Bootstrap Longmont Brewery

The Ride

· Road Bike

· Road Ride

· 32 miles

· 2 hours

The Brewery

· Where: 142 Pratt street Longmont

· What: Tap room

· When: Mo closed, Tu-Fr 3-9:30, Sa 12-9:30 , Su 12-6

· Website: bootstrapbrewing/com

Ride Details

Summer is finally here and it's a hot day, 90+. Despite our best effort to get out before the heat we hit the road after noon. But if we were to leave too early the breweries wouldn't be opened, which is the main objective. This is a classic Boulder County road ride. We start heading north on 63th Street which is very popular with cyclists because of the wide shoulder, limited traffic and very few stop lights or stop sign. If you are commuting in you can park at the IBM park or at the Niwot Park and Ride. This route is great for cruising. Continue on 63th until it ends on Nelson Road. Go about 1/4 mile east to N 65th street and continue north. This street end on St Vrain where we turn east again and follow until it dead ends onto 75th St. From here turn left and head toward Hygiene. Hygiene is a great cyclist friendly town with the Purple Door Market hosting cyclist with picnic tables, water, bathrooms, shade and goodies for sale. After a short break we keep heading north and cross HWY 66. Here you're really in the country. The shoulder isn't as wide but traffic is light and Rabbit Mountain looms to the west. What a nice relaxing ride. This road turns east and gets renamed Woodland Road. We go east until N 87th and head back south. This road is continuous until it hits HWY 66 again. We cross the road which is a little tricky as there is no traffic light here. We wander around the McIntosh Lake neighborhood. Turning left on Horizon Parkway to N Shore Drive go right and then left onto Harvard Dr. When you hit 17th Ave head west briefly to Airport road. This is the trickiest part of the route because there is no bike lane or shoulder. Luckily it is a short jaunt. Once on Airport Rd you can cruise again in the bike lane until your hit Rodgers Road just before the old Amgen plant. Head east again. Rodgers Road has a poor shoulder but get very low traffic. Follow it until it hits S Hover Road and cross east with the light. Now you're on Boston Ave which has a bike lane again. Boston ends and turns north to become Pratt as it runs into the rail line. The brewery sits on the corner of Pratt and 2nd. Once you finish your beer retrace your steps back to Airport road. Once there head south until you hit the Diagonal. Use the Diagonal to return to 63rd.

The Brewery

Bootstrap in Niwot has been one of our go to breweries. But Bootstrap has been very fortunate thanks to their vivacious founders and great beer and needed a bigger space. The new brewery is significantly bigger, even the tap room is bigger and the new brew room is huge. They had already amassed pallets of cans of their favorites. The new tap room has a huge covered patio on the west side of the site. Their is plenty of parking too if you don't ride. They are even dog friendly as well. As usual, I order a flight to maximize my tastings. See the notes below.

Tasting Notes for Select Beers

Chillax- A Pineapple flavored Golden. You can't find this anywhere else. It's light colored and cloudy, but has a sweet and tangy pineapple flavor. Like spiked pineapple juice.

Sticks Pale Ale- One of Bootstraps GABF winners. Golden and clear. Distinct hoppy taste.

BMF- Something new. A red IPA. It's dark gold and clear with a malt odor and hoopy bite at the end.

Backfire Chili-One of our favorites. Backfire looks like an unassuming golden but kicks like a mule. It has a delightful chili smell and stronger chili flavor. We usually get a 4 oz taster to make sure the latest batch isn't over the top. Not for the faint of heart!

1956 Golden- Very pale gold and clear. Low hop, almost a pilsner.

Boomer Brown- Brown and translucent. It a malty and sweet beer just as you'd expect from a brown. Easy drinking.

Flagstaff Amber- This golden beauty has some gusto. Get a stout blast of hop mixed with a little sweetness of malt.