The Good Life Denver

Good Deals on Outdoor Gear: Wilderness Exchange Spring Sale and Gear Swap

David Schlichter — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:41:05 +0000

With Colorado summer around the corner, if you’re looking for Good gear deals you might want to drop by Wilderness Exchange this weekend. The store’s annual spring sale starts Friday, featuring Good deals on Camelbak packs, Mammut climbing ropes, sleeping bags, Patagonia apparel, trail shoes, Scarpa climbing shoes, a total clear-out of All-Terrain and Telemark ski boots, and more. With the coupon code Springswap13, you can also take an additional 20% off any one item in the store or online.

The store’s annual spring gear swap is also this Saturday at 10am, at which you can bring used gear to sell or buy someone else’s used gear (usually at very Good prices). Vendors will also be on hand to sell sample and demo gear. The gear swap should last until the early afternoon.

REI is also having its Anniversary Sale from May 17-27, which features 20% off one item for members (use promotion code ANNV13) and up to 30% off other items online and in-store.

Enjoy the Good deals and the Good weather!

Wilderness Exchange is an independent outdoor gear store located at the corner of 15th and Platte. For more information on the sale, visit www.wildyx.com.

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!

In addition to writing for The Good Life Denver, David works full-time as a Denver real estate agent. David helps his clients (ranging from first-time home buyers, to sellers, to seasoned investors) to achieve their real estate goals. Contact him today for all of your Denver real estate needs, and click here to search all Denver real estate for sale.

Good Idea: Factotum Brewhouse

David Schlichter — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:59:51 +0000

I just got pretty excited by a recent article on Factotum Brewhouse, a new brewery coming to the Sunnyside neighborhood of Denver this fall.

Factotum will be unlike any other brewery in the Denver area. Instead of primarily serving its own brews, Factotum plans to serve home brews on a large scale. According to its mission: “Factotum Brewhouse assists homebrewers in creating a highly-drinkable product by providing professional brewing equipment, guidance and education, and a beer-loving community defined by mutual support, unbiased opinion, and a philosophy that anybody can brew.”

The brewery will give home brewers access to its large-scale brewing equipment, education and guidance, and an avenue for consumer feedback. In exchange, the home brewers can choose to give up their recipe to Factotum, they can sell the recipe for Factotum to produce, or they can split the proceeds from the sales of their specific brew (and presumably keep the recipe).

With so many home brewers in the Denver area, this could lead to the emergence of some new, creative, and exciting brews, and it also is an intriguing business model. Will the brewery be able to consistently draw in patrons, especially with other breweries nearby and closer to downtown? Will this lead to the emergence of new craft breweries originating from successful brews at Factotum? Time will tell. At the very least, I see this as an innovative way to further democratize the brewing process, provide a bridge for home brewers to potentially shift into professional brewing, and enable beer lovers to try out lots of new craft brews. For those reasons, I can’t wait to pay Factotum a visit!

Factotum Brewhouse is scheduled to open this fall at 4736 Lipan St. in the Sunnyside neighborhood. Interested in buying or selling a home in the neighborhood? Click here.

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!

Life is Good in Denver!

David Schlichter — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:59:47 +0000

Contribution playing at the Bluebird in Denver

I haven’t put up an article in a while, but it’s for Good reasons!

Life is Good in Denver. Denver real estate has been keeping me very busy. The Denver market is one of the hottest in the country. Inventory levels are at their lowest in almost 30 years, demand is incredibly high, and prices are rising quickly. 48.2% of homes are being sold at or above the asking price. Rents are at 11-year highs and apartment vacancies are at 12-year lows. Interest rates are near historic lows. It’s a great time to be a buyer, seller, investor, or landlord, and a horrible time to be a renter. If you don’t already own Denver real estate, 5280 Magazine has some advice for you: “Get in the game!”

Thankfully, I’ve been finding time to eat some Good Denver meals. Some highlights include a delicious breakfast at Snooze with a friend who was in from out of town (she said the pancakes were the best she’s ever had), dinner and an office happy hour at Ignite! on their rooftop (love it), a great brunch at City O’ City (I’m big on the Saison), and a couple trips to Vine St. Pub and Brewery (never get tired of it).

A couple weekends ago we hiked the Royal Arch trail in Boulder (which was still pretty snowy and slippery on the way down). Yesterday I got a long-overdue climbing workout in at the Denver Bouldering Club, which revealed that I need to go back there regularly to a) get back into Good climbing shape and b) enjoy their redesigned space (which will be further enhanced with more upgrades later this month).

I’ve also seen some Good Denver music. A little over a week ago I saw Contribution play at the Bluebird. The group features artists from Railroad Earth, New Monsoon, The String Cheese Incident, and more, and it was awesome. Red Rocks’ lineup for this summer is also looking incredible. A group of friends and I tried to get tickets to the Lumineers at Red Rocks on September 15th this past weekend, but it sold out almost immediately. Thankfully, the Denver-based band announced that it is adding another show on September 16th and I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to snag a few tickets…

I’ll try to be better about posting more articles, but if you don’t see them as often as you’d like, I’m sorry–it is just because I am out living The Good Life Denver…and working my tail off.

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!

Good Article on Former Future Brewing

David Schlichter — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:58:44 +0000

Image source: Former Future Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FormerFutureBrewingCo)

Westword’s Jonathan Shikes has put together a great article on Former Future Brewing, one of the new microbreweries hoping to launch in Denver in this year. The article talks about the new brewery at length and discusses how Former Future is collaborating with Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew and TRVE Brewing to get a head start on brewing prior to having a physical location. As I’ve mentioned now several times on this site (especially in this article), I love the spirit of collaboration that Denver’s microbreweries are embracing, which is leading to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, so I am very excited for Former Future’s arrival on the Denver microbrewery scene.

Today at 2pm, Former Future will be releasing 50 tickets via its Facebook page to two free tastings of its beers on April 13th at the Oxford Hotel. Those tickets will go quickly, so be sure to visit the page right at 2pm!

I encourage you to read Shikes’ article in Westword here.

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!

Good Denver Microbrewery: Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew

David Schlichter — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:42:34 +0000

My fiancée and I recently moved to Curtis Park, where we are lucky to have two microbreweries, a microdistillery, and an urban winery (in addition to lots of other Good stuff!) within walking distance of our new home. Earlier this week we stopped by Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew, the closest microbrewery to our house, to grab a couple beers, and we were very pleased with our decision.

I’ve already got lots of Good reasons to love our new neighborhood, but Our Mutual Friend definitely adds to the list. It is a great neighborhood gathering spot. The space is very cool. There’s a nice-sized tasting room with a bar, a few small tables, some long communal rectangular tables, and a garage-style door leading to a nice little outdoor patio. The decor inside is simple and works well with the space. Behind the bar are bookshelves with books and records (which aren’t just decor, they are played over the sound system), and in a corner is a fireplace that was lit and in use while we were there. The beer, thankfully, is Good. These days I find myself turning into an IPA addict, and OMF’s current IPA was definitely Good–not my favorite in town (I like my IPAs as hoppy as they can get), but easily something to look forward to after a long day of hard work. A double IPA is scheduled to be released on April 5th, and I’m pumped to try it. I also don’t usually order saisons, but OMF’s saison was very Good–it would be a great one to enjoy on a sunny day on the patio.

As I’ve mentioned before, I love how Denver’s microbreweries and food trucks are collaborating to create a mutually beneficial synergy. Our Mutual Friend is no exception to the rule, as it has a Good lineup of food trucks scheduled to come on a weekly basis. Thursdays are Matt’s Snack Shack (grilled wings, which I hear are awesome, and various grilled cheese sandwiches), Fridays are Waffleganger (sweet and savory waffle sandwiches), Saturdays are Baba’s Falafel (falafel sandwiches and Mexican-inspired pita/falafel dishes–mentioned in this month’s 5280 Magazine as one of Denver’s best new restaurants), and Sundays’ are Quiero Arepas (delicious Venezuelan-inspired sandwiches, widely considered to be one of the best food trucks in Denver)

OMF also has a local focus. “At OMF, our goal is to use local sources to brew local ales. As a small maltstery, we have more influence over the quality and freshness of the beers we pour in our taproom, and more opportunities to source our ingredients locally. 100 percent of our barley is grown right here in Colorado. And as much as possible, we source our hops and specialty ingredients from farms in our state.” That seems like a no-brainer to me, and I’m surprised that not every microbrewery in Denver is taking that approach. Cheers to OMF for supporting local farmers and using local produce in the production of it’s Good beer!

I’ll definitely be returning to Our Mutual Friend often, and I’m very pumped that there are so many exciting things going on in the neighborhood!

Our Mutual Friend is located at 2810 Larimer St. Interested in buying a house near Our Mutual Friend in the RiNo/Curtis Park/Five Points neighborhoods? Click here to search what’s for sale.

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!

Good Colorado Music: 2013 Telluride Bluegress Festival

David Schlichter — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:49:42 +0000

Image source: http://www.bluegrass.com/telluride/

The complete 2013 Telluride Bluegrass Festival lineup was announced yesterday, and it is quite Good! Some of the artists billed to play include Mumford & Sons, Greensky Bluegrass, Dispatch, The String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Béla Fleck.

The festival takes place between June 20-23, 2013 in Telluride, CO. Unfortunately, all of the 4-day passes sold out in less than four hours(!) on December 5th, but there are still single-day tickets on sale for Thursday and Sunday’s shows. You can find 4–day passes online at websites such as StubHub, but there they are being sold at double the passes’ face value…

The full 2013 Telluride Bluegrass Festival lineup is below. Enjoy the tunes!

For more information on the 2013 Telluride Bluegrass Festival, click here.

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!

Good Denver Coffee Shop: Crema Coffee House

David Schlichter — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:08:08 +0000

Baked Goods at Crema Coffee House

There are lots of Good things going on in the River North (RiNo) neighborhood of Denver, one of which is Crema Coffee House. I popped in at 1pm on a Wednesday earlier this week, and the coffee shop was packed–busier than almost any coffee shop I’d been to on a random Wednesday afternoon. Why?

To start, the neighborhood is definitely in a period of rapid transition. Once vacant warehouses are taking on new identities as art galleries, coffee shops, restaurants, stores, and boutique industrial production facilities (Tender Belly, Ritual Chocolate, and MM Local Foods, for example). The increased activity in the area is creating a positive feedback loop, in which the more development takes place, the more development is spurred for corollary businesses.

This one offers the neighborhood well-prepared coffee and espresso drinks (some of the beans used come from Novo Coffee, a roastery a block away at 30th and Larimer), but what I particularly like about Crema is actually its food selection. For a coffee shop, Crema has one of the most extensive and high-quality food selections in town.

The Korean Reuben from Crema Coffee House

For breakfast, choose from an array of freshly baked pastries, sweet potato waffles, a rotating daily quiche selection, a breakfast burrito, the five-spice granola, or a brûléed grapefruit and field green salad. For lunch, choose from the hand-made pork belly banh mi, the Moroccan meatball, the Korean Reuben (made with duck pastrami, sambal aioli, fresh kimchi slaw, and chèvre), the PB&J (made with peanut almond butter, date-balsamic jam, and chèvre), or the beet salad. Sides include quinoa, Mediterranean orzo (so Good!), and a green salad.

If you get a sweet tooth while you’re at Crema and aren’t in the mood for one of the many abundant pastries at the counter, you might grab some of the Ritual Chocolate which is sold on site and produced only 2 blocks away on Larimer.

Crema is a fresh take on the traditional coffee shop, it’s a Good place to get work done or meet with a friend or business colleague, and I definitely see myself returning back often!

Crema is located at 2862 Larimer Streetin the River North (RiNo) neighborhood. To search Denver homes for sale nearby, click here.

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!

Good Denver Concert: Victor Wooten at Cervantes This Saturday

David Schlichter — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 02:09:41 +0000

Victor Wooten is coming to Denver to play a show at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom this Saturday. The five-time Grammy award winner is widely considered to be one of the best bassists in the world, and his show should definitely be Good. Tickets are $20 in advance (a steal, in my book!) or $25 at the door.

See above for a Good video of Victor Wooten teaching “music as a language.” For more information on the concert and tickets, click here.

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!

Good Denver Craft Brewery Guide in This Month’s 5280 Magazine

David Schlichter — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 01:32:32 +0000

5280 Magazine’s February issue just came out, and the cover story is a Good one: a guide to 22 craft breweries in Denver. The article provides a quick synopsis of each brewery, and I found that there are several breweries highlighted in the article that I hadn’t been to yet, or even heard of. I love 5280 magazine for continually providing fresh stories that are relevant, engaging, and useful, and this issue is proving to be no exception to the rule.

If you’re a beer connoisseur, I highly recommend that you grab a copy of this month’s issue! The magazine is in stores now, or if you want to read it online, you can find it here. (Ladies, look out, too, for my Good friend Yoni Geffen, who is highlighted in this issue on page 51 as one of the “Mile High City’s 17 Hottest Singles”–you can meet him at 5280′s Singles in the City party on February 15th.)

For an earlier article I wrote on the Goodness of Colorado’s microbreweries, click here.

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!

Good News: Snow Heading to Mountains

David Schlichter — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:42:52 +0000

Snow has been dumping at Silverton Mountain (photo courtesy of Silverton Mountain's Facebook page)

Good news: snow is coming to the Colorado mountains! Silverton Mountain has reported a whopping 32 inches in the last 48 hours, and according to Opensnow.com’s Joel Gratz, the I-70 corridor is expected to get snow between now and Thursday, with significant accumulation early in the week. Click here for the latest powder predictions for Colorado mountains.

This has been a tough season for Colorado snow sport enthusiasts. Colorado’s snowfall is at only 60% of average levels, and the skiing has been lackluster, to say the least. But the lack of snow is a big deal for all Coloradans–not just skiers and snowboarders. Yes, less snow means less enjoyable winter sports, but it also means less tourist income for the state economy, increased fire danger for the coming summer, less water for agricultural production this spring/summer/fall, less rafting revenue in the spring and summer, and it raises questions about how climate change will impact the state in the long-term.

I’m hoping Joel’s powder predictions are accurate for this week, and that the snow keeps falling, and falling, and falling… In the meantime, we should all be keeping our fingers, toes, and skis crossed for continued snow in the Colorado mountains!

The Good Life Denver is written by David Schlichter. To stay in the loop, like The Good Life Denver on Facebook and follow @thegoodlifeden on Twitter!