Winter break is over, and it’s time to get back to school: beer school. Bristol Brewing Company’s 2009 course catalogue is out, and although the first class — Beer 101, taught by company founder Mike Bristol – already took place, there’s still time to catch up and make the grade…
Wow. I can only hope that every bar I go to in 2009 will be half as well-designed as Root Down, a pure-genius revival of a ’50s service station. Though I’d originally heard that the restaurant was named after the Beastie Boys song, bartender Chine set me straight: It’s actually…
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukah! Feel like drinkin’? Why not try any number of awesome craft beers that are released only around the holidays. Try the one below, or read about many others in our Booze News blog archive. Cocoa Porter Winter Warmer Tommyknocker Brewery Idaho Springs A rich, dark porter…
Yes, Denver, there is a Santa Claus. And if you still need to get in the holiday spirit, this cocktail will take you there — fast. Osteria Marco’s Alps in Rosso ($9), made with Hangar One Spiced Pear Vodka, house-infused rosemary gin, Leopold Brothers’ Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liqueur, Strega…
Bar time at the Park Tavern (931 East 11th Avenue) is roughly fifteen minutes fast, which means, of course, that last-call and you-can’t-stay-here cries leave the mouths of bar staff between 1:30 and 1:45 (real time) each morning, sometimes earlier. Boo, hiss and other profanities. It also means that when…
Winter White Ale Bell’s Brewery Comstock, Michigan Warning: This beer isn’t available in Colorado as far as a know, but a friend who lives in Indiana brought it to me as a gift, so what the hell. Also, when I blogged about the superiority of Colorado and California beers during…
Bowing to pressure from attorneys general and advocacy groups, MillerCoors announced it is removing the caffeinated magic from its alcho-energy drink Sparks. It’s a sad, sad day for amateur drinkers looking for that perfect mix between booze, a double-espresso and Sweet Tarts. Luckily, I was able to spot a dusty…
The trick to making any mechanical bull your bitch is to choke up on the saddle with your knees and thighs tight against the frame, lean loosely over the rope so that your center of gravity points toward the sky when it bucks, and hold on with one hand while…
For devotees of yoga, the practice is all about cleansing and strengthening the body, searching for a higher purpose by standing on your head, and twisting your ankles behind your ears. Hardcore yogis don’t smoke, or eat burgers after class, or pour too much Splenda in their organic, free-trade tea.But…
Santa’s Private Reserve Rogue Ales Newport, Oregon If you’ve been bad this year, Santa will bring you a six-pack of Miller Chill. If you’ve been good, he’ll put a bomber bottle of Santa’s Private Reserve in your stocking. The perfect present for any hop-head, this dark red beer from Rogue…
2 Below New Belgium Brewery Fort Collins Argh, no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get into the beers from New Belgium Brewery. Fat Tire, Mothership Wit, 1554, 2 Below Ale: I’ve tried them — repeatedly — in an effort to figure out what I’m missing, and what…
Money’s tight, times are hard, here’s your fucking Christmas card. Given all the bad news, I’m having trouble getting in the holiday spirit this year — so I’m making an effort to get out of the house and spend time with friends rather than stay at home fretting. Still, even…
The Cherry Cricket (2641 East Second Avenue) — formerly Duffy’s Cherry Cricket and, before that, Mary Zimmerman’s Bar — didn’t always have a door guy checking IDs and stamping hands at 5:30 p.m., or a forty-minute wait for a table on a Tuesday night, or a national reputation for serving…
We’ve known about the delights of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey for a couple of years now, awarding it Best Colorado Distillery in 2007 and enjoying its warming company on other occasions. But now Men’s Journal has named Stranahan’s one of its favorites as well, including it on the magazine’s list of…
Ten FIDY Imperial Stout Oskar Blues Lyons Ten FIDY is a big, bad mutha. Almost completely black, it looks like motor oil when poured out of one of Oskar Blues’s unusual black-and-silver cans. But it tastes fantastic – rich, complex and brimming with roasty, toasty chocolate, nut and coffee flavors…
This beer was a welcome change of pace from a multitude of sweet, dark, heavy beers. But it wasn’t exactly light – more like a brown than an English strong ale, with thick head and a lighter, red hue. The nutty, roasted flavor reminded me of a holiday-season toffee –…
How to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the 18th Amendment? At Steuben’s, the two-year-old restaurant/watering hole at 531 East 17th Avenue that celebrates regional cuisines and quirks, they marked the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933 — which effectively ended Prohibition…
Tonight, and tonight only, starting at 9:30 p.m. all Smithwick’s pours at the Fainting Goat, the new bar at 846 Broadway, will be just a nickel. Until the joint runs out of the Irish ale, that is, and we’ve been assured they have at least sixty pints. Cheers!…
Isolation Ale Odell Brewing Company Fort Collins Isolation Ale is one of several local winter warmers – Avery’s Old Jubilation, Boulder Beer’s Never Summer and Breckenridge Brewery’s Christmas Ale among them. But this traditional English-style strong ale is lighter and easier to drink than some of the others. It’s a…
Above is the season’s greeting that Nancy Levine, our intrepid Drink of the Week columnist, found when she was out last night judging the 2008 Holiday Cocktail Competition. Seventeen restaurants — all members of the Denver Independent Network of Restaurants — had signed up to create special holiday drinks for this contest…
Double Bastard Stone Brewing Company Escondido, California Double Bastard, made by one of my two favorite breweries in the country, packs a punch — and feels no guilt about the violence. This beer, highly alcoholic (more than 10 percent), highly sought after, rich in flavor and texture, is one of…
The report in today’s Rocky Mountain News was a real eye-opener (and we’re not talking a Bloody Mary): According to Bill Scanlan’s “State fades a little in health stats,” Colorado fell from the 16th to the 19th healthiest state in the latest report from America’s Health Rankings, largely because of a rise…
