Romance, shmomance. We’ve had it up to here with all the laughably predictable recommendations and ill-advised wine pairings that show up like clockwork every year at this time. We’re not hatin’ on love or anything — but since when is the notion of celebrating that special someone with a bottle…
Pliny the Younger, one of the rarest, most highly rated beers in America, has made its annual trip to Colorado, where the Triple IPA — made by California’s Russian River Brewing — will be tapped by just fourteen establishments in the state. The six-gallon kegs of Younger are usually gone…
In this week’s Behind the Bar interview, Ghost Plate & Tap consulting bartender Michelle Baldwin — who also goes by burlesque name Vivienne VaVoom — weighs in on punch, a party that warped the floors and the ladies’ organization that bonds over cocktails while doing good in its community…
Beer is made from fermented barley. Wine is made from fermented grapes. So what do you call a beverage that uses both? The answer is Récolte Sauvage…
We recently saw something on a Denver restaurant wine list that made us do a double take: A total of eleven — you read that right, eleven — Colorado wines available by the glass. Crazy, right? It gets even crazier: Four of those local wines were from a single producer,…
Nello Ferrara, the man who invented Red Hots, Atomic FireBalls and Lemonheads, died last Friday at the age of 93/ You can toast his sweet tooth and his legacy today at the Yak & Yeti Restaurant and Brewery at 7803 Ralston Road in Arvada, where brewmaster Adam Draeger will tap…
The resumes were long and detailed, the qualifications extreme, but the ten finalists in the Wynkoop Brewing Company’s annual Beerdrinker of the Year contest have been whittled down to three — and these guys know their beer. The man who eventually claims the title for 2012 will be determined at…
Gin may have come from genever, but you can’t really put the two in the same box, according to Jacob Grier, Portland-based bartender and brand representative for Bols Genever. “Genever is really its own category,” he explains. “We compare it to early tequila importers. They labeled the spirit ‘Mexican whiskey’…
It’s not easy to keep up with Colorado’s brewers. It seems like they release a new beer — or two or three — in bottles or cans almost every week. And as soon as you think you’ve caught up on the new ones, you find a couple that you’ve missed…
If you smelled bacon last week in LoDo, you weren’t dreaming. The Blue Moon Brewing Company @ the Sandlot was adding it to a new beer. “We put thirty pounds of bacon in the kettle along with dark chocolate, cocoa nibs and hickory smoked bacon. The savory bacon helps balance…
Bob Wilson graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in finance but wanted, he says, “to do something I was interested in — something I thought would be fun.” That’s why he went into wine: “I ended up working with a distributor with a goal to work at…
In this week’s behind the bar interview, Colt & Gray’s Kevin Burke weighs in on how he started bartending, his favorite spot to blind taste spirits and the Mustache Series…
Happy Place: Cellar Wine Bar, 2556 15th Street, 303-455-9463 The Hours: Daily from 5 to 7 p.m. The Deals: $5 select glasses of wine, $5 wine cocktails, $1 off all beer selections Were We Happy? Flip the page to find out.[page]…
Breckenridge Brewing loves poking fun at the mega brewers — something they’ve done with a series of humorous TV ads called “Truth in Beervertising” over the past two years. Now the Denver-based brewery plans to run two more spots on Super Bowl Sunday on KDVR-TV, Denver’s Fox affiliate. Although the…
Colorado brewery lore is full of stories about mistakes that turned into successes — batches of beer that turned out well despite the odds. Of course, Colorado brewery lore is also full of stories about carefully planned beers that went horribly wrong, but those stories are more often that not…
The concept of the modern “breastaurant” is a purely American one, born of man’s desire for Buffalo wings and light beer, and often resulting in unrequited love for a lass twenty years his junior. But what really weaves a “breastaurant” into the American fabric is that everything is bigger at…
Colorado will get a new specialty brewer later this month when Elevation Beer Company near Salida opens, crafting seasonal barrel-aged beers on a fifteen-barrel system. We’re not talking about your classic, blondes, reds, browns and IPAs here. Elevation’s first two beers will be a Belgian-style Quadrupel made with caramelized honey…
Just tell the truth, already: you are totally freaked out by Italian wine. By “freaked out”, we mean shaking like a leaf. Shivering in your shorts. Just plain scurrred. Ask a wine retailer which category they find most challenging to sell to less experienced consumers, and you’re likely to hear…
In the two-plus decades that I have been behind bars, I’ve noticed some fads when it comes to what my brethren drink while we work. I’m not talking about sipping cocktails or some rare craft beer; I’m referring to the shots we do during a shift, after a big rush…
The hosts of what had been Denver’s only craft beer radio show have gone their separate ways, an amicable split that has nevertheless created a somewhat awkward situation: two craft beer radio shows, both airing at the same time on the same day. Gary Valliere, the creator and co-host of…
Over the last few months, I went from the worst shape of my life to the best while continuing to eat like a food critic. Don’t punch me in the face; instead, read how I did it in this series: No one trusts a skinny food critic. That sentiment was…
February is Stout Month for the Mountain Sun group, which means all three locations will be featuring a rotating draft selection of stouts (including some stellar guest taps), along with various other happenings in honor of the increasingly popular style. It’s an annual tradition that’s become a much anticipated festival…
