Never Summer Brewing Co., 62 E. Agate Ave, Granby, CO 80446 phone: #970-887-0333   website: NeverSummerBrewingCo.com
Hours: Tues - Wed 2 pm - 7:30 pm | Thurs - Sat - 1 pm - 8 pm | Sunday - Monday- closed | Happy Hour Tues - Thurs (4 pm - 6 pm)

Experience before you go . . .

Never Summer Brewing is right smack dab in the middle of severe snow country. Our 22 year old son wanted to go West young man and experience the Rocky Mountains first hand so he found a House Keeping job at the YMCA of the Rockies situated right between Granby and Winter Park in Colorado. Over 5000 acres with summer activities of horseback riding, hiking, biking, canoeing, zip lining, fishing and rafting and with winter time it brings sledding, snowshoeing, cross country skiing and minutes away from Winter Park, Mary Jane and Sol Vista downhill ski areas......can you say, outdoor activities galore!! So they offered our son free room and board and some money to go along with it. What more could a 22 year old young man want, mountains, fresh air and really any outdoor activity you could imagine. So on our Trek to Tucson we stopped by to see how he was doing. We got the red carpet treatment from our son. We got the YMCA property tour, we ate some good grub, we talked to some of the locals, we hiked up a mountain and yes we toured a local brewery!!

Never Summer Brewing is a stone's throw down the mountain from the YMCA located in Granby Colorado. After our Saturday morning hike up the Nine Mile Trail to an elevation of 9500 feet we were hungry and thirsty! Now the trail up wasn't 9 miles long but was only named Nine Mile Trail and probably only 2 miles up and of course 2 miles down but at that elevation we were definitely feeling it. So we drove into town for food and drink. Now the food part I'm not going to mention the restaurant because I found a stick the size of my index finger hiding in my spinach salad. Yes, there it was all covered in salad dressing and I must of been real hungry because I powered through and finished my salad. Showed it to our waitress and the chef and the chef acted as if I put it in there myself which is a little crazy! So I just dropped it, in someone else's salad....just kidding! First time for everything....stick in salad! On to the brewery......

On the door, Never Summer had opening time at 1:00 and Kirk the owner was there with keys in hand, front door selfie and in we went. Small space but cozy. Tables and chairs on our way to the 3-4 chair bar in the back. We were the only ones there but I could visualize people standing, sitting, drinking, laughing, all kinds of cold and snow outside but warm, cozy and fun on the inside....my kind of place! Kirk poured us up a 6 sample flight and we commenced to sipping. Wiley Rye - Oatey Pale Ale (5.5%, 41 IBU) naked rye & golden oats, dry hopped, crisp and light...very drinkable; Rake the Forest IPA (6.6%, 85 IBU) piney, citrusy, hoppy and smooth; High Lonesome Oktoberfest (5.25%, 23 IBU) malty and dry finish; Fall Harvest Roast Chile Cream Ale (6.3%, 16 IBU) smokey, smooth and a crowd pleaser; Jack Straw Oatmeal Stout (5.8%, 31 IBU) hearty and malty....fireside chat beer; Melon Patch Wheat (5.25%, 18 IBU) hull melon hops, honey dew with strawberry notes. Kirks creativity coming out in very drinkable beer. Kirk's a self starter and a fast learner when it comes to brewing beer. He read some books and hit the Internet and bing bang boom Never Summer had space, tanks, beer and the most important part....happy customers!

Kirk not only knew his way around a brewery he was a wealth of local information. Conversation hit all the usual points of where you're from, what'd you do, why are you here and where you going? The where you going turned out to be the question of the day. "We're driving to Fort Collins via the Trail Ridge Road". "Did you check to see if the Trail Ridge Road is open"? The Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved highway in the United States at 12,183 feet and at that elevation they are known to get some snow in mid October. Before we knew it Kirk was dialing up the Trail Ridge Road hotline for the most recent update....."Until further notice the Trail Ridge Road is closed"! Wow, saved us a lot of driving with an eventual u-turn and back to square one. Kirk gave us an alternative route with even a local gravel road cut through which turned out to be a real gem.

Besides all the confused looks from all the ranchers driving four wheel drive pickup trucks our loaded down highway at 80 mph only Lexus was making the grade. Up and down, wash board bumps, hey look at the Pronghorn Antelopes on the hill, too "What's that guy doing sitting in his pickup truck aiming that rifle out the window for". Upon further examination I determined it was indeed a scope but no rifle attached. I had to pull over and find out what's going on. After 34 years of marriage my wife Kat has come to the conclusion that sometimes I do unpredictable things. Not the "I'm not sure if this marriage is going to work out" unpredictable, but the "Here we go again" unpredictable. The truck was pulled off the road and parked in a vista point with a couple information plaques explaining the 50 miles of beautiful views that were right I front of us. So I got out of the car and moseyed over to the plaque and nonchalantly sautéed over towards the truck. Being a truck guy it was a 1984 Ford 1/2 ton and the gentleman was looking intently through a 1000 yard spotting scope and he saw me coming over, "What'd ya looking at"? "I'm looking for elk"! Come to find out he's from Denver and coming up here every year year elk hunting and he said this is one of the last frontiers. I looked out and instantly knew exactly what he was talking about. We had a 270 degree vista of plains, rolling hills, water and mountain ranges 50-100 miles out. God's country loud and proud!!

Kat at this point had joined me and realized my life was not in danger. We had a very interesting talk about land, hunting, wildfires, future, even talked politics which is really on everyone mind now a days. I might have said this before but when I travel I rate the trip from "Just okay" to "Would do it again in a heartbeat" by all the interesting people I meet along the way. This is the way I've been my whole life, it's all about the people.

Kirk, we made it to Fort Collins!! Thanks for the beer and directions and you my friend keep offering that warm cozy hang out where the beer flows and the old and new friends meet!!

Until next time and remember.....

Go get'cha one!!!