes are a great combo, no matter what anybody else tries to tell you. Many thanks to the kind folks at Tommyknocker for your hospitality, and props to Eric from The Sink and John...it was a pleasure riding with you fellas today!

Onward

Avery/Ska BrewersTour of BoulDurango

Hello Blogosphere! Avery Brewing Company has arrived!

We've been meaning to start our own blog for some time now, but to be perfectly honest, there have been some more pressing needs on our plates. Namely, brewing beer and "tasting" our creations! Give us a break, you know you'd be doing the same if you were a brewer. But with the start of our first ever Brewers Tour of BoulDurango starting this Sunday morning (Avery brewers and Ska brewers will be riding our bikes 426 miles from Boulder to Durango!!) we needed to find a place to post updates, pics and videos of us all suffering over the long climbs, blazing sunshine and hailstorms that lie in front of us.

Look for nightly blogs from us next week as we labor our way on our bikes towards the oasis of Ska Brewing Company in Durango. Once we arrive on Friday, July 24th we'll be tapping into kegs of Wheelsucker Wheat Ale, a Mountainous 7.2 % abv Bavarian style hefe that we brewed with Ska Brewing. Everything will go down at the Finish Line Release Party at Ska Brewing at 5 PM on 7/24. Boulderites: get in your cars and road trip it to Durango for the weekend!

See ya'll on the road.