After Black Shirt Brewing Company we meandered through the Northeastern block of the RiNo neighborhood to a brewery called Our Mutual Friend. It wasn’t a far walk but it was interesting in its’ own right. On our stroll, it was hard not to notice a cyclical feel of this Denver neighborhood. The buildings are all adorable hipster zombies of a previous industrial life. The old has become new, as do most things.
Our Mutual Friend hits the eyes with a mural of two people made out of a cornucopia of different colors shaking hands. There is a charm to the place with a small patio and string lights everywhere just like Christmas morn. A record player spins the music over speakers that parlays a nostalgic tenderness to the bar. Gifts of good beer and the slow spiraling out of life into unreasonable behavior were handed to us at the door. And when we arrived it was already packed, rightfully so.
Behind the bar stands a large bookshelf full of numerous travel guides and other knowledge capsules. I assume “our mutual friend” is well traveled and drinks good beer. Nothing wrong with seeing the world and letting loose. And that is just the type mutual friend sounds that I want to stick around in my life.
The Cherry Gose was my first brew ($6). This sweet and sour craft beer went down easy under the muted lighting of Our Mutual Friend, dangerously tasty. While we sat at a table a young woman with pink hair roller skated with technicolor roller skates. There is always interesting people and things to observe in this life. In the spirit of exploration, I grabbed a Belgian Wit called Wicket and we walked out to the busy patio and took our seat at a community picnic table next to some older guys who looked to be escaping their wives.
In the parking lot of Our Mutual Friend was a food truck with a varied selection of sandwiches and other $8 drunk delicacies. I chose the Gyro for good measure. Lamb meat and tzatziki sauce remind me of a less serious age when handjobs were still exciting and it wasn’t such a goddamn jungle out there. Or maybe it was and I didn’t care because the basics were all I needed when in the drunken rapture of Greek food.
*This review was written on two separate occasions so I apologize for continuity issues. But the clincher of both experiences happened when young looking fella with long sideburns and trucker hat poured me a beer called 36 Barrels: A Shaolin Saison ($6). And the beer was delicious. I think this sold me on OMF because I need more good Wu-Tang references in my life and Saisons are slowly becoming my favorite type of beer with their variety in styles and high alcohol content. Wu-Tang should be a common ground with all of my mutual friends.*
With all these elements combined, I think I found a keeper in Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company.
It was time for us to move on because at that point in the night we were ready for cheap beer and shots of hard booze. I wore the liquid jacket that was gifted to me by Our Mutual Friend as we walked deeper into Lodo and I thought to myself how fuckin’ nice it was to meet a new lifelong friend.
Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company
Website: omfbeer.com
Address: 2810 Larimer St. Denver, CO 80205