Oktoberfest

Dear drunk bro: I'm sorry we don't speak the same language. Love, the girl with real glasses

From the moment we stepped out of the car last Friday night, we were three girls looking for a fight. Being in LoDo will do that do you: There's an air of misbehavior that must be half the appeal of the place. My mom's been an ER nurse for close to four decades, and she says that at least once a wee ... More >>

Mitchell Kusick busted for alleged plot to kill Obama, murder trick-or-treaters

According to a criminal complaint on view below in its entirety, Mitchell Kusick, a twenty year old Westminster man, had dreams of becoming the next famous Colorado killer, following in the footsteps of James Holmes, the accused Aurora theater shooter, and the students behind the Columbine High Scho ... More >>

Strudelfest at Rheinlander Bakery: Go for the dough!

If you're still mourning the end of Oktoberfest, I've got another fest to cheer you up: Strudelfest. Held at Rheinlander Bakery through the end of October, the festival celebrates a dessert that was once so central to European culture, an old wives' tale claimed that young women were ineligible fo ... More >>

Dia De Los Muertos, Halloween and more beer on the calendar this week

Despite its ongoing fight with the city, El Diablo will be hosting its annual Dia de los Muertos Celebration on Tuesday, October 30. And that's not the only spooky event on the culinary calendar -- there are plenty of Halloween parties that should be a real treat. Here's a taste of what's on the m ... More >>

Marijuana: Michael Hancock rips Amendment 64, campaign responds (update)

Update: The Amendment 64 campaign has replied to Mayor Michael Hancock's comments below. The response is on page three, following the original post. In the intensifying endorsement war around Amendment 64, Colorado's Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol act, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has come out in ... 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 >>

Updated: The Great American Beer Festival 2012 calendar of awesome events

Updated with new events: Tourists may go to Rome to see the Coliseum, but it's the side streets, the adventures and the hidden cafes that typically fill their cameras and their post-trip stories. The same is true of the week surrounding the Great American Beer Festival. The event is the centerpiece, ... More >>

Great American Beer Festival week: Here's how to get a Monday head start

Every November, I cook a turkey. Not on Thanksgiving, but a couple of weeks early. This way, I can get a taste of Turkey-Day excitement early and not have to stuff myself on the actual day, ending up in a tryptophan-induced coma. The same plan also helps you survive Great American Beer Festival week ... More >>

Twelve beers to track down in Denver outside the Great American Beer Festival

There will be thousands of beers to sample inside the Colorado Convention Center during the Great American Beer Festival, which starts on October 11, but there will also be some very special beers served at bars, breweries and restaurants during the week before GABF. Some of these were brewed espec ... More >>

Updated: The Great American Beer Festival 2012 calendar of awesome events

Updated with new events: Tourists may go to Rome to see the Coliseum, but it's the side streets, the adventures and the hidden cafes that typically fill their cameras and their post-trip stories. The same is true of the week surrounding the Great American Beer Festival. The event is the centerpiece, ... More >>

Culinary calendar: Beer season has begun

Oktoberfest kicked off last weekend on Larimer Street, and today another version of the annual festivity will debut at the Lowry Beer Garden, 7577 East Academy Boulevard. The space's inaugural, three-day celebration naturally includes beer, brats and other German delicacies.

The question you're too drunk to ask: Why is Oktoberfest celebrated in September?

Oktoberfest might just be everyone's favorite holiday. Not that anyone needs an excuse to pound beers and eat sausage all weekend. But if everyone's doing it, no one can judge you, right? In the middle of your lager and bratwurst haze, though, you might wonder this: "Why are we celebrating Oktoberfe ... More >>

Prost With the Most

Hops & Pie, Wit's End and Boulder Beer celebrate birthdays; Oktoberfest rolls on

Earlier this month, President Obama's designated the 4,700-acres Chimney Rock Archaeological Area in southwestern Colorado -- an area that is sometimes called "America's Stonehenge" -- as a national monument. The move means that the area between Durango and Pagosa Springs (which was home to thousand ... More >>

Mayor Hancock is back in the tap room -- this time for Prost Brewing's Oktoberfest

Mayor Michael Hancock: beer geek. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration. Still, Hizzoner will make his second appearance at a Denver craft brewery in as many weeks when he kicks off Prost Brewing's three-day Oktoberfest celebration this Friday and taps the first keg of the brewery's new Märzen ... More >>

Twenty best vaguely German costumes of Oktoberfest Denver 2012

Oktoberfest season is here, and with that comes the chance to eat brats, down pints and dress in pop culture's best approximation of traditional German attire. In short, it's a drunk, occasionally debauched form of heaven on Earth that took over LoDo this weekend, and will repeat next weekend. Conti ... More >>

Oktoberfest, fall brews and pumpkins highlight this week's beer calendar

It's Oktoberfest season, and you can find out about all of the parties on the next few pages. But in the meantime, more news: Elevation Beer Company in Poncha Springs announced yesterday that it plans to double its brewing capacity -- just four months after opening. The brewery, which specializes in ... More >>

Photos: Mayor Hancock becomes an honorary brewer at Denver Beer Co

The first beer that Mayor Michael Hancock tried today at Denver Beer Co was a Sunnyside Hefeweizen. But it won't be his last. Hancock got a crash course on the brewing process and beer ingredients when he dropped by the brewery today to help create a pumpkin beer that will be tapped on October 5 fo ... More >>

Reader: Makes sense for Red Robin to use a Sam Adams beer, rather than one from Colorado

Red Robin, the burger chain that calls metro Denver home, just introduced a new beer milkshake...made with beer from Boston. It's Octoberfest from Sam Adams, a brewery that's been pushing beer milkshakes for a while, Jonathan Shikes reports. The one that Red Robin unveiled yesterday comes with soft ... More >>

Avery politics, the Vine Street block party and No-Li beer in this week's beer calendar

The Great American Beer Festival is also a great American motivator. In previous years, it has driven local breweries to finish construction projects, open their doors, brew new beers, and generally get their acts in shape. And this year is no exception -- see the Bull & Bush, which is rebuilding it ... More >>

Red Robin's new beer milkshakes are sweet, but you'll have to look elsewhere for Colorado beer

Greenwood Village-based Red Robin has introduced a beer milkshake, just in time for, um, winter. Luckily, this state's hottest summer isn't over yet. But rather than go with a Colorado brewery, as Smashburger -- another Colorado-based fast-casual chain -- did for its new beer-and-burger pairing menu ... More >>

Photos: Getting sauced at the Colorado Tomato Battle

The Colorado Tomato Battle at Dick's Sporting Goods Park Saturday was a mash-up of childhood frivolity and big-kid fun. Though the structure was more formal than the old Tomato Wars between Coloradans and Texans at Twin Lakes, the result was the same: utter chaos and tomato soup. Tomato Battle found ... More >>

Pulp Friction

Look for these craft beer hits on Rockies Opening Day

Baseball fans are going to find awesome deals today on America's favorite light lagers at LoDo bars and restaurants. Awesome, awesome deals. But if you are looking to drink something else, perhaps a deliciously flavorful ale brewed by one of this state's amazing independent beer makers, you need to ... More >>

Colorado beer calendar: IPApril at Rackhouse Pub; barrel-aged beers at Hops & Pie

Craft brewers sold $8.7 billion worth of beer in 2011, up more than 9 percent over the previous year, according to the Boulder-based Brewers Association. That's a lot of suds. The total amount of beer they made rose 13 percent, or roughly 1.3 million barrels, to nearly 11.5 million barrels. The num ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Rail Yard cheddar soup from Ghost Plate & Tap

No. 40: Rail Yard cheddar soup from Ghost Plate & Tap

Larimer Associates will open the Lowry Beer Garden in the new Hangar project

Joe Vostrejs and his Larimer Associates partners traversed across the country to check out America's beer gardens before they came back to Denver to build their own -- and what they found, admits Vostrejs, was surprising.

Four of the best bacon-friendly wines you've never tried

​The wine topic that everyone seems to be obsessed with this week is what goes best with turkey (Thanksgiving is next Thursday, or hadn't you heard?). Not us. There's still plenty of time to tackle that topic, and if you tend to procrastinate as much as we do, then you'll enjoy reading about ( ... More >>

Top five diet trends -- and why everyone quit caring about them

​ Superfoods are the latest cool diet trend, despite the fact that most people couldn't pick an antioxidant or a free-radical out of a lineup. Sometimes knowing why some foods are better for you (clever marketing tool) than others isn't as important as carting around an expensive bottle of ac ... More >>

Colorado beer calendar: GABF-winning beers hit the city; Fresh Hops at Falling Rock; new releases from Avery, Great Divide

One of the biggest bummers about the Great American Beer Festival being over is that it can be hard to find -- and drink -- the medal winners: Some were one-off brews that are no longer available. Others are on-draft-only options in towns a couple of hours away. Luckily, a few are still floating aro ... More >>

Oktoberfest at Helga's German Restaurant & Deli

Oktoberfest celebrations continue, with Helga's German Restaurant & Deli, 14197 East Exposition Avenue in Aurora, hosting Oktoberfest through Sunday, October 9. The festivities include live music, folk dancers, games, wine tastings, cultural demonstrations and more; Helga's is even breaking out a hu ... More >>

Oktoberfest, Craft Spirits Festival, anniversary celebrations and more on this week's culinary calendar

The Great American Beer Festival might be over, but hold onto those hangovers, because Oktoberfest and Breckenridge's Craft Spirits Festival are still on the agenda. Here's a taste of what's ahead this week in food events:

What's in a name? For craft brewers at #GABF, anything goes

There are the cute ("Smokey the Beer," Blind Tiger Brewing in Topeka, Kansas), the mysterious ("Hoodoo Voodoo IPA," Three Creeks Brewing in Sisters, Oregon), the sexy ("Sexual Chocolate," Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and everything in between when it comes to beer names spotte ... More >>

Review: Beirut at the Fillmore, 9/28/11

Zachary Condon of Beirut​BEIRUT at the FILLMORE | 9/28/11"Thank you, sorry we didn't make it out here sooner," said Zachary Condon of Beirut last night to an adoring crowd at the Fillmore. Despite his birthplace just 350 miles to the south in Santa Fe, the globe-trotting Condon and his band -- ... More >>

10 things to do for $10 this weekend, September 23-25, 2011

Not yet, zombie Waldo. NOT YET.​The city is ramping up for its Halloween phase, but before that goes down, we've got a few great things to spend your money on this week. Including plays, films, art shows and festivals. For the toughest among us, it's also the final week to get your yoga on in ... More >>

Denver Oktoberfest and Royal Gorge Route Railroad's Oktoberfest Train

A Flickr photo.​Fall's here! Although technically it won't be autumn until September 23, you can tell the seasons are changing -- not just by the cooler weather, but also by all the Oktoberfest celebrations. Denver's Oktoberfest, featuring German fare, crafts and entertainment, plus fireworks ... More >>

Colorado beer calendar: Oktoberfest; craft beer Oktoberfest and Vine Street's block party

Facebook​It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Denver. And by Christmas, what I mean is: the Great American Beer Festival. Although that three-day holiday runs from September 29 through October 1, there will be plenty of beery festivities leading up to the occasion. Parties are planne ... More >>

Oktoberfest, Rockbar birthday and more on this week's culinary calendar

​We know you're all gearing up for the Great American Beer Festival -- and what better way to start your marathon training than with various Oktoberfest events? That and much more are happening in the food scene this week; here's a taste of what else is on the menu:

Bitter Bar bartender Burton Daniel advances to national Barenjager cocktail competition

​Colorado's bartenders keep upping our state's cocktail credibility, competing in national contests and besting some of the country's most formidable spirits professionals to bring big prizes home to the Rocky Mountains. The latest accolade? Burton Daniel, a bartender at Boulder's Bitter Bar ... More >>

Wild in the Streets

Today in Stoke: Triathlon trainer Candy Panigutti on how to kick butt three ways

​Without Limits Race Productions race coordinator Candy Panigutti is dropping triathlon knowledge tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Outdoor Divas, 2717 East 3rd Avenue (and tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Boulder store, 1133 Pearl Street), to help local ladies gear up and get ready for upcoming events like th ... More >>

Updates for Bull & Bush, Euclid Hall, Vine Street: Pumpkin beers will get you jack-o'-lanterned

​Update: Two new events have been added (Avery's Rumpkin tapping at Euclid Hall tonight and Vine Street Pub's tapping on Sunday), while the info for the Bull & Bush pig and pumpkin beer tasting has been expanded. See below for details. Pumpkin beers are an acquired taste, but if you love them ... More >>

Tonight: Boozenfud Bavarian Beer Hall at City, O' City

A Flickr photo.​The Great American Beer Festival might be fading into memory (or, depending on how much you drank, your memory is gone entirely), but believe it or not, it's still Oktoberfest season. In that spirit, City, O' City, 206 East 13th Avenue, will present the Boozenfud Bavarian Beer ... More >>

Culinary calendar for the week ahead: Rick Bayless, fresh hops and craft spirits

WTTW11Rick Bayless​This week, Rick Bayless, the Top Chef Masters winner, will be hanging around the Highlands Ranch/Parker area for some special events; other foodie fun includes the Fresh Hop Celebration and Breckenridge's Craft Spirits Festival. Here's a taste of what's ahead:

Beer and weather: How to drink your way through seasonal confusion

​The seasons in Colorado run together like oil and antifreeze on the floor at Jiffy Lube. At the supermarket, Halloween candy debuts in August, while the temperatures are still in the high 90s. Watermelons mix with peaches, while raspberries, pumpkins and roasted chiles mingle awkwardly but re ... More >>

Mad Grillz

Light Headed

The Craft Lager Festival pays homage to the sun.

Ethnicity Lights