"The Audacity of Hops"

One of my favorite bars is now The Oskar Blues Restaurant and Brewery in Lyons, Colorado. They call themselves "The Little Brewery That Cans." These fun folks were the first microbrewery to can their beers since 2002. Besides being very practical to take along outdoors, cans are actually better for beer than bottles since they block out all harmful sunlight. Cans are also easier and more efficient to recycle and to ship that bottles. And you can crush them on your forehead if you choose to do so.

Their colorful brewpub is a treasure of a place, full of character and liveliness. When we visited there was a top notch Honky-Tonk band downstairs tearing it up with upright bass, pedal steel guitar and harmonica. The food was outstanding. I had the superb Blackened Redfish Washday on a bed of rice and beans.

But most importantly they had a full arcade room, with not 1, 2, 3 but FOUR pinball machines. When I profusely thanked the hostess for the uncanny perfectness of the place she told me all their pinball machines were actually supplied from a shop right next door....