When I first moved to Denver last fall, I’d heard of a brewery that invited all-vegan food trucks to be parked outside. As a vegan in a beer-loving town (and a beer-lover in a vegan-friendly town), I had to see what was up.
My boyfriend and I knew we wanted to stop in and see if it lived up to the hype, so we made a couple of attempts. The first visit, we found the place one hundred percent jam-packed on Halloween – so, we sadly headed elsewhere. On the next visit, we had poor time management yet again, and the food truck had sold out – so, again, we left with our tails between our legs.
To hold myself better accountable, I started really following this place (Alternation Brewing Company) on social media. I noticed The Humane League was hosting quite a few of their monthly social “Vegan Drinks” events here. This caught my eye, so we made sure to show up one evening – early enough to get our pub grub on, this time.
We came back to find WongWay Veg out front in a bright orange truck, and a few seats open at the bar. Little did we know that The Humane League event was taking place in the back room – but we heard most folks discussing veganism and enjoying the food, so were just happy to finally be able to nab a seat.
While glancing over the menu in our hands, we noticed a small disclaimer at the bottom of the menu: every brew was cruelty-free. Could this be true? Then it all started to make sense: the strictly-vegan food trucks, The Humane League meet-up events, and the names of some of these brews, such as the rotating draft know as “For The Animals”… Of COURSE we were in a vegan haven!
Two bites into my better-than-Taco-Bell “Crunchy Tostada Wrap” and two sips into my carefully crafted plant-based brew, I was hooked.
It was right around this time in mid-November that a wonderful collaboration was about to be born.
The vegan community quickly gathered for what is now a weekly “Kegs Not Eggs!” brunch. Here, the dream team behind Alternation’s inventive (and ever-rotating) beer list and WongWay Veg‘s comfort-based food truck came together to put on a cruelty-free Sunday Brunch from 11 AM – 2 PM. Yes, you can now have tasty bloody-beers and beer-mosas alongside your biscuits and gravy, and it’s just as magical as you imagine.
Not only is the food and beverage combo from these two businesses unparalleled, but the service is spectacular. The owners and staff of Alternation are so casually friendly that you’d think they know you from somewhere else – if you didn’t just move to town. And the ladies behind WongWay have an infectious ebullience that clearly shines through from their mobile kitchen to the compostable plates they hand you, filled to the brim. Alternation hosts in an inclusive environment, from vegans to non-vegans, from friends and families to lone strangers; Paired with WongWay, they’re nailing the whole brunch experience.
It has to be mentioned that each of these businesses are involved with many other vegan organizations around town, collaborating on one surprise after the next. You can usually find WongWay Veg by checking their website schedule or social media updates. And as for Alternation, they’re always shaking things up, whether that’s on their tap list or by hosting other tasty events. Be sure to follow these folks so you know what delicious shenanigans they’ll be up to in the future (@wongwayveg and @alternationbrewing).
In the mean time… maybe I’ll see you at the next “Kegs Not Eggs!” Sunday brunch. I’ll be the blonde in the back, playing Scrabble or some other board game, enjoying the newest IPA with my good ol’ BnG. (That’s short for biscuits ‘n gravy… Now you know.) Cheers!
About the author: Miranda is currently a Denver-based foodie and traveler whose motto is “Eat your veggies, See the world, Share your story!” Follow her HappyCow account, social media handles, and YouTube channel: @UprootedFoodie. Website: TheUprootedFoodie.blogspot.com
