Beer and Barbecue: Two Dozen Tastiest Events on the Culinary Calendar

Beers, chili and charity: It's all on the culinary calendar this weekend. In fact, Denver is overflowing with food events over the next few days, so you won't have any trouble finding one to suit your fancy. Keep reading for all the tasty details. 

Friday, September 11

Infinite Monkey Theorem will host ten of the country's best chefs at the James Beard Celebrity Chef Dinner tonight. The ten chefs, including several from Denver, will collaborate on the dinner hosted by winemaker Ben Parsons. Tickets are $155 and can be purchased here.  

The Post Brewing Company will celebrate the release of its canned beers with a series of Can Release Parties, the first of which will take place at Centro Latin Kitchen today from 4 to 6 p.m. Tomorrow the party will be rocking at the Post, and on Sunday it will roll over to Lola.  The Can Release Parties will feature $1 Post cans in addition to each restaurant's respective happy-hour menu. There will be live music, swag giveaways, free beer samples, and Post can merchandise for sale. Can release week will also kick off a social media contest in which the winner will receive free six-packs of Post canned beer every month for a year. For more details, check out postbrewing.com. 

Breckenridge is throwing the town's 21st annual Oktoberfest this weekend. The September street party is where Munich meets the mountains, featuring more than three dozen genuine German cuisine and brew vendors, excessive Bavarian lederhosen dancing and fun for all ages. For all the details, click here.  

Denver Food and Wine steams into the weekend with two tasty events today. From 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Metropolitan State University, you can learn how your wine glass affects your wine experience. Doug Reed, Riedel ambassador, will demonstrate the relationship between the shape of a glass and our perception of wines. Tickets are $75 and include four wine glasses, each selected for a specific variety that you'll be able to taste at the event. And then you can let loose at the Alice 105 End of Summer Cocktail Party, featuring a cocktail competition, food trucks and entertainment. Tickets for the party are $55. And tomorrow the whole event culminates during the Grand Tasting at Metro State, where there will be more than 35 Denver restaurants, 700 varieties of wine and spirits, celebrity guest chef Rick Tramonto and more. For tickets to any of these events and more information, visit denverfoodandwine.com.  

Longmont's Oktoberfest celebration will showcase ten bands, nine Longmont breweries, German fare, games and family fun, all packed into two glorious days. Today from 4 to 10 p.m. and tomorrow from noon to 10 p.m., you can get into the German spirit at Roosevelt Park. Admission to the festival is free, but there is a $5 suggested donation that benefits Left Hand Brewing Foundation, St. Vrain Valley Schools and The Inn Between of Longmont.  For details, click here.  

Shamrock Foodservice Warehouse at 460 South Lipan Street is firing up the grills from 9 a.m. to noon today when Shamrock Foods corporate chefs will be cooking up beef, pork and chicken, each paired with a select sauce. For more information, head over to shamrockfsw.com. 

Saturday, September 12

The Denver Flea is back and taking over Sculpture Park today and tomorrow. The market will bring a "Food Truck Row," over 150 vendors, six bars, live music, yoga, games, a tapping of Denver Flea and New Belgium's collaboration brew Fleak Out!, and much more. The event is free and if you RSVP here, you can also get a free beer. For more information, check out denverflea.com.     

Tour de Fat, New Belgium Brewing’s traveling celebration of all things bicycle, rolls into City Park today. The eclectic celebration of beers and brews will kick off at 11 a.m. with a costumed bike parade, registration begins at 10 a.m. In addition to the parade there will be circus acts, puppet shows, dance-offs, a fashion show, live music, plenty of beer and much much more. The event is free but you can preregister with a $5 or $10 donation to score some Tour de Fat swag. For more information and a peek at the packed schedule, head over to newbelgium.com.

Gravity Brewing is turning three and throwing a birthday bash today from 1 to 10 p.m. There will be live performances by Jazz Ram and Full Belly as well as hourly tappings of barrel-aged and small-batch beers. For more information, check out thegravitybrewing.com.

The Colorado Chile Festival will be heating up Centennial Center Park this weekend. The green chile and salsa competitions will be augmented by live music, a singing competition, family-friendly entertainment and more. You can step into the ring of fire from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow. Admission to the event is free and the festival is donating 100 percent of profits to Second Wind Fund and its efforts to provide youth at risk of suicide with mental help. For more information, click here.

From 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, the Big Chili Cook-off will be lighting up Buchanan Park in Evergreen — but not to worry, there will be plenty of firefighters around to put out the flames, since the event will be honoring firefighters working in our communities. Molly Hatchet and Jimmie Van Zant will headline a lineup that will set the mood for food, fun, chili, live entertainment and the Firefighters Challenge. Tickets for the event are $15 and can be purchased at the gate—online ticket sales have ended. For more information, visit bigchili.org.

It's a match made in heaven, but you won't have to go that far to indulge in the Bourbon and Bacon Tour today. The tour pours into Central City from noon to 6 p.m. and brings with it all-you-can-eat bacon and bourbon from Colorado artisans. Tickets to heaven on earth are $15 online or at King Soopers or $20 at the event, and will get you five bacon dish-tasting activity tokens, two bacon sampler tokens, free bourbon tastings, live music, activities and a chance to win some prizes. Get tickets and learn more here.  

Share Denver is celebrating the end of summer with a Make and Mingle End-of-Summer Craft BBQ. The BBQ will feature fun for the whole family including crafts, libations, food, entertainment and more. The BBQ and craft bash runs from 2 to 5 p.m. today. For more information, click here.

Denver's own Soul Food Scholar, Adrian Miller, will read from and sign his book Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time at BookBar today. There will also be tastings of recipes from his book, which is a James Beard Award winner. The event kicks off at 7 p.m. For more information, head over to bookbardenver.com. 

The Arvada Elks Lodge No. 2278 will be handing out a few cold ones for a cause today during Red, White and Brew Five. The event will showcase over 65 beers to sample, snacks, a silent auction and more. Tickets to the event, which runs from 3 to 5 p.m., are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Proceeds from the event benefit Homeless Veterans Stand Down. For more information, click here.

This weekend the 12th Annual Festival Italiano at Belmar will be serving up the region's best selection of homemade Italian specialties as well as an artisan marketplace, live music on two stages, wine tastings, grape stomping, strolling performers and flag throwers flown in from Italy. You can find your inner-Italian from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow. Admission to the event is free but you'll want to bring some cash for food  and drinks.  Proceeds benefit Project Angel Heart. For more information, check out belmarcolorado.com.  

Today will be chili at Crested Butte, but not the kind of chilly the ski area is used to. The 17th Annual Chili and Beer festival roars into town from 1 to 6 p.m., when guests can sample locally made chili, sip some of Colorado’s finest craft beer and enjoy great tunes, all for $25. For more tickets and more information, click here. 

Lafayette has quite the event brewing today: The Lafayette Brew Fest will take over Lafayette Florist and Greenhouses from 1 to 6 p.m. and it's bringing live music from Chris Daniel's and the Kings, wine, food vendors and, of course, craft beer. The event is free, but beers are sold by 4 ounce pours. For more information, visit lafayettecolorado.com.

Lala's Wine Bar and Pizzeria will host Kannah Creek Brewing Company for a multi-course beer dinner tonight. The five-course dinner will be served at 6 p.m. Reservations are $45 per person and can be made by calling Lala's at 303-861-9463. 

Waste Farmers, at 11600 West 58th Avenue in Arvada, will host the Weirdness and Wellness Harvest Fest today at 4 p.m. There will be dancing, drinks and fresh food from the farm. The event is free and open to the public. 

Sunday, September 13 

Blue Bonnet will be paying respects to the restaurant's co-founder, Phil Mobell, today. Phil worked side by side with his wife, Arlene, for almost fifty years to make the restaurant what it is today. Phil will be memorialized when Blue Bonnet changes the name of iyd famous margaritas to Phil's Margarita, since he came up with the recipe and kept it secret. Blue Bonnet will also be rolling out chicken wings for the first time during the first Denver Broncos game in honor of Phil’s love for the Broncos. For more information, call the restaurant at 303-778-0147.  

Starting today and running all through football season, Tracks will be throwing The Big Gay Football Day for every Broncos game. Enjoy all the games on a giant, 40 foot by 10 foot screen, and enjoy weekly food and drink specials, games and prizes. There is no cover for the event. Get all the details at tracksdenver.com.

The Tavern, an official sponsor of the Broncos, is rolling out its annual First Possession Payoff promotion with the Broncos. You can enter any time you visit a Tavern location for a chance to win two tickets to a Broncos game, be on the sidelines and win up to $7,000 in cash and prizes! Find more information at the Tavern website.

Basta will host a pop-up dinner today cooked by chef/owner Kelly Whitaker and guest chef Gabe Kennedy. Kennedy won ABC's cooking competition, The Taste, earlier this year and will be bringing the skills he used to conquer the competition to this special Sunday supper. Seats ar $45 each for the four-course harvest dinner, which will celebrate wood-fire cookery and communal dining. Beverage pairings will also be available for between $25 and $35. For reservations, which are available from 5 to 10 p.m., call Basta at 303-997-8775. 

 
For more Food & Drink events, go to our online calendar. If you know of an event that should be included in that calendar, send information to [email protected].