It’s stunning how quickly things are evolving these days in the craft-beer industry: styles, trends, rules and regulations, even the packages that beer is sold in. Breweries are bought and sold; they change names, change focus and change addresses. And collaborations between brewers can fall victim to the change.
The Park Tavern and Restaurant (931 East 11th Avenue) was one of the first bars I ever visited when I moved to Denver. In fact, a Ouija board once predicted that I was going there with friends. Seriously. As Halloween approaches, it seems only appropriate to share that I was once…
The Great American Beer Festival, which hits town next week, is an interesting time for any brewery that participates and usually results in some great stories. For Telluride Brewing, one of those stories begins in May 2012, just five months after Chris Fish and Tommy Thatcher opened the brewery. Still getting…
Judging by the long lines that snaked away from the Dad & Dudes Breweria booth at the Great American Beer Festival the past two years, just about everywhere in Denver has tried cannabis beer. Last year’s version, called George Washington’s Secret Stash was an IPA infused with cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive…
Most people assume that owning a brewery in Colorado is like living the dream. You get to make beer, talk beer, drink beer, sleep beer and hang out with your beer-loving friends all day and night. What could be better than that? The reality, though, says one Denver brewery owner…
Lately, Longmont has been winning at the booze game, and Longtucky Spirits, at 350 Terry Street, is the latest player. Owned by John Abbott Young and Howard K. Wallace, this 4,500-square-foot distillery and cocktail bar opened in late June in what formerly housed the Longmont Times-Call building downtown. The owners’ idea…
No, this isn’t a geography quiz. New England-style IPAs are the hottest and most controversial thing to hit craft brewing in a long time, and Colorado breweries are making some of the best examples in the country. The “style,” which isn’t yet recognized by the Brewers Association, showcases tropical, citrusy…
The first day of autumn arrives this week and it’s time to put away the summer wine list. As harvest begins, what works best to drink with those savory, spicy fall meals? Let’s ask Ashley Hausman Vaughters, Colorado’s only Master of Wine, a designation conferred (appropriately) by the Institute of…
Peaches and peppers tend to get the most play when it comes to Colorado crops. For craft breweries, many of whom have developed close relationships with growers over the past few years, particularly on the Western Slope, grapes, cherries and apricots, not to mention fresh hops, are also highly sought…
I seem to keep hearing about Clancy’s Irish Pub in Wheat Ridge from a wide variety of people who have ties to the area. My hair stylist, who lives in Golden, told me about it, my friend who lives in the area and is an expert on bars where you…
Few things in life are more rewarding than a mimosa at the end of a long week or the beginning of a relaxing weekend. Coming across a solid bottomless mimosa deal that pairs well with your brunch can be tricky, especially when you’re on a budget, so when you see…
Oskar Blues takes credit for being the first craft brewery to can its own beer, way back in 2002. While canned cocktails have a considerably longer history (are you old enough to remember cans of Purple Passion in the 1980s?), Oskar Blues is jumping into that market too, with its…
Summer is over, but the canned beers never stop rolling off the lines in Colorado. Over the next few weeks, you’ll be able to try at least five new canned beers from three breweries: Spice Trade, Good River and Lone Tree. The first two are canning their beers for the…
Brewers have always loved to hang out together, to travel, to talk shop, to raise a pint — and another. And in the morning, those same brewers will often lend each other equipment, ingredients, advice, even employees. It’s part of what has made the craft-beer industry special for so long,…
Fish N Beer sits on the same RiNo block that also holds Hop Alley, our pick for the Best New Restaurant of 2015. But this restaurant brings a very different menu to the table — seafood, both in the classic fish house style and in more modern interpretations.
Skiers and snowboarders think about snow all winter and fall, and they know when its’s getting close because there are gear and season-pass sales all over the place. Beer lovers think about rich, high-gravity treats all winter and fall, and they know when they’re getting close because labels like these…
The Welcome Inn was one of those places I’d always been meaning to go but had never managed to check out until just recently. It’s on the edge of what many now call RiNo, but is still known by long-time regulars as the East Side, and it’s a friendly and casual spot…
If you’ve seen a photo of a brewery on Facebook anytime in the past two years there’s a good chance that it was captured by Dustin Hall, the creator of The Brewtography Project. Hall has been traveling the state, taking pictures — behind the scenes and in front of them…
A keg is more than just a large vessel for holding beer; it’s a valuable piece of property that makes its way from a brewery to a distributor and then on to a liquor store, restaurant, bar or even your back patio. But kegs belong to the breweries that fill…
If you like light beers, then great ready to be thrilled. Or irritated. Or maybe just confused. Dive Bar Brewing is making a light American lager for Denver, and the owners will knock it out of your hand if you try to sniff it. “The whole idea is to drink…
Confession: I avoided wine in a can out of shear snootiness. I’d gotten used to wine in a box and plastic corks, but wine in a can was a step too far down the path to wine in a 40-ounce with a side of Cheez Whiz. I was wrong. Wine…
I love pumpkin beers. There, I said it. I love a sweet, malty, gourd-based ale layered over with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and maybe some honey. Ramp up the alcohol content and put the whole thing in a rum barrel, and I’ll wait up all night in the pumpkin…
