What was your first cocktail? I recently found myself at Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace, the place where I had my first-ever drink. Er, first legal drink, that is. With a tasty mezcal cocktail in front of me, and a light crowd of happy-hour Banana Republic professionals around me,…
Scott Witsoe makes 31.5 gallons of beer at a time. That’s such a tiny amount compared to the output at other breweries — even other small breweries — that is doesn’t seem possible that Wit’s End Brewing would be able to stay in business, let alone thrive. But that’s exactly…
The 27-year-old Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant chain is known for its potent margaritas (limit of three, please), but the Colorado-based company has decided to get in on the craft-beer revolution as well by collaborating with several local beer-makers. Each of the Rio Grande’s six restaurants — in Fort Collins, Greeley,…
The buzz from the recent Craft Beer Conference annual trade show, which took place in Denver for the first time, is fading — but Colorado’s breweries are still making news. Here are a few tidbits from beer makers around the state. Beginning in May, Aurora’s Dry Dock Brewing will begin…
With a head brewer named Marks, a red and yellow logo, and a flagship beer called DEFCON Red, it’s not hard to figure out the theme at Comrade Brewing. But owner David Lin says the references to Communism at the brewery, which will open on Saturday, April 26, at 7667…
When they showed up to register at the Craft Brewers Conference trade show in Denver earlier this month, the 8,000 or so brewing-industry attendees from across the country were treated to a 19.2-ounce can of beer made with all-Colorado ingredients. Brewed at Oskar Blues in Longmont, Centennial Pale Ale included…
The Craft Brewers Conference, a national trade show that brought more than 8,000 brewing-industry pros to town, wrapped up last week in Denver with the presentation of awards in the World Beer Cup, a prestigious biennial competition. There were 4,754 entries from 1,403 breweries in 58 countries this year, but…
Some say beer is food. Others say it is art. In the case of Kurt’s Mile High Malt, the Wynkoop Brewing Company is hoping to put wisdom and prose into a can. The beer, which is being packaged for the first time, is a coffee-infused lager that is based on…
Colorado has been the king of canned craft beers since Oskar Blues began packaging its brews in aluminum more than a decade ago. And although the Longmont beer maker continues to change the game, other breweries are getting in on the act as well. This week, Boulder’s Sanitas Brewing, which…
No matter how much fun you have at a bar in Denver, there’s always the melancholy time when the lights go up and everyone has to pay the tab and head home. If you’re unlucky, the bouncer will shove you out. If you’re especially unfortunate, the DJ will play Semisonic’s…
Colorado’s breweries are growing fast — expanding, adding employees and ordering new equipment. Some of that equipment is on display at the industry-only Craft Brewers Conference, a trade show in Denver for the first time this week. For some of the breweries, like Durango’s Ska Brewing and Denver Beer Co,…
The Craft Brewers Conference begins in earnest today with speakers, seminars and a trade show for the 8,000 or so craft-beer industry professional who are in town for the annual event — which takes place in Denver this year for the first time. But just because the event is closed…
The first award was thrilling — and a big relief. The second was a welcome surprise. The third and fourth, well, those were just icing on the cake. Two years ago, the crew from the Bull & Bush went to San Diego and came back with four medals from the…
You’ve probably heard of Bud Light Lime. And Miller Chill. Now get ready for Dry Dock Cool — a tongue-in-cheek takeoff on mass-produced lime-infused beers. Aurora’s Dry Dock Brewing is making the beer — a 5.2 percent ABV Mexican-style lager — specially for Old Chicago’s 25 Colorado locations as part…
Oskar Blues, which pioneered putting craft beers in cans in the United States, is taking an old favorite from the U.K. and making it better. Call it an AmeriCAN revolution. This week the Longmont beer-maker will become the first stateside brewery to can a beer that has been carbonated with…
Be careful about making assumptions next time you meet a woman at a beer festival. Warns Ashleigh Carter: “You might be looking at the brewer — not the secretary.” Or the girlfriend, or any number of other stereotypical labels that people may hang on women working for breweries. And that’s…
April is a high-pollen month, particularly in the northwestern part of Colorado Springs, where the winds blow hard around Trinity Brewing. It’s the kind of month when you can find all kinds of things floating in the air, things that make people sneeze, swell their eyes shut — and maybe,…
Baseball fans are in for a few new treats when they return to Coors Field this weekend — although if they’re not careful, those treats will get the fans too drunk to remember what they were. Team owner Dick Monfort led several dozen media members on a walking tour of…
Sergio Romero, John Broening, Anika Zappe, Andrew Parr — all big, bold industry heavyweights who have shared in the success of restaurateur Robert Thompson, owner of Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar and Punch Bowl – Social Food & Drink , which originated in Denver and now has a second…
The Brewers Association released its annual accounting this week of the top fifty craft brewers in the nation as base on sales, as well as the top fifty brewers altogether. In Colorado, New Belgium, Oskar Blues, Odell, Left Hand, Boulder Beer and Craftworks — which owns the Rock Bottom and…
Regrets? We’ve had a few. And over the past 35 years, so, too, has Boulder Beer, the state’s oldest craft brewery. But a mistake made by a brewer in 2011 isn’t one of them, and the company will use that fortuitous mishap next month to celebrate its birthday. Boulder Beer…
April brings new hope every year to the Colorado Rockies — and new beers to the Blue Moon Brewing Company at the Sandlot, the in-stadium brewery owned by Coors. This year, the Sandlot has two new beers lined up for Opening Day at Coors Field, which is Friday, April 4,…
