Allegra (check out her blog The Drugstore Connoisseur) told me the other day, “Beryl, all you write about is booze and figure skating…” Well, Allegra, this one’s for you.

Forget the fact that we just had snow and refocus on the flowers coming up. It’s summer and as Johnny Weir once said, “I’m very, very, very excited. Very, very elated. Lovely, really.”

There is one thing to do in Colorado in the summer (save for hiking climbing , etc.) and that is drink beer outside. Colorado has a slew of breweries, as we all know, but where to drink the beer for free, or for super cheap is the real trick.

So-here it is: the cheaper side of life presents, where and when to drink micro-brews for cheap.

Let’s start at the bottom…in a matter of speaking:

Coors Brewery

300 12th Street
Golden, CO 80401
(303) 277-2337

Tours are 35 minutes and go Thursday through Monday, 10 am to 4 pm and on Sundays from 12 pm to 4 pm. After the tour, you head to the lounge and get free samples of all the beers (there is a limit, but it’s cool cause this is just the start.)

Since you’re in Golden, head to:

Golden City Brewery

920 12th Street
Golden, CO 80401
(303) 279-8092

For $7 you’ll get to relax, either in their tasting rooms or outside on the patio, and taste 6 different 5oz samples of their home brews. They are open every day from 11:30 am to 6:30 pm.

Okay, on to Fort Collins… We all know about New Belguim and Odell, right?

New Belgium Brewery

500 Linden Street

Fort Collins, CO 80524

(970) 221-0524‎

Quick update: New Belgium has increased the number of tours, but book online cause they always fill up. Now, during the tour you sample 6 beers, walk, drink, look at stuff…the usual.  If you decide you don’t want to do the tour, you now get only 2 free tastes, but hey…for free and vinegar is sweet, right?

Just a stone’s leap away is Odell Brewery. A six-beer sample is $3 and a tour is free.

800 East Lincoln Avenue

Fort Collins, CO

(970) 482-2881

Back to Boulder–

Avery Brewery

5763 Arapahoe Avenue

Boulder, CO 80303

(303) 440-4324

Hop over to Avery Brewery for their free tour and pint glass. With that glass, you get a $5 beer or… skip the tour and get tasters for just $1 each. And the brewery is open Tuesday through Sunday.

And while you’re there, go to Mountain or Southern Sun (they own Vine Street here in Denver) and get 6 6oz beers of your choice for $9.25; plus, on weekends, there is usually live music and, if not, they have tons of games to play….

Mountain Sun

1535 Pearl Street, Boulder CO

(303) 546-0886

I’ll go Denver in another blog, I just sometimes need to get out of the city, and those are some great places to get a beer on you little getaway.

If beer and summer and weekend isn’t American…then this picture def. is.