Here’s my ride up to the top. Very zen.

Some people tend to complain about the winter time. Something about being cold, and not much fun. I tend to disagree. Winter time is totally awesome! Not just because that is when stouts and barleywines tend to be released, but also because you can spend some time on the mountains!

Since the snow had been coming down locally since like, oh, October, we had the feeling that this would be a good snow season, and man were we right! This past weekend we went to Loveland Ski Area to enjoy the fresh powder. Loveland is a great place to ride. It usually only takes about an hour to get there.

Three hours later…we arrived. (Who knew all of Denver would think it a good idea to hit the pow as well?)The missus, the kid, and our boards (witness the assembly of my board here.) were ready to enjoy a great day out.

Ignore the fact that PBR is on special…unless you’re a PBR sort of person.

After a few crashes hours, we were ready to head in for an afternoon snack. One of the things we like about Loveland is the fact that they serve Tommyknocker beer up in the lodge. Let me tell you, nothing soothes a sore body better than an IPA. It’s the analgesic properties of hops, I suppose. Look it up, it’s science. I strongly recommend the Pine Bough Pale Ale, brewed to commemorate the Loveland Ski Area’s 75th Anniversary.

A few more tumbles down the mountain, and we were ready to go home. Before our final destination, however, we made our usual stop at the Tommyknocker Brewery in Idaho Springs. The kid loves the mac and cheese (the Kraft kind, mind you), and mom and dad enjoy the beer. It’s right off the freeway, and we can spend some time not sitting in traffic for a while.

What is a tommyknocker, you ask? Well, according to Wikipedia, a tommyknocker is some sort of mischievous mining elf, similar to a leprechaun.  From Wikipedia:

Their name comes from the knocking on the mine walls that happens just before cave-ins – actually the creaking of earth and timbers before giving way. To some of the miners, the knockers were malevolent spirits and the knocking was the sound of them hammering at walls and supports to cause the cave-in. To others, who saw them as essentially well-meaning practical jokers, the knocking was their way of warning the miners that a life-threatening collapse was imminent.

But if you ask me, a tommyknocker is a Stephen King creation that scared the crap out of me when I was younger. Anybody else remember this?

From wikipedia

Seriously, Stephen King made a habit of scarring my formative years. I’m looking at you, Pennywise.

Anyway, back to the brewery. Super laid back atmosphere, serving sizes to feed pretty much anyone on this side of corpulent (seriously, I couldn’t finish the nachos), and tasty beer. My go-to is usually the Butt Head bock, where as the missus tends to prefer the Black Strike IPA.

The Legend

While we were there, I enjoyed The Legend™, which was Tommyknockers’ 2oth anniversary imperial brown ale. Brewed and aged with Hungarian Oak, this beer had a bit of bite at 10% abv.

Looks pretty thick, but light on the tongue, which is pretty nice. It’s definitely a beer that will age nicely, and I’m glad that I was able to take home a 4 pack.

Later that night, I had strange dreams about mischievous creatures trying to eat me, and I couldn’t find the keys to the alien spaceship.

No clowns, though. It was like I was back in middle school.