City Star Brewery

The Ride

· Road Bike

· Country Roads, paved

· 45 miles

· 3 hours

The Brewery

· Where: 321 Mountain Ave, Berthoud,CO

· What: Tap room

· When: M-We 2-9, Th-Fr 2-10, Sa 12-10 Su 12-9

· Website: Citystarbrewing.com

Ride Details

The Ride

It's a spectacular Mother's Day, no rain this year so we decide to do a long road ride to Berthod. It's early season still, but with all the nice days throughout the winter we're in better shape than usual. It would be easy to go east to 287 and just ride up north on that road, but I'm not real fond of the fast traffic so we wander though the back roads for a more pleasant ride. Starting out on 63rd Street in Gunbarrel (the IBM park is a great place to park) we ride north until we hit Nelson Road. Then we jog over to N 65th street and ride until it hit on St Vrain Road. Take this east to N 75th Street and ride north into Hygiene. The Purple Door in Hygiene has become a bikers pitstop. In addition to great food and drinks they provide bike parking, picnic table and best of all a porta pottie (might need on the way back!) Continue on N 75th over HWY 66. Here you're really in the country, nice a quiet with low traffic. 75th turns east and become Woodland Rd. Follow this about a mile to N 83rd St and continue north. Eventually it hits HWY 56 which goes east into Berthoud. Most this route is secondary county roads. Most don't have a bike lane and a minimal shoulder. Luckily traffic in light.

Once you enjoy Berthoud City Star either return the way you came or opt for one of the parallel roads. We choose County Rd 21 South and after Hygiene we stay on 75th street back to Niwot road to jog over to 63rd.

The Brewery

City Star sits right on the Main Street of quaint little Berthoud only 1 block east of the town square. The building is a historic livery stable, but has been totally remodeled. City Star has a few tables in front of the brewery and a recently expanded tap room. They have a real homey feel unique to small towns. Plus there art work reflect the history of the town throughout the building.

Tasting Notes for Select Beers

Night Watchman-Dark Stout with a thick head. Get a complex mixture of sweet malt and chocolate. Ends with a sight hop finish.

Bandit Brown- Nice dark brown. Very straight forward. Malty and smooth.

Raspberry Saison-Great Breackfast beer. Pretty and pink with a slight haze. Very flavorful, getting tart and sweetness in every sip.

Troubadour-Imperial Stout like liquid maple syrup. City Star Brewers add a little kick by aging it in whiskey barrels. Get a nice whiff of whiskey too. Very complex with interesting note of fig???

Chili the Kid-Nice chili beer with a good kick. Looks like a wheat, light amber and slightly hazy but quickly get a great mix of chili flavor-Burns so good!

Cowboy-House amber, but very light in color. Good hop and malt combo. Easy drinking