After school, my friends and I used to run to the convenience store for the candy and sodas we were denied at home. When the lunch bell rang, we’d pile into a friend’s SUV and try to get a few Double Stacks before class started up again. A plea to…
Laura Lodge needs a beer. A big beer. After several months of stress and of searching for a new location for one of Colorado’s marquis beer festivals, Lodge and her brother, Bill, have found a new home at the Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center in Breckenridge. That means that…
Joyride Brewing in Edgewater has hired Chris Marchio, formerly of Fiction Beer Company, as its new head brewer. Marchio, who was featured in a recent Westword story about hazy, New England-style IPAs, will be tasked with helping to expand the already large lineup of beers at Joyride. “We are thrilled to…
When Rob Kevwitch opened Grist Brewing in late 2013, he picked Highlands Ranch for one reason: “I grew up here,” he says, and “this neighborhood needed a brewery, dammit. I was so tired of driving to Denver.” But even after two successful years, an expansion and the implementation of rigorous…
Indian Summer at Adrift Last Autumn, Paul Larkin was playing around with cocktail recipes for a new drink menu at Adrift, experimenting with flavors in the South Broadway bar’s tiny kitchen as the line cooks were setting up for dinner service. They told him to make a drink out of…
We’re hungry for validation here in the Queen City of the Plains, and when someone from either coast bestows it on a local institution, we flock to be part of the conversation. With a James Beard award, national plaudits, and a Ruth Reichl bump, Rioja and its owners Jennifer Jasinski and Beth Gruitch…
Brewery lawn games have taken on a whole new meaning at Dry Dock Brewing in Aurora, which recently completed a nine-hole disc golf course outside of its North Dock taproom and production facility. For help in building the nautical-themed course, which has alternate tee boxes for eighteen holes, the brewery…
The Jalapeno Rally at Bellwether At Bellwether, you can get a haircut, a cappuccino, a cocktail and a motorcycle all at the same time. The masculine vibe of the collaborative space centers around whiskey; in fact, Bulleit bourbon flows straight from a tap behind the bar. Bar manager Demi Deherrera…
The history of rail travel in Denver goes back a long way, to the 1860s, when the first trains began pulling into town. But the history of beer goes back even further, to 1859, when thirsty gold miners flooded the area and German brewmeisters followed. The two just seem to…
When Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project got its start in Denver in 2012, the brewery raised money with a members-only Cellar Reserve club: to belong, fans coughed up $300 in exchange for guaranteed access to some of the brewery’s limited-release projects. Although most of the beers were excellent and helped…
Denver is losing some of its great dive bars, as development gobbles up the buildings that have long housed these down-and-dirty saloons. Some of the city’s classic watering holes have dried up altogether; others have been renovated out of true dive status, although they remain excellent bars (for examples, see…
Third-generation Colorado native Sean Smiley founded State 38 Distilling in 2013 with the goal of being the only all-agave distillery in the United States. And for the past three years, that’s been true; State 38 currently offers a lineup of three agave spirits — blanco, reposado and añejo — as…
Just about every brewery in Colorado makes an IPA, or two, or ten. Most are decent. Many are outstanding. But recently, the definition of what makes a good IPA has gotten a little murky. A couple of events this week, including one tonight at Jake’s Brew Bar in Littleton, will…
It’s often best to keep it casual, whether you’re on a second date or introducing your parents to your polyamorous anarchist collective. There’s no point in getting dressed up and worked up when you can take it easy. Since 1933, Billy’s Inn has existed as a living invitation to low-stakes…
As part of its 25th anniversary celebration this year, New Belgium Brewing “is going back to its roots” by teaming up with four breweries from “old” Belgium to make four Lips of Faith collaboration beers — one of which will be released during each quarter of 2016. The beers are…
Flor de Mayo at El Chingon Valintina Panic loves foam. While attending bartending school in 2010 in her native Serbia, she was particularly fascinated by a class on making foams out of spirits. Shortly after arriving in Denver in 2013, she got a job as a bartender when El Chingon…
Coors Field is surrounded by independent craft breweries — there are more than a dozen within a one-mile radius of the ballpark. But inside, the story has been very different. Although Coors Field is home to the only working brewery at a Major League stadium, Blue Moon Brewing at the…
Nocturne puts on a show every night, so it’s the least I could do to get into character. Just over a year old in a storied space on 27th Street, Nocturne is realized in such a classy way that it begs you to rise to the occasion, even if the…
The Brewers Association released its annual list of the top fifty craft brewers in the nation, and Colorado lost a member from the 2014 list: Craftworks, the parent company of Rock Bottom, Old Chicago, Boulder Beer and the Chop House. That leaves only five in-state breweries on the list, but…
Distillery 291 founder Michael Myers set out to create whiskey and other spirits distinct to Colorado when he launched his business in 2011, but he’s succeeded in attracting attention well outside our state’s borders. The Colorado Springs distillery has earned international recognition for bourbon and rye whiskey that feature a unique…
Denver restaurants can live or die on the strength of their happy hours, and three of the city’s buzziest new eateries have finally revealed what they’re up to in the late afternoon hours. Brider, the fine-casual outfit from Steve Redzikowski and Bryan Dayton of Acorn, plus Jeff Osaka’s Sushi-Rama and twin…
Citra Fizz at New Image Brewing At New Image Brewing Co., Sean Fisher is making cocktails for beer drinkers. Even before the four-week-old brewpub opened, Fisher began to think about how a beer could be deconstructed into components that could be used to flavor cocktails. As he toyed around with…
