Beer

Here's to American Craft Beer Week, and something wet in every cup

Here's to American Craft Beer Week (which began Monday), the annual salute to small independent brewers that the Boulder-based Brewers Association (with help from Congress!) created seven years ago to increase awareness of craft beer. Of course, in Colorado, as some people say, every week is craft b ... More >>

American Craft Beer Week, wine dinners and more on the calendar this week

American Craft Beer Week begins today and flows through Sunday, May 19. The celebration raises many glasses to the national craft-beer movement happening in this country. Visit the website for a full schedule of events, and continue reading for the rest of this week's menu. See also: - Colorado bee ... More >>

A handful of breweries? CNN's beer-city list misses the mark on Denver

If you like beer and have an Internet connection, you've probably seen CNN's list of the 8 Best Beer Towns in the USA that went up Monday. While the list was better than most recent beer-city lists produced by national magazines and websites, it certainly had its share of problems. But for my purpo ... More >>

Beer calendar: Renegades, superheroes and American Craft Beer Week

Did you know that Italy has a thriving craft-beer scene? Neither did I. But Brian Jansing and Paul Vismara, two longtime suds slingers at the Falling Rock Taphouse, did, and they've traveled all over Italy, researching the movement as it grew from fewer than twenty craft breweries in 1996 to nearly ... More >>

Colorado Plus opens Monday with 56 local beers on tap -- and a brewery next month

The Colorado Plus Brew Pub (originally known as Colorado Liquid Art Works) will open on Monday, May 13, at 6995 West 38th Avenue in Wheat Ridge, with 56 Colorado craft beers on tap. Located in the former Valente's Italian Restaurant, which closed in 2008 after 44 years, Colorado Plus will also in ... More >>

Colorado's beer festivals are becoming victims of their own success

May brings Maibocks, spring tappings and the start of beer-fest season

Salt Lake City-based Epic Brewing, which announced in January that it will build a 20,000-square-foot brewery and taphouse in Denver, updated its followers on social media this week with a couple of pictures and some potential opening dates. The Facebook pictures (like the one above) show the brewer ... More >>

Breweries light up for 4/20, while Copper Kettle blows out two candles

Odell Brewing in Fort Collins recently began opening its taproom on Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., which means more beer (including taproom-only specials like Wee Willy Winkie, Easy Elephant and Monarch Saison) and more brewery tours. In fact, Odell now offers tours seven days a week at 1, 2, 3 an ... More >>

South Denver Beer Fest in Littleton will feature breweries-in-planning alongside the pros

Colorado breweries continue to open at a rapid pace in 2013 -- and they're typically swamped the minute they open by beer fans eager to sample their brews. But breweries-in-planning don't usually get a chance to put their products in front of customers (paying customers, anyway) ahead of time. That ... More >>

Beer calendar: high hopes and heavy hops appear for Rockies opening day

The massive Craft Brewers Conference, an annual industry-only meeting, wrapped up in Washington, D.C. last week, but a beer-themed art exhibit and auction, Amber Waves, sponsored by the Dogfish Head and Victory breweries continues through Friday. And it features a cool sculpture piece by Denver bott ... More >>

Two Rock Bottom brewers will open Lowdown Brewery and Pizzeria on Lincoln Street

Two brewmasters with the Colorado-based Rock Bottom chain will strike out on their own this fall by opening a full-scale brewpub and pizzeria in a high-profile spot between Capitol Hill and the Golden Triangle neighborhoods. Unlike most of the tap rooms that have opened recently around Denver, Lowd ... More >>

Photos: Raise a glass to the first Colorado Craft Beer Week

The Colorado Brewers Guild, which represents more than 100 of the state's 160-plus breweries, took over Colorado Beer Week this year, revitalizing it as Colorado Craft Beer Week. Brothers Scott and Jason Kerkmans started Colorado Beer Week as a for-profit production in 2011, but it needed more of a ... More >>

Crooked Stave, Wit's End, Our Mutual Friend tune in to Colorado Craft Beer Week

Colorado Craft Beer Week, which runs through March 24, is in full swing (and you can find some highlights in our calendar on the next page), but there's plenty of other beer news pouring out. On Monday, in advance of next weekend's annual Craft Brewers Conference, the Boulder-based Brewers Associati ... More >>

Colorado Craft Beer Week and more on the culinary calendar

The third annual Colorado Craft Beer Week begins today. The festival -- which is run by the nonprofit Colorado Brewers Guild -- features a series of beer dinners, tap takeovers, brewer meet-and-greets and other along the Front Range. Falling Rock Tap House, 1919 Blake Street, will kick the week of ... More >>

All-female brewer collaboration beer, dubbed Ellegance, will be tapped on Monday

The Wynkoop Brewing Company will kick off Colorado Craft Beer Week on Monday by tapping the first all-female collaboration brew in state history, a Belgian-style brown ale called "Ellegance." The project, which was coordinated by the Wynkoop's Bess Dougherty, involved eight woman who work for seven ... More >>

Cheers to Beer

Beer calendar: Belgian pales, barrel-aged beers and Colorado Craft Beer Week

The Mountain Sun group of pubs in Boulder and Denver have always been quirky (they don't take credit cards, for instance), but the clear, oversized mason jars they use instead of growlers have long frustrated fans who want to take their beer to go. Mountain Sun's delicious beer goes flat fast in the ... More >>

Left Hand Brewing's Week Sauce was designed specifically for craft beer weeks

Colorado Craft Beer Week, which was taken over this year by the nonprofit Colorado Brewers Guild, is just one of many similarly-themed festivals that go on in cities and states across the country. Some of the most famous ones take place in Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, D.C., but there are do ... More >>

Dubbels, double IPAs and downward dog highlight our beer calendar

Can craft beer and yoga co-exist? "You bet your flexible-ass they can," says Adrienne Rinaldi, who runs BrewAsanas, a one-hour yoga class that rotates between different breweries in the metro area and is always followed by a beer. Billed as a an introduction to both Vinyasa yoga and good beer, Brew ... More >>

The brewers at Prost and the Sandlot will team up on a new German-style lager

Two breweries -- one locally owned and the other managed by a big corporation -- will test the definition of "craft beer" next week when they collaborate on a new brew. Tom Hail, who has worked at Blue Moon Brewing Company @ the Sandlot since it opened in 1995, and Bill Eye, who left Dry Dock in 20 ... More >>

A new and improved Colorado Craft Beer Week debuts in March

The Colorado Brewers Guild, which represents the interests of more than 100 of the state's 160-plus breweries, has acquired the rights to Colorado Beer Week and will revitalize the celebration as Colorado Craft Beer Week. The fest, which will incorporate events throughout the state, kicks off on Ma ... More >>

Beer calendar: Beerdrinker of the Year, Pliny the Younger and Denver Off the Wagon

The local booze blog Denver Off the Wagon will celebrate its second birthday this weekend with a three-day extravaganza that celebrates the drinking culture around town. The festivities kick off Thursday with a six-course booze-paring dinner (involving beer, wine and spirts) at Joney's Eatbar (ticke ... More >>

Third Shift lager, a new MillerCoors beer, got its medal-winning start at Denver's Sandlot

Tom Hail loves beer. He loves lagers especially, which is why he stays very late on a lot of nights to work on his passion projects. One of these is a traditional German-style marzen -- a recipe that he's been tinkering with on and off for eighteen years. It's a tasty beer -- so tasty that Hail, on ... More >>

Fate Brewing will open Monday without a brewery, but with lots of Boulder collaborations

Since Fate Brewing, which opens Monday, February 4, in Boulder, doesn't have any of its beer-brewing equipment up and running yet, the company has come up with an innovative way to serve its own creations without actually making any of them on site. Over the past two months, Fate head brewer Jeff G ... More >>

Eight craft beer trends to look for in Colorado in 2013

One of the best parts about Colorado's craft beer scene is that it changes constantly. From one week to the next, beer geeks can hit a new taproom, try an innovative new brew, head to a packed festival and generally make friends in other states jealous. The last year saw a lot of big news -- some ba ... More >>

A new bill would put craft beers in grocery stores

Loveland's Verboten Brewing tells a craft-beer trademark story with a happy ending

Verboten Brewing, which will open its doors this weekend in Loveland, takes its name for the German word for "forbidden," and is a reference to German beer-purity laws, or Reinheitsgebot, which forbade brewers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries from using anything but water, barley and hops in ... More >>

Ten biggest Colorado craft beer stories in 2012

Colorado craft breweries and their many fans enjoyed a spectacular year in 2012, as the options for consuming locally made beer continued to grow and fill our tastebuds with joy. If the state's 160-plus breweries weren't expanding, then they were adding new beers or welcoming friendly competitors. A ... More >>

Trends without end, round four: Bread, ice and more beer

What will be the big culinary trends in 2013? As we prepare for a new year in gastronomy, we posed that question to dozens of people in the local food business, everyone from chefs and pastry magicians to restaurant brokers and PR consultants, from brewers and grape gurus to realtors and pig farmers ... More >>

Reader: GABF should get rid of Ticketmaster instead of BudMillerCoors

Is that beer craft or "crafty"? Last week the Boulder-based Brewers Association -- which puts on the Great American Beer Festival -- blasted the nation's two largest beer makers for not labeling some of their smaller brands with the names "MillerCoors" or "Anheuser-Busch." But the big boys have take ... More >>

Coors, Miller, Bud will keep sponsoring GABF, despite craft vs. crafty controversy

When the Brewers Association blasted the nation's two largest beer makers last week for not labeling some of their smaller brands with the names "MillerCoors" or "Anheuser-Busch," the Boulder organization risked losing a lot of money. After all, the two companies kick in at least $20,000 annually to ... More >>

Is Colorado the center of the "crafty" beer universe?

Colorado -- home to the Great American Beer Festival, the Brewers Association and 161 breweries -- is the center of the universe when it comes to craft beer. But is it also the center of the "crafty" beer universe? On Thursday, the Brewers Association, which represents small brewers nationwide, fi ... More >>

The newest batch of young guns in Colorado's brewing industry wear pink boots

It's not easy to get a boot in the door of the craft-brewing industry. It's even more difficult for women since breweries, with a few notable exceptions, are boys' clubs. But despite the stereotypes, there are plenty of ladies who love suds just as much as guys do, and they've made some serious stri ... More >>

Parry's Pizzeria & Bar will open a fourth location in 2013 -- after celebrating the end of the world

David Parry might be throwing an end-of-the-world party at two of his restaurants, but he's not planning on the world ending just yet. After all, he hopes to open a Parry's Pizzeria and Bar at 5970 South Holly Street in Greenwood Village in February, and then add two more locations by the end of 201 ... More >>

The beer list at Wynkoop Brewing's Parade of Darks will light you up

The lineup for the Wynkoop's annual Parade of Darks this Saturday reads like a Colorado beer geek's wet dream -- notwithstanding the stout made with bull testicles. In fact, the beer list is so electric that attendees may not know where to begin. Billed as a fest dedicated to "beers in the amber-to ... More >>

Strange Brewing faces a trademark threat from a Massachusetts homebrew shop

Something strange is going on. In September, as Denver's Strange Brewing was gearing up for a small expansion as well as the Great American Beer Festival, owners John Fletcher and Tim Myers got a letter from a lawyer demanding that they change their name. See also: - De Steeg Brewing will open on ... More >>

Get into the holiday spirit with Upslope, Left Hand and Twisted Pine

A pair of new winter seasonals are set to hit liquor store shelves this week. Upslope Brewing's Christmas Ale, a Spiced Belgian-Style Dubbel, is based on a homebrew recipe that brewery owner Matt Cutter used to make and bring to parties. Christmas Ale, which is ruby red in color, is the fourth inst ... More >>

A dozen new breweries on tap for the Denver Metro area by spring 2013

Breweries, big and small, have been opening at a dizzying pace over the past year along the Front Range, from Colorado Springs to Windsor and everywhere in between. Denver alone welcomed eight new breweries in the past twelve months, while Boulder County added at least eight, including four within t ... More >>

Arvada Beer turns one; Boulder Beer, Funkwerks party in our beer calendar

Lost amid the avalanche of beer tappings during the Great American Beer Festival was a pumpkin beer that Longmont's Left Hand Brewing made just for Old Chicago restaurants as part of its Halloween Mini Tour. The beer, 4 Foodies Ale (see the video above), was brewed in collaboration with Guerrilla Fa ... More >>

Reader: The GAFB is now a real beer tasting, not a frat party

Brewery reps -- brewers, and sometimes even owners -- were out in force at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival, pouring beer, answering questions and just hanging out with beer fans. This was a big change from previous festivals; did a letter from Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery ... More >>

Utah's Epic Brewing looks to Denver, a city that understands craft beer, for a second brewery

Epic Brewing's Kevin Crompton surprised a room full of reporters and bloggers during the Great American Beer Festival last week when he announced that his Utah company planned to build a second brewery in Denver during the first part of 2013. He also surprised Epic's owners, David Cole and Peter Er ... More >>

Fort Collins and Funkwerks step up in a down year for Colorado GABF medals

Colorado took home 35 medals at the Great American Beer Festival this year, including six that went to Fort Collins brewers, highlighted by Funkwerks, which won two golds and was named Small Brewing Company of the Year. See also: - Meet the winners of Great American Beer Festival 2012 - "Stand your ... More >>

Reader: Great American Beard Festival does not include women!

The Great American Beer Festival filled this town with lots of great beer -- and many great beards in the male-heavy crowd. We documented some of them this past weekend in our "Fifteen best beards of the Great American Beer Festival" post. Which inspired a classic response. See also: - Great Ameri ... More >>

"Stand your ground and pour": How Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver saved GABF

Aisle after aisle, table after table, there was one thing about the 2012 Great American Beer Festival that was different from the event in previous years: There were brewery reps, brewers and, in many cases, brewery owners themselves staffing their booths, hanging out and answering questions. It was ... More >>

Meet the winners of Great American Beer Festival 2012

This year's Great American Beer Festival played temporary home to 580 breweries -- and with more than 2,700 beers poured, the fest's professional judge panel had its hands (and mouths) full when making decisions on the winners of all 84 categories. Continue reading for the full list of the weekend's ... More >>

Five sexiest beer names at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival is full of novelties, and Westword has brought you everything from the Best Beards to the Best Beer Swag to the Best Beer Porn over the past few days. Now we'll take a look at a few of the sexiest beer names we encountered. See also: - Great American Beer Festival ... More >>

Beer debate: Colorado versus Oregon at the Great American Beer Festival

The debate between the beer scenes in Oregon and Colorado has overflowed for years, and word of mouth continues to fall short of an explanation as to which one is the best. That's because an open-minded alcoholic craves more than just hearsay, which may be why the Great American Beer Festival has be ... More >>

Utah's Epic Brewing will open a second brewery in Denver in 2013

Utah's Epic Brewing Company, known for its Brainless on Peaches beer, announced at the Great American Beer Festival today that is is hoping to open a second brewery in Denver in early 2013. If it does, Epic would be one of the first out-of-state breweries to open a second location in Colorado. Sever ... More >>

Two new Denver breweries, Black Shirt and Our Mutual Friend, will open just for GABF

Two new Denver breweries will open this weekend, just in time for the Great American Beer Festival frenzy in town -- and you won't have to go far to visit both, since they're just ten blocks apart. Black Shirt Brewing in RiNo and Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew in Five Points are the seventh and eight ... More >>

Bottoms Up