Sunday 28th of September 2008 10:46:29 PM

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Sitting next to a nice, brick bar facing the street, it's easy to miss Flood Stage's small ice house style setup from the road through the layer of trees and parking lot that obscure the sign. Brighton's about the last place I would expect to find a brewpub, so I made a special trip out of Denver to get here just before flying out of DIA.
I found an ice house style bar with about 10 people sitting at the bar cheering on the football games on the four, large TVs. There was also what looked like a private "Go Broncos" party outside on the patio where barbecuing was going on.
The bartender, who I can only assume is heavily involved, if not owner, of the establishment, was very friendly and he was always on top of people.
They had a wide tap selection of some really excellent brews, almost all from Colorado, and mostly from the Denver-Longmont-Boulder region. I saw at least three Avalanches, four Great Divides, a Sawtooth and a couple of Left Hands, just to name a few.
But I was here to try his beer, and he was quick to offer what to turned out to be their only beer: a strong ale. In all honesty, it's disappointing to me when a brewpub has less than five beers, but definitely so when they have one, but I will say that that one beer was excellent. At 9.2 ABV, according to the bartender, it was smooth, flavorful, and certainly did not go down like a 9+, but, instead, like something much weaker. So "Beer Selection" gets a 3.5, knocked down only because they had just one of their own beers on tap.
The nicest surprise was the bill: $3 for the one pint of the house brew. Not bad, especially when you consider what you typically pay in adjacent Denver.
Plenty of parking around. If the small lot is full, you can just park out on the street. Brighton's a pretty small town, so it's never very hard. They offer food, but I didn't get a chance to look at the menu.