Area eateries pair bold beer with good grub starting Thursday

The Great American Beer Festival sloshes into Denver Thursday through Saturday, if you don’t have hard-to-get tickets, you’ll have to cry in your beer.

The wildly popular GABF sells out as soon as the dates are announced. But don’t be sullen in your suds. There are plenty of eateries and bars around town and in Fort Collins (the Napa of beer) jumping on the Beer Fest bandwagon. Here are some suggestions. For more, go to www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com.

Denver:

• Jax Fish House and Oyster Bar in LoDo (1539 17th St. – www.jaxfishhouse.com/denver/), will cook up steamed Penn Cove mussels with Hey Pumpkin Porter from Denver Beer Company for the month of October. This cool weather dish includes fennel sausage, mushrooms, dijon, fennel pollen or panang curry, peanuts, cilantro and coconut milk to enhance the beer’s flavor.  Also new at Jax on the starter menu are the pickled sardines, featuring rye bread made with local Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout.

• Check out the view and scene on the rooftop at ViewHouse (2015 Market St. – www.viewhouse.com). For a food-centric GABF experience, try executive chef Jose Guerrero’s simply named fish and chips, coated with craft five barrel beer battered cod, alongside the house-made malt tartar sauce, cole slaw and ViewHouse zesty fries.

• At Wazee Supper Club (1600 15th St. – www.wazeesupperclub.com/), they’re mixing Breckenridge Brewery Agave Wheat to create the beer battered fish and chips. Wazee Supper Club just celebrated its 40th anniversary and continues to offer food and drink favorites to Denverites.  The knowledgeable bar staff at Wazee Supper Club recommend pairing the beer battered fish and chips with a White Rascal, Avery Brewing Company from Boulder.

• The Alehouse at Amato’s (2501 16th St. – www.alehousedenver.com) serves up a beer battered fish and chips using Breckenridge IPA in the batter.  The beer-infused batter protects the cod filets leaving them tender and moist Served with fries, sweet ‘n’ sour slaw, and tartar sauce.
• On Wednesday, Cart-Driver, the newest member of Gravitas Development’s shipping container project at 2500 Larimer St., will partner with Bruery Terreux, an Anaheim, Calif.-based brewery specializing in farmhouse style and oak aged sour ales, to launch the brand.Beginning at 5 p.m., guests will enjoy a variety of Bruery Terreux sours, small bites from Cart-Driver, as well as have the chance to mingle, ask questions and hear further elaboration on the newly created brand by several representatives from Bruery Terreux. Tickets can be purchased prior to the event here for $25, and $30 at the door.
• Euclid Hall (1317 14th St. – www.euclidhall.com) is holding its fourth annual Midnight Breakfast (and beer pairing), beginning at 11 p.m. Thursday. The late-night beer-breakfast pairing includes a seven-course menu (check it out at www.euclidhall.com) paired with brazen beers. Cost is $125 per person, and tickets are available on the website.

Fort Collins:

• For those who crave sweets, The Mainline (125 S. College Ave. – www.mainlinefoco.com) offers the Breckenridge Nitro Vanilla Porter Chocolate Ganache Tort. The Vanilla Porter from Breckenridge Brewing is infused into a rich chocolate tort served with vanilla cream.  Chef Justin Burdick tops the dark sweet tort with salted caramel.
• Got a hankering for seafood?  Pull up to a bowl of Fort Collins Style Clam Chowder at Ft. Collins’ Jax Fish House (123 N. College Ave. – www.jaxfishhouse.com/fort-collins), where Odell Brewing Company’s Perle White IPA is the base of executive chef Ricky Myers’ Fort Collins Style Clam Chowder.