Visited on: Thursday 7th June 2018
Bob Thompson
Silverthorne is another of those northern Colorado towns that serve the ski slopes and winter sports resorts. The key that links them is Interstate 70. Bakers’ Brewery is to be found just off this major highway.
Myself, Linda and John were on the penultimate day of our six day tour of the Colorado Rockies and we were nearing the end of our longest day so far, starting out from Durango that morning and travelling via Grand Junction.
The building housing the brewery-restaurant-pub was originally built as a branch of the Village Inn chain of bakery-restaurants that cover the country and even further afield. I would guess it was built in the late seventies / early eighties. Village Inns always had a bakery in-house which acted as a to-go outlet as well as for breakfasts, which they specialised in. This branch closed in October 2012. Then step in Cory Forster and Stephanie Sadler who put their money into opening a brewery-restaurant in the old Village Inn.
It opened its doors during 2014 after the pair received a liquor license. However there was a long delay before the brewing license was awarded on 6th May 2015. Collaboration brews were made by Cory in a few Colorado breweries during the interim. They also sold beer from others in the Silverthorne / Dillon area.
Nevertheless, it must have been a relief when home-brewed beer was flowing from the taps at the end of May. The name of the brewery refers to its former function and in-house baking is still done.
Once we were inside the main bar-room we could see that the bar counter was on the left with the usual stools in front. We settled at one of the high tables nearby. Back along the room were low tables and seats. Around the two outside walls there is modern booth-type fitted furniture offering great views through the large picture windows. At the far end the brewery was in the room occupying a complete side. It looked as if it was of around 10 barrels (bbls) capacity.
Beers from that brewery on offer when we visited were Barking Dog (5.0%), a brown ale; French Silk (5.3%), a stout; Oats-o-rado (5.9%), an American oatmeal pale ale; Bourbon Sour (7.0%), a sour stout matured in bourbon barrels; Red’s Gold (7.2%), a Belgian Golden Strong Ale; Cotton Mouth Killer (4.9%); an American IPA and Port Wine Whisky (9.5%), a dark saison.
There were also some guest beers. Firstly there were two from Elevation brewery of Poncho Springs, CO.
Wave Wheel Wit (5.0%) and 8 Second Kölsch (5.0%). There was also a collaboration with Sanitas Brewing of Boulder, CO; Odin’s Barley Wine (9.8%). Finally, all the way from the St Diego, CA was Ballast Point Victory at Sea (10.0%), an Imperial Porter.
We tried some of the beers brewed by Bakers’ and this was our thoughts on them. Barking Dog Brown Ale we thought was a typical English brown ale being not very bitter, so full marks for interpretation. French Silk Stout was very medium in taste, neither dry nor sweet.
With Oats-o-rado we could taste the oats giving it a very smooth flavour with a slight tropical taste in the body and after taste. Cotton Mouth Killer was a smooth and well-balanced IPA with just the right amount of bitterness, very good indeed.
So the beers are good and I’m sure the food is up to scratch. So a great place to visit if you are in the area.
Important Information:
Bakers’ Brewery, 531 Silverthorne Lane, Silverthorne, Colorado 80498. Tel: 970 468 0170
Web: thebakersbrewery.com
Hours: Monday-Sunday 11.00-23.00
Silverthorne is in Summit County. With its neighbouring communities it has a very good local bus service.
It’s called Summit Stage and it operates ten routes, eleven in winter.
Frequency is generally every half hour.
What’s more, it is free! It links the brew-pubs in the Silverthorne/Dillon area. Web: summitcountyco.gov
It’s centred on Frisco Transit Center. Here there are connections to Bustang inter-regional routes.
These run from Denver to Glenwood Springs (twice a day) and Grand Junction (once a day).
Frisco Transit Center is also served by Greyhound from Denver to Grand Junction and beyond twice a day.
