Dine & Dash: Destination Pints & Latin Bites 🍽
Ascent Brewing makes its mark as a destination drinking spot in Falcon; Peak Empanadas food truck lives up to its name with doughy delights
Ascent Brewery
Ascent Brewery reopens for the season on March 5 after a two-month winter break that owners Joe and Stephanie Prue took, having originally opened in April 2025.
During our visit in late December, Stephanie gives us a tour of the brewery, located in the rear of the taproom. The structure is situated on a little over 13 acres in Falcon, which they purchased in 2021. Completely self-funded, they, spent four years rehabilitating the land, to include tearing down dilapidated structures like an abandoned horse arena, and ultimately hauling away 130 tons of waste, she tells us. Then they got to work building, able to use some reclaimed items such as stall dividers from a horse barn, which were used to construct Ascent’s Bar.
Both Joe and Stephanie are Air Force veterans (of 26 and 20 years respectively), and they retired in 2017 to travel, taking an RV all over North America and gleaning a vision for what would become Ascent. Joe has home-brewed for around three decades, and they both took brewing classes before opening their own place.
Stephanie acknowledges that Ascent is somewhat of a destination-drive from for folks in the Springs, where they too live. But that’s what we find special about it, kind of like Paradox in Divide. It’s a reason to take a short Sunday drive away from the big city (to a much smaller, growing town) and enjoy the farmland vibes that still hold great mountain views. (For what its worth, JAKs Brewery in Falcon is roughly a 10 minute drive away, but it’s in a strip mall, so less scenic and purpose-built.)
From our tour we learn that they brew on a one-barrel Ruby Street Brewing system that yields a little over 30 gallons a batch, making this a true nano operation. “This will be a great pilot system once we expand later,” she says, noting they plan to jump up to a 5-barrel rig. She also shows off their “no waste” distribution lines from their coolers into the taproom, praising Pro Bev for their highly efficient design and custom install. Everything’s clearly been created with intentionality and good stewardship in mind. They recycle water from the brewing process and give spent grains to local farmers.
The taproom hosts 12 taps and the day we’re in they’re trying to run through what product is on hand before the long holiday break, so selections are a bit more limited. We grab a tasting paddle with a Christmas Ale, a Spruce Tip Blonde, an English IPA and a Dunkle, spanning a good range of styles. Our beertender says they tend to rotate regularly through New and Old World beers.
I know by the time you’re reading this you’re likely past cravings of holiday-season flavors, so transport yourself back a couple months to set the mood. (Make your mantra “pumpkin spice, pumpkin spice, pumpkin spice … okay, now you’re with me.)
The Christmas Ale didn’t actually exude too much baking spice, so I’d call it nicely balanced. It had a toasty, maltier profile with a dark amber, velvety body — lovely. The Spruce Tip Blonde (made from Colorado-harvest spruce tips) had a darker coloration than expected, which was of no matter at all other than observation. It drank bready and crisp without excessive spruce influence, which is to say the natural adjunct was folded in subtly and well.
The English IPA played true to form — the opposite of wildly citrusy and highly hopped American IPAs if you aren’t familiar — with mild bitterness, higher maltiness and a dry finish. This one was dark-bodied with a creamy head and I was reminded for a moment of a Scotch Ale flavor, due to a faint caramel note.
Lastly, the Dunkle landed the anticipated Bavarian dark lager flavors with a dark body, toasty maltiness and big, bready vibe. We felt pumpernickel was the closest loaf we could associate. In my notes I also wrote down “coffee acidity,” which in retrospect I think speaks to a hint of chocolate bitterness that bit the tongue a little.
Since I wasn’t there to judge and grade at a GABF level by style — which I’m not qualified to do, let’s be clear — I didn’t care to nitpick and dive deeper than our own tasting notes. We relished the samples of what we drank and overall enjoyed our time at the brewery, dining on Gossip Point’s awesome butter chicken dishes. So that answers that question: Yes, they have food trucks regularly servicing Ascent, so you can generally feed yourself well, too.
Make time to check it out when you can. I won’t fault you if you wait for a warm day to enjoy the sun on Ascent’s patio or stroll around their carved wood sculpture garden. Either way, pause over a sip to appreciate all the effort that went into bringing Ascent to life. It’s a unique place.
Peak Empanadas & Latin Bites
We find the Peak Empanadas food truck at its prior spot on 4650 N. Nevada Ave., outside the now-defunct Señor Manuel’s Restaurant. They’ve since moved to regular service at Golden Hills Park off of Delmonico Drive — 3:30-6:30 p.m., Thursdays-Fridays, and noon to 5 p.m., Saturdays — but make sure to check their Facebook page for the latest updates before you venture for them.
When we visit in mid December (yeah, you could say I’m late to this write-up) they’ve only been open a few weeks but they seem to have things dialed in enough. I chat with the crew through the open side door while they cook, learning that the chef/owner is Panamanian, but representing other Latin American and Caribbean cuisines with his tight menu of a half-dozen items.
We’re damn tempted by the Cubano sanwich — which they’ve really been hyping on social media lately as their flagship item, even offering a money-back guarantee (which may have just been promotional — not sure).
But for reasons I can’t recall, we opted for the Pan Con Bistec, which is sirloin steak and caramelized onions with “potato sticks” — not fat fries — on Cuban bread (delivered from Tampa we’re told) with an optional Swiss melt plus tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup and mayo. We get the cheese and forgo the rest. I like that they lightly toast and glaze the soft bread on their flat-top with honey butter, which adds to the onions’ sweetness. The chewy steak bits pop with a seasoning that’s almost evocative of Italian spices, mainly oregano. It’s a good sandwich overall.
On the side we get yucca fries a pair of beef empanadas, as they’re sold out of the ham and cheese and pizza flavors late in the shift. The fat, crispy and highly starchy yucca fries are a textural treat as always.
The thick, Panamanian-style, wheat-flour empanadas — almost as big as a sandwich half, for $4 each — have almost a pizza dough vibe, with a dense but soft chew. The ground beef core’s rich and delightful dipped in the provided chimichurri and habanero hot sauce, which I learn has been discontinued since our visit. When I later reach back out for details, the staff tell me the chimichurri is their “secret” recipe, but do share that it’s made with garlic, cilantro and a little jalapeño for atypical heat.
We’re happy with every bite of the meal, which feeds two of us for around $35 post-tip.