Meet David Tomecek – Head in the Clouds and a Seat at a Colorado Brewery

Congratulations to David Tomecek, the newest Colorado Brewery Master having completed “The Quest” of visiting every Colorado brewery!

I first got to know David when he chimed in on a recent post that I made about breweries that moved into locations vacated by closed breweries and he was very helpful with providing some information that I didn’t have. Since he was obviously such a beer data geek, we exchanged some emails where I discovered that he was already a Colorado Brewery Master.  I arranged for a meeting at one of our favorites (Bruz Beers) and we chatted about beer and CO breweries for hours!

  I am very happy to welcome him to the Colorado Brewery Master family and, as I have done previously with the other Masters, I asked him some questions about his journey.

 

Who is David Tomecek?  (Tell us a bit about yourself.)

I moved out to Colorado from Maryland in 1993, chasing a job.  My newly-minted bride came with me, and we’ve been out here together since.  We live up northwest of Denver where Westminster, Federal Heights, Thornton and Northglenn come together.  I’m an engineer that specializes in fire and explosion protection, which lets me travel a lot.  My wife and I also like day trips, which definitely helps with brewery collecting!

That first Colorado job came via a lead from a college buddy who was into beer culture really early – like 1991/1992.  He had tried to introduce me to it back in Maryland, but it didn’t take because there wasn’t much going on.  Out here, there were a bunch of breweries bottling or with brewpubs, so it was much easier.  In those early years (say 1995-1999), I mostly collected and traded bottles since there wasn’t a lot going on right around home.

When and what was the first Colorado brewery that you remember visiting?

I might have gone to a brewpub earlier, but hitting Rock Bottom Westminster (Church Ranch) around spring 2002 was the first one I went to with intent.  The co-worker that introduced me to Colorado beer had moved on, but a new office mate had gotten the bug and wanted to try the “new” place (it had actually opened in 2000).  I was hooked on the variety and that particular Rock Bottom had a solid brewer, in my opinion.

From there it was on to mostly Rock Bottom locations and other brewpubs.  I think the old Cheshire Cat* was my second.

<*CO Beer Geek note:  Cheshire Cat was at the current location of Spice Trade Brewing at Yak & Yeti.>

If I recall, the first non-pub brewery was Twisted Pine in 2003, in what was originally the Oasis Annex building.  I started hitting a bunch in the Denver-Boulder-Castle Rock corridor soon after that.  Then spread wider starting in about 2006.

When and where did you accomplish the status of having visited every Colorado brewery?

I’ve done it twice now – the first in 2013, and again in 2018.

In June 2013, it was at the now-closed BREW Pub and Kitchen in Durango.  It was my birthday weekend and I had built a tour of 11 breweries, most of them in the southwest section of Colorado.  BREW was a great brewery and restaurant, so it was a great end spot.

From about 2011 into 2018 was a boom time for breweries, so attempting to stay on top of the list was daunting.  It was like starting over, given the number of openings and how far afield they were.  So, I treated it like a second run at the quest.

That got accomplish in 2018, on Valentine’s Day.  I had work out in the open plains between Briggsdale and Raymer.  My wife and I didn’t have plans, so she came with me and we bounced over to Sterling for Parts & Labor afterward.  Some might not call that a great Valentine’s Day, but we got to see parts of Colorado we hadn’t been to before and I wrapped up another challenge.

I think I’m also a Cidery Master (if that’s a thing*) – I hit the last open one in March last year (2025).  I had done several on a small tour, and 13° Brix Cider Bistro was a fun end to that quest.  I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the kind help of the folks at Happy Hollow Hard Cider/Red Mountain Ranches, who opened up their shop (normally only during warmer weather) just to get me some of their wares.

<*CO Beer Geek Note:  In fact, there are a few Colorado Brewery Masters who have also gone to every Colorado Cidery.  Colorado Brewery List has a map of all of the Colorado Cideries (and also Colorado Meaderies).>

What are some of your favorite memories of your quest?

Oh, lots of them.  My wife and I just like to drive for day trips, so getting out around the state has been a lot of fun.  I’m a people watcher, too, so that factors into a lot of the memories.  For me, it’s usually the small things.

Talking with brewers and owners has been fun – getting their stories, why they chose their theme (either beer styles or décor) and if they had goals for their companies.  Bartenders also tend to be a lot of fun.  My favorite of those might be discussing sci-fi movies with the folks at Outworld Brewing in Longmont.

Some of the brewery layouts or buildings stick out.  Some are obvious because they’re in unique or historical buildings.  One fun one I remember was Big Beaver Brewing and Blown Spoke Cider in Longmont being in the same building, without distinct divisions between the two.  Because of licensing, you couldn’t take your beer into the cidery and vice-versa.  If you wanted beer and your travel companion wanted cider, you had to find a pair of the very few tables on either side of an open partition so you could talk across and not break the rules.  If you wanted to share, you had to switch tables without taking a glass with you.

Two of the most memorable tasting room experiences happen on opposing sides of the state.  J. Wells in Boulder might still hold the record for smallest brewery and tap room.  You had to get there early if you wanted to even get in!  Lots of rotation of great beers, too.  At the Ourayle House outside Ouray, the tasting room itself is great – but meeting the man behind the brewery name (Mr. Grumpy Pants Brewing Company) is worth the trip!

There were a few breweries that had some interesting starts in non-traditional brewing spaces.  One of my favorites was Lady Justice.  They kicked off out of a rented room in a residence.  You either reserved beer (as part of a membership) or showed up when they announced they had bottles (non-members), then drove to their spot to get your drinks.  A bit of a throw-back to home brewing and bottle-sharing at a time when slick tasting rooms and swanky pubs were happening everywhere else.

Those that have been down to Three Barrel Brewing Company in Del Norte have probably hit one of their pizza-oriented pub spots.  I happened to get them early – when the brewery was set up in the back of the owner’s cramped insurance office.  After walking into the address that was listed, I awkwardly asked the woman sitting at a desk about the brewery.  She responded with an eye roll and “Dad!  There’s another guy here looking for your beer!”.

Some tasting room features were neat but of questionable function.  At Former Future, I was jazzed to find they had used an aircraft wing for the bar.  It was polished bare metal, so it was super cool as a bar top.  But I think they didn’t anticipate that wings have a lot of slope and curves to them, which made the bar top impractical – if you didn’t put your glass in just the right spot, you’d end up wearing the beer you just ordered.

Some spots start early, being open for breakfast with no limitation on serving beer.  Hitting places like Steep Brewing & Coffee Co in Keystone, Down Valley Brewing in New Castle, or Second Dawn Brewing in Aurora by about 8 am sure helps with a brewery tour!

There were some awesome, out-there concepts that haven’t survived, unfortunately.  Liberati and Dos Luces brought some very interesting ingredients and flavors.  Rice brews from Colorado Sake Company and some of the non-beer stuff that was done at Grandma’s House (soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, sake, etc.) are still impressive.  The various sour, barrel and blending efforts around the state have all been fun to taste, too.

Always fun is talking with other beer geeks about some of the stuff recently discussed on the Colorado Beer Geek Facebook page – addresses that have had multiple breweries, breweries that have changed names, brewers that “graduated” from one brewery to start their own, what new brewery might open soon and similar stuff.

There are a lot more of those quirky bits!

What are your favorite styles of beer and your top breweries in the state of Colorado in terms of your beer taste?

My tastes tend to lean toward strong grain flavors – Belgians, German fest beers, porters/stouts, hazy wheats, barleywines – that kind of stuff.  Barrel-aged styles and maybe some spiced beers, too.

Currently open ones include Bruz, Prost, Casey, Colorado Farm, Cohesion, Spice Trade, High Alpine, Chrysalis and Primitive.  Admittedly, I haven’t been to a few of these in quite a while, so they might have changed either menus or their level of quality.

What are some of your favorite destination breweries?

Destination breweries are hard – because I go to some for the beer, others for the location or trip and some for their buildings or theme.

For the beers, the ones I named above count.  Add to those River North, Ascent and WildEdge.

I’m an aviation geek, so places like FlyteCo Tower (Stapleton Airport Control Tower), Cheluna (in the former Stanley Aviation factory), Horse & Dragon (on the old Fort Collins Airport), Launch Pad (missile/satellite operations) and Red Leg (many brewery staff are former AF/Army) hit pretty good with me from a venue perspective.

I’m also intrigued with architecture and historic buildings, so I’ll hit FlyteCo Tower, Station 26, Walter, Dostal Alley, the CSU Ramskeller and similar for that aspect.

If I’m feeling nostalgic, I’ll swing over to spots that have been around since I started my efforts in the early-2000s, like Bull & Bush, Crabtree, Moonlight Pizza, Ourayle House or Pints Pub.

If I’m feeling a need for a really out of the way spot – Down Valley, Mountain Merman, Dolores River, Ascent, Smoking River, or The Colorado Farm.  You gotta bring a sleeping bag or hotel reservations for some of these!

What is your favorite hang-out brewery?  (Where are folks most likely to run into you?)

Don’t really have one where I’m a regular – I like to bounce around.  But the most frequent of late has been Grateful Gnome.  I love their ESB and they usually have a few things that’ll get me through a hockey match (GO AVS GO).  Great sammiches, too!

What advice would you offer others trying to become a Colorado Brewery Master?

Have fun with it!  Mix it in with other activities, enjoy traveling this great state of ours and look for the out-of-the-way things along the way.  No matter where you pick, there will always be at least a small adventure waiting for you and stories to hang onto afterward.

Congratulations again to David for finishing “The Quest.”  I very much look forward to sharing more beers with him in the future.

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Are there any other Colorado Brewery Masters out there that I have missed?  If you have been to every Colorado brewery or are close to doing so, I would love to hear from you!