Ear to the ground

“Sorry, I was just trying to help you guys puke.”

-Local man after breaking wind in the vicinity of a group of Canadian cyclists all wearing “Team Puke” jerseys.

Great American Beer

The granddaddy of all beer festivals took place last weekend, and Four Corners brewers did not come home empty handed. Steamworks Brewing Co. again medaled with its tried-and-true Steam Engine Lager at the Great American Beer Festival. The GABF is considered the most prestigious competition of its kind in the nation.

“This is now a heavy metal beer,” said Kris Oyler, Steamworks’ founder and chief executive. “Once again, it confirms the quality of the Steam Engine Lager.”

This year, the Steam took home a silver medal in the American-Style Amber Lager category. The lager also won gold at the 1997 and 2000 GABFs and a bronze at the festival in 2003. “This is an honor for both Steamworks, Durango and Southwest Colorado – the Napa Valley of hand-crafted beer,” Oyler commented.

Unfortunately, judges did not smile upon the Napa Valley of hand-crafted beer as widely as they have in past years. Steamworks was the only Southwest Colorado brewery to receive an award in the 2005 competition. However, another award winner this year offered a poignant criticism of beer festivals in general. Coors Field’s Sandlot Brewery somehow took home a silver medal in the European-Style Pilsner category. The beer was aptly named, “Most Beer Judges Are Boneheads.”

A taste of Durango

Durango danced in big headlines again recently. In the Sept. 30 issue of theNew York Times, Durango was profiled by Alison Berkley. Berkley opted to visit the Durango of “world-class mountain bikers, road cyclists and kayakers, where sun-kissed locals in visors and sunglasses kick back with pints of microbrewed beer – then head back out to indulge their adrenaline-charged exuberance for outdoor adventure.”

In spite of this opening, a short ride on Stacy’s and the Meadow Loop in Horse Gulch and a visit to Pedal the Peaks, Berkley actually spent much of her visit eating and drinking.

Her day in Durango included lunch at the Cyprus Café, a bottle or two of Ska’s Pinstripe Ale, a scoop of coconut chocolate chip from the Durango Creamery, cookies and scones from Bread, a “pound-and-a-half burrito” and another cookie at Nini’s, peanuts and Steam Engine Lager at Steamworks, grilled Alaskan halibut and watercress salad at Seasons and finally, fresh fruit, yogurt and homemade granola at the Rochester Hotel.

If you want all of the mouth-watering details, the story is just a Google search away.