Snake River Brewing Company
265 South Millward St.
Jackson, WY
Sometimes you definitely want the window seat.
Like when you are about to land at Jackson Hole Airport a half hour after sunset.
This is the only commercial airport in America located entirely within a National Park.
The Grand Teton mountains rise up out of the valley just a mile to the west of the terminal, and sit silhouetted against a crimson autumn sky.
As I admired these snowcapped peaks towering above, I realized this was the sixth airport I had hiked through in the last 24 hours.
Sixth!
Let me tell you, that is a heck of alot of TSA groping in one day. Like way alot.
So I needed a beer. Bad.
But I couldn’t take my eyes off those majestic peaks as they slowly faded against the twilight.
Can you imagine the dude who first laid eyes on these mountains?
Well, it would’ve probably been some club-wielding caveman 11,000 years ago.
No. I’m talking about the first dude who successfully crossed the winding Snake River in the valley, looked up, and exclaimed, “Wow. This is cool. I need to go back and tell people about this.”
As it turns out, that guy was probably one of the early 19th century French Canadian fur trappers looking for beavers.
These lonely French explorers took one look and immediately named this majestic mountain range, “Grand Tetons”.
Located a block or two off the main drag of tourist mecca Jackson, Wyoming, Snake River Brewing Company is a popular hangout for shaggy-haired, Silicon Valley trust-fund millennials whiling away their summers until they can break out their snow boards.
On a Tuesday night at 10:30pm, the place was packed.
And fortunately, still serving food.
Not bad for a town with only 8,000 permanent residents.
All the beer is brewed on premises and sit in huge copper vats right behind the bar.
I tried the Snake River Pale Ale first.
It lived up to its name. Pale, light, and uninteresting. It lacked the hoppy bite you get from most American pale ales.
My second choice – the Zonker Stout – was much better. Strong, flavorful, and malty, this was one of the better micro-brewed stouts I’ve had in a while.
For dinner, I ordered the BBQ chorizo peach pizza.
Yes. You read that right. Peaches on a pizza.
But you know what? The sweetness of the peach paired nicely with the spicy chorizo.
Using sweet molasses BBQ sauce in place of traditional pizza sauce, the combination of sweet and spicy was an exciting take on pizza.
Just when I thought the sweet BBQ sauce and the peaches were too overpowering, my mouth would start burning from the spicy Mexican sausage.
And I’d take another swig of Zonker Stout.
Ahhh. I deserved this. Six airports in 24 hours.
Traveling can take a toll on the mind and the spirit.
Just think about those French beaver trappers so far from home. They took one look at a mountain range and thought…. Huge tracks of land.
But thanks to Snake River Brewing Company, the next time I see those mountains, I’ll be thinking about peaches and beer.
