San Diego County

Photos: Ten deadliest fires in U.S. history

The ongoing Black Forest fire in El Paso County has destroyed 483 homes at this writing, as well as killing two people -- and we're fortunate that the loss of life wasn't nearly great enough to land it on this Wikipedia's list of noteworthy wildfires. The page is an awful record of scorched land and ... More >>

Craft beer calendar: Odell, Vine Street, Copper Kettle tap tasty new brews

Chad Yakobson became the second small Denver brewer to land some awesome press in the New York Times when some of his quotes and an artsy photo of him at his Crooked Stave Barrel Cellar led off a story last week on sour beers called "Brettanomyces, a Funky Yeast, Makes Flavorful Beers." He follows W ... More >>

Columbine to Newtown: A tragic list of school shootings since 1999

The senseless massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, which took the lives of twenty children, including Olivia Engel, seen here, plus seven adults, instantly stirs terrible memories of the 1999 attack on Columbine High School. On the tenth anniversary of that tragedy, we assembled a horrific roster of sc ... More >>

Huge holiday seasonals, ugly sweaters and a Yeti sighting in this week's beer calendar

Here are two beery deadlines to note: If you are entering a home-brewed stout into the Mountain Sun/Vine Street Pub Stout Month contest, the deadline is Saturday, December 16. The winner gets to brew the beer at Mountain Sun and have it served in February alongside all of the brewery's other beers. ... More >>

Lone Tree Brewing turns one; firkins and Christmas beers abound in our weekly calendar

In November, shortly after Colorado voters approved Amendment 64, thus creatiing the possibility of limited retail sales of marijuana in the state, we provided a list of Five Colorado pot-themed beers to pair with Amendment 64. Well, you can make that a six-pack. As Oskar Blues has reminded us with ... More >>

Fifteen non-Colorado breweries to try at GABF

Colorado represents a huge part of the festivities inside the Great American Beer Festival, both because of the depth and breath of our state's brewing prowess and because we are the host state, so it is fitting - and easy - for our beer makers to represent. As a result, many Colorado residents who ... More >>

Denver Beer Co celebrates one year with a block party; Oskar Blues keeps growing

On the heels of the Boulder-based Brewers Association report that craft beer sales are up 14 percent so far this year, Longmont's Oskar Blues has posted even more outstanding numbers. The brewer said revenue was up 53 percent in the first six months of 2012. Oskar Blues credited the growth to a rece ... More >>

Ten Colorado beer labels you'll be seeing soon

You could spend a small fortune keeping up with every Colorado beer release over the course of a year -- believe me, I know. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try a couple of them. In the old days -- like, three years ago -- beer releases were fairly predictable. Most breweries had one or ... More >>

Meet the three California candidates for Denver's new Independent Monitor

Released yesterday, the list of finalists for the open Independent Monitor position features three natives of the Golden State. The finalists bring experience at the Offices of Independent Review in their current homes of Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange County. From here, the finalists will be whittl ... More >>

Out-of-state brewers are flooding Colorado with their latest and greatest beers

​While some Colorado brewers have been pulling their beers out of other states recently, breweries from other states continue to try their luck in Colorado, where craft beer seems to flow in the streets like water and in the veins of its residents like blood. Since the beginning of 2011, at l ... More >>

Fort Collins Brewery's newest beer is, uh, black and strapping -- and a part of a growing trend

Carl Weathers and his more pilsner-looking buddy.​The Fort Collins and Wynkoop brewing companies are the the latest Colorado beer-makers to introduce new black ales, and while the Fort Collins bottle label made me raise a P.C. eyebrow, black ales are definitely becoming more popular. The Incr ... More >>

Beer bloggers plot world domination

​There are as many styles of beer blogging on the Internet as there are blogs, and there's a new beer blog starting out there every other day. Last weekend, at least a hundred of those bloggers -- from all across the country -- showed up in Boulder to talk beer. They spent the three days of f ... More >>

Great American Beer Festival: 25 things I learned in 2010

​1) No matter how prepared you are for GABF, it is still overwhelming. 2) San Diego County makes more amazing beers than some entire regions of the country. 3) Maui Brewing's CoConut Porter was one of the most heavenly beers I have ever tried. Even better, sources say they'll begin distribut ... More >>

Inside America's kidnapping capital of Phoenix, Arizona

What is it about Fat Tire that drives East Coast beer drinkers wild?

FlickrA sight that would make East Coasters drool.​Earlier this week, Asylum.com declared Fat Tire Amber Ale America's Next Top Beer. The web page - a New York City-based AOL men's interest site - had held a voter-driven contest to determine what beer should be in coolers from coast to coast. ... More >>

The Columbine effect: A horrific roster of school shootings since 1999

The most resonant information that's come my way thus far today in relation to the anniversary of the April 20, 1999 shootings at Columbine High School was contained in an e-mail sent to Westword by Vicki Newell, a public-policy director with the Colorado PTA. It's a list of school shootings since ... More >>

Focus on the Family's nightmare scenario about an Obama victory

Take a Little Trip

Head to the Denver Coliseum for the Lowrider Tour.