Mile High Beer and Cheese Festival (10/21/23)
I love cheese. I love it in all forms, I love cooking with it, and I love eating it, so when I heard that there was a beer and cheese festival going on in Denver, CO, there was no stopping me from checking it out.
The Mile High Beer and Cheese Festival near the Denver Community College brings in local cheese lovers in Denver to serve up their best macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich, or beer for Denver locals and visitors to enjoy, and I was very fortunate to be able to attend this past year’s festival so I can tell you about all of the cheesy highlights.
Bandwagon Sandwich Co
Upon entering the festival, the first stop comes to from a sandwich food truck that fills the hearts of Denver for years, Bandwagon Sandwich Co. Owned by Jerry Cass and his family, Bandwagon is no stranger to serving up top-quality sandwiches made from the heart.
Bandwagon was one of few vendors to serve both mac and cheese and a grilled cheese sandwich, presumably to give them an even better chance to win votes from the festival goers. On the pasta side, they gave us a Philly cheesesteak-style mac and cheese topped with a house-made queso sauce, which was as full of cheesy goodness as it was packed with flavor from the steak, onions, and peppers.
On the sandwich side of things, Bandwagon served up a very unique grilled cheese filled with thinly sliced steak, roasted red peppers, grilled onions, and pickled jalapenos and served with a bit of an au jus to dip the sandwich in. The sandwich itself was as flavorful as their mac and cheese and that jus gave it a nice French dip vibe that took that sandwich over the edge.
The Waffle Lab
This next sandwich that I’m about to mention might sound insane because it is, but it was the best grilled cheese sandwich I had that entire day, it was a sandwich that could have only been cooked up by The Waffle Lab, a restaurant in Boulder and Fort Collins who serves up the most innovative and unique waffles that Colorado has ever seen,
What is this mighty sandwich, you may ask? Only a sandwich filled with cream cheese, bacon, and jalapeno, which doesn’t sound too crazy for grilled cheese, but rather than your standard bread, The Waffle lab chose to split a thick waffle in half, stuff it with the mentioned fillings, and then coated in a glorious cheese crust.
The result: A sandwich that is slightly sweet, smoky, spiced, and so full of cheese that even the Swiss wouldn’t know what to do with it.
Comal Heritage Food Incubator
Up next, we have a dish from a company that serves a noble cause, Comal Heritage Food Incubator. Launched Focus Points Family Resource Center in 2016, Comal’s restaurant was made for the Latin American community to give economic opportunity to 40 participants and has helped launch 6 businesses.
At the festival, Comal served up a unique array of quesadillas, the only quesadillas in the festival, in fact, filled with either chicken, carne asada, or veggies and then topped with their classic red salsa. I chose the carne asada quesadilla and I have to say that it was perfect, the steak inside was nice and tender, it was cheesy, and that salsa on top provided a nice hit of acidity and brightness to counteract the rich quesadilla.
Urban Delight Catering and Cuisine
Up next, we have a catering company that knows how to do creativity the right way, Urban Delight Catering. That level of creativity truly shows in the two bites that Urban Delight delighted the festival with, the first being a fried Southwestern mac and cheese ball that had plenty of cheesy nuttiness along with a hint of spice that made them true one-bite wonders.
But if that wasn’t enough, then get ready because Urban Delight also managed to make a sweet grilled cheese sandwich! This sandwich featured grilled slices of banana bread filled with mascarpone and cookie butter for the ultimate blend of sweet, creamy, nutty, and a hint of banana-ness.
Paired with a sweet peach cocktail that Urban Delight mixed up, which had the refreshing flavor of a peach lemonade, and it was all around a creative and delicious experience.
Sam’s No. 3 Diner
A local favorite since 1927, Sam’s No. 3 Diner does classic diner food their way, such as their corned beef hash benedict, plus classics like chicken and waffle.
Sam’s offering happened to be my favorite mac and cheese that was served at the festival, not that any of the other mac and cheese weren’t anything short of perfection; it was pasta tossed in Mexican-style queso sauce, chorizo, and green chili, then smothered onto tortilla chips, effectively making it mac and cheese nachos.
Not only was their mac and cheese incredibly creamy and full of cheese and a bit of spice, but the chips proved to be the perfect vessel to lift all of that cheesy goodness and make this guy who grew up in Texas very happy.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
I could keep going on about all of the incredible dishes that I sampled at the Mile High Beer and Cheese Festival, but I am going to have to stop here with this final vendor that happened to be a local barbecue restaurant that, thanks to previous festivals, I had already enjoyed, and that was Sugarfire Smokehouse.
On the menu were two unique variations on mac and cheese, the first being a smoked brisket mac and the other being a caprese (the classic tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad)-style mac.
First off, the brisket mac and cheese was loaded with tender smoked brisket that, when combined with the creamy cheese sauce, made it almost like having a barbecue dinner in one bite, and the Caprese, which was topped with a mozzarella cheese sauce, cherry tomatoes, and pesto hit the Italian-food lover in me in all the right ways, and it was the perfect way to end a perfect festival.
