Denver Breweries Worth a Fall Afternoon

If you have a free fall afternoon in Denver, you won't run out of places to spend it with a pint in hand. According to Visit Denver, the city has roughly 70 breweries within its limits, and together they produce about 200 different beers a day. Many of them sit in a few neighborhoods, so it's easy to plan a loose crawl without a lot of planning.

Downtown is the natural starting point. Wynkoop Brewing Company at 1634 18th St. has been pouring in the LoDo area since 1988, when it opened as Colorado's first brewpub. Its Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout has been on the menu for years, and the brewery also brews more than 40 styles over the course of a year. A few blocks away, Denver Chophouse & Brewery at 1735 19th St. sits in the former Union Pacific Building next to Coors Field, with lagers, stouts, and fruity sours on tap.

Heading north, the RiNo Art District and Five Points have a lot of options. Black Shirt Brewing Co. at 3719 Walnut St. opens daily at 11 AM and has two dog-friendly patios, which makes it a comfortable stop on an autumn afternoon. Its Thursday trivia night is a regular fixture, and live music is on the calendar for Friday, October 30, with a Halloween night on Saturday, October 31. Nearby, Ratio Beerworks at 2920 Larimer St. still carries the punk rock roots it's known for, and Woods Boss Brewing Company at 2210 California St. offers 24 taps in an early 20th-century brick building. Over in the Five Points neighborhood, Spangalang Brewery at 2736 Welton St. takes its inspiration from the area's jazz history.

South and west of downtown, the choices get more varied. Monolith Brewing at 1290 S Broadway has a 4.9-star average on Google, and Briar Common Brewery + Eatery at 2298 Clay St. has one of the largest review counts among local breweries on the same platform. Joyride Brewing Company at 2501 Sheridan Blvd. sits across from Sloan's Lake in Edgewater, and its rooftop terrace was named the best in Denver by 5280 Magazine in 2019. Further south, Little Machine Brewing near Mile High Stadium has two dog-friendly patios, and Black Sky Brewery at 490 Santa Fe Dr. pours 25 taps in the Santa Fe Arts District.

Prices at most of these places fall in the $$ range, according to Hit the Town, so a few stops won't add up to much. Between the downtown classics and the neighborhood taprooms, you can easily build an afternoon that covers a few different sides of the city.