Help Twisted Pine Brewing name its latest beer

With 1,500 craft breweries across the country making tens of thousands of different beers every year, it’s getting hard to come up with new names. So Twisted Pine Brewing in Boulder is asking for help by running a contest on Twitter and Facebook soliciting the perfect moniker for a vanilla-oaked…

Happy Hour Hunt: Delite

The Place: Delite 32 South Broadway; 303-722-1278. The Hours: Monday through Friday from 3 until 7 p.m. The Deal: Appetizers range from $2 to $4; all beer, well drinks and select red and white wines by the glass are half-price…

Weight for it: Study says drinking can make you thin!

Spring is almost here, which means that thoughts will soon turn from warming plates of spaghetti to spaghetti straps. And ladies, here’s the best news yet for those of you who want to get rid of the winter wear around your midsection: Dr. Lu Wang, a preventive health expert at…

Craft brewers saw record sales in 2009

If you tipped a microbrew in 2009, then you did your part for the craft brewing industry. If you tipped more than one – and you know who you are – then you helped contribute to a record year that saw both production and sales figures grow. Craft brewers sold…

Swirl Girl: Wine 101: Drinking + learning = fun

Roasted bone marrow. Beef cheeks and fennel fronds. Lamb bacon. If you’re like most Americans, you have absolutely no idea what these foods are and you’ve never even considered eating them. Let’s try this again: Edamame beans. Free-range chicken. Balsamic vinegar and fresh mozzarella. Even if you don’t have these…

Guess where I’m drinking?

This may come as a huge surprise, but if I had to choose between having to give up alcohol or coffee, I’d probably give up alcohol. Its true! The only thing I love more than a frosty cold adult beverage is a steaming hot latte. The only hints that I’ll…

Brandy Crusta at Shanahan’s

The drink: Maraschino Liqueur is nothing like the neon-colored cherries that came in your Shirley Temples. This multifaceted, very aromatic liqueur — one of the few liqueurs that is distilled — is a delicious retro spirit that many bartenders are wild about today. It dates back to 1821, when the…

Happy Hour Hunt: Encore

The Place: Encore Restaurant, 2550 East Colfax Avenue, 303-355-1112. The Hours: Monday through Saturday from 3 until 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. until close. The Deal: Half price well drinks, beer, and wines by the glass; small plates range from $4-7 and artisan flatbreads are priced from $5.50 to $6.50…

Russian River’s Pliny the Younger goes fast at Falling Rock

It wasn’t the fastest a keg has been drained at Falling Rock Tap House, but it was a close second to the all-time record. Two five-gallon kegs of Russian River’s Pliny the Younger went down in fifteen minutes last Friday. A packed house of hop heads was waiting to pounce…

Swirl Girl: Vegetarians need wine, too

This time of year makes me crave and consume copious amounts of meat. You could chalk this up to evolution. Once upon a time, a diet that included meat-based protein greatly increased your chances of surviving what must have been some pretty brutal pre-historic cold spells. So in that very…

The highs and lows of Stout Month at Vine Street Pub

The Vine Street Pub, which is celebrating the last few days of its annual Stout Month, is an unusual place to get a beer. Unusual because of the high highs and low lows. It offers one of the most delicious lineups of homemade brews on tap in any brewpub in…

Zio Romolo’s Alley Bar

I like to go out and get blotto as much as the next self-respect-less drunk. I do not, however, like having to piece together whole portions of benders using leftover evidence and eyewitness accounts. Yet this is exactly my fate the morning after spending a solid six hours at Zio…

Malt Advocate names Stranahan’s “Artisan Whisky of the Year”

It’s about time that Stranahan’s American Whiskey get the recognition it deserves. Yes, it’s a relatively young distillery — but young or not, Stranahan’s kicks ass. While the first year or so of production was a little hot, I’ve done a lot of “quality testing” of Stranahan’s and, in my…

Happy Hour Hunt: Crepes ‘n Crepes

The Place: Crêpes ‘n Crêpes, 2816 East Third Avenue, 303-320-4184 The Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 4 to 6 p.m. and again from 9 to 10 p.m. The Deal: Various savory and dessert crêpes are between $3 and $5; glasses of wine are $4…

Swirl Girl: Cozy up with a few winter comfort wines

There’s nothing like snowy, blustery weather to conjure up images of classic cold-weather comforts like snuggling in front of a roaring fire with a warming bowl of steaming-hot chili. But as the saying goes, “man cannot live by bread alone,” so channel your inner oenophile and find yourself a bottle…

Dublin Coffee at Colt & Gray

In sales, they say that it takes five good impressions to overcome a bad first impression. I know this is true, because I have, on occasion and against all odds, made a lousy first impression — and have had to work hard to overcome it. And although I loved the…

Happy Hour Hunt: Tavern Uptown

The Place: Tavern Uptown, 538 East Seventeenth Avenue, 303-830-9210. The Hours: Happy hour plays out Monday through Saturday from 2 to 7 p.m. and from 10 p.m. to close; food specials run Monday through Thursday from 10 p.m. to midnight, and Twilight Hour runs Monday through Saturday from 7 to…

Bartending Olympics includes two hometown heroes

The Nightclub and Bar Convention & Trade Show (NCB) in Las Vegas in March is the one event that everyone in the industry feels they need to attend — or wishes they could. The show includes a cocktail contest called the Shake It Up Competition, in which 25 mixologists, who…