BAR: FALLING ROCK TAP HOUSE
There are no martini glasses at Falling Rock Tap House, at 1919 Blake St. in the heart of LoDo. “If a drink has a cute name, we’re not making it,” says Chris Black, who owns the joint with his brothers, Steve and Alan. Yes, Falling Rock is for beer, with 77 brewskis on tap and 160 by the bottle. And it gets packed, even with two stories and a patio. The walls are covered with bottles of beer and beer taps. Out come pints of beer and pitchers of beer with names like Mothership Wit, Old Chub, Summer Sue and Moose Drool. Open every day, 11-2 a.m., with pub food and, you guessed it, beer.
GRILLED: MARTY JONES
Beer here! It’s Marty Jones, 50, Colorado’s unofficial beer ambassador. Drinking brew and singing its praises. He came to Denver for his honeymoon in 1991 — which happily coincided with the Great American Beer Festival, an event that returns starting today at the Colorado Convention Center. Jones and his wife, Lisa, moved here for good in 1995. He has done the festival’s PR in the past, revved things up for Oskar Blues Cajun Grill & Brewery in Lyons, and he still organizes the Beerdrinker of the Year contest for Wynkoop Brewing Co. He heads up the band Marty Jones and the Great Unknowns (playing the Skylark Lounge, 140 S. Broadway, at 10 Saturday night), and before that Marty Jones and the Pork Boilin’ Poor Boys. He orders a Hercules Double IPA from Great Divide Brewery.
BH: Why that beer?
Jones: I like a nice assertive beer. And I’m here for one beer. It’s gotta count, gotta mean something.
BH: Why beer? What is it about beer?
Jones: In college, I was turned on to Ballantine IPA (Indian Pale Ale) and that changed my life. I had never tasted a beer before that totally redefined what beer was.
BH:Why do dogs like beer so much?
Jones: Dogs understand a good thing.
BH: I drink vodka. The opposite of beer. Odorless, colorless, tasteless.
Jones: What’s the point? Beer is the people’s drink. It’s unpretentious. In 30 years, we have gone from being a country where people snickered at our beer to the world’s best beer-making country.
BH: Homer Simpson is going to open the beer festival this year.
Jones: I don’t quite know what to make of Homer at the GABF. But this is a celebration of all American beer. And Homer has done his part in promoting beer, that’s for sure.
BH: Do you go to the bathroom a lot when you drink beer?
Jones: That’s a myth.
BH: Not in my world.
Jones: If you drink large amounts of cruddy beer, sure. But if you sip and savor good beer, you don’t spend that much time in the bathroom.
BH: Is the festival wild?
Jones: Most people come to explore America’s beer riches. Granted, there are some people who are there to get as much to drink as possible. The beauty of the GABF is all America’s great brewers are there and you can talk to them and shake their hand and say ‘Thank you,’ and that’s a big deal. It’s like meeting your favorite band.
BH: What’s your idea of perfect happiness?
Jones: Sitting with my wife, each of us with a really wonderful beer in hand, my dog close by, a guitar by the side of the chair.
BH: What’s your greatest fear?
Jones: My doctor telling me I can no longer drink beer. That would be a terrible thing.
BH: What’s the most expensive bottle of beer you’ve ever bought?
Jones: I think I bought a Lost Abbey beer here once for $30. But you can buy a sixpack of the world’s greatest beer for under $10. A screaming value.
BH: What’s your current state of mind?
Jones: Extremely happy.
BH: When do you lie?
Jones: When a guy comes up and says ‘Here’s my home brew. What do you think?’ And I admit that I have lied in that instance.
BH: What do you dislike about your appearance?
Jones: I lost my eyebrows. I can handle going bald, but I am a little worried about losing my eyebrows.
BH: What word or phrase do you overuse?
Jones: Wondrous.
BH: The love of your life?
Jones: My wife, Lisa Woolsey-Jones. She’s my best beer-drinking friend too. I am a lucky dude.
BH: Do you have an iPod?
Jones: Nope. I have never downloaded a song in my life. But I like Dwight Yoakam, my all-time hero. Robbie Fulks, Tommy Womack, Jason and the Scorchers. And a lot of Aimee Mann lately.
BH: Books?
Jones: Not too many. The New York Times every Sunday. And I just read Rick Reilly’s book “Hate Mail From Cheerleaders.” It was wonderful.
BH: Restaurants?
Jones: Duo’s the finest restaurant in town.
BH: Favorite bar?
Jones: Falling Rock. It’s my local bar.
BH: If you could change something in yourself, what would it be?
Jones: I wouldn’t be such a procrastinator. My wife asked me why I was such a procrastinator, and without even thinking about it I said, “Can we talk about this later?”
BH: What are you most proud of?
Jones: What I’ve done for beer in this state. And it sounds hokey, but I somehow found the wisdom to marry my wife. I didn’t think I was the marrying type.
BH: Where would you like to live?
Jones: Denver. Most of my days here have felt like some kind of vacation.
BH: What’s your idea of total misery?
Jones: Being stuck in an airport on a layover with no beer and having to listen to opera the whole time.
BH: And your motto?
Jones: Spread some joy around. Life is short. Make people happy.
Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Bill Husted: 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com.
