Last night I met up with one of my college roommates, Nick, at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse.  Though we haven’t really stayed in touch, I still see him from time to time, though it had probably been a couple of years.  He has been doing some work related training in Boulder all week, so we decided to meet up for some drinks in Broomfield, which is between Denver and Boulder.  I remembered eating at the BJ’s in Boulder a few years back, and suggested we meet there.

Kim and I arrived to find Nick in the waiting area with a beer already in hand.  We grabbed a table for the three of us and started catching up.  Nick and Jessica have a son that is almost six months old, so we had lots to talk about, especially with our upcoming adventure into parenting.  I started with a Pumpkin Ale, my first of the season.  It was a little sweet for my liking at first, but the spicy pumpkin pie like finish brought me back for more.  It obviously wasn’t my favorite beer ever, but it was an alright start to the night.

For dinner, we decided to split two medium pizzas.  We ordered the vegetarian and the southwestern, with chipotle tomato sauce, spicy blackened chicken, green chilies, cheddar cheese and diced tomatoes topped with fresh cilantro.  The vegetarian tasted very much as I expected, but the southwestern was delicious!  The thick deep dish pizzas reminded me a little of Pizza Hut pizza, but much better quality.  I think it was the bubbly crust with a hint of grease that reminded me of the Hut.  However, the tomatoes were giant slices, and all of the fresh toppings were piled high.

To round out the night I sampled both the Piranha Pale Ale and the Tatonka Stout.  I had the Piranha before and remembered it being a very solid pale ale with a great hop character.  The stout was the real surprise of the night, actually an imperial stout, with a nice spiciness at first, followed by a mellow balance of malt and hop that you’d expect from a stout.  It had much more flavor than I was expecting, and I would definitely order it again.  I enjoyed these beers over continuing conversation with my old friend.  We both agreed that we needed to get together more often.  To make it easier to stay in touch, I tried to convince him to join Facebook, but he has no interest.  Oh well, I’d rather meet for beers anyway.