Not very many people can lay claim to having attended the very first Great American Beer Festival in 1982. After all, there were only 800 people there, drinking a measly 47 different beers. Charlie Papazian is one of them, of course. The founder of the festival, he was also the…
I’ve spent many a happy hour at Govnr’s Park Restaurant & Tavern — most of them when I first moved to Denver. It was the place to be for any girl in her twenties who wanted to hang out with the bros, meet new bros, watch sports, hang out with other…
Dad & Dudes Breweria created a huge buzz last year at the Great American Beer Festival when it introduced Sativa IPA, the first commercial beer made with cannabis oil. Although the hemp extract used in the beer isn’t the psychoactive kind — meaning it can’t get you high — people…
Beer recalls are never fun — for the brewery or the beer drinker — particularly when it’s a brewery’s best-selling beer. But earlier this week, Left Hand Brewing in Longmont had to issue a recall for certain batches of Milk Stout Nitro because of a yeast strain that was changing…
The Irish Snug has been a Colfax standby for the past twelve years: a neighborhood bar for the Capitol Hill crowd. I frequented the place six years ago or so because my dramatic neighbor would drag me there to help her “casually run into” her ex, who was a regular…
What do you get when you combine home brews, entrepreneurship and charity? The answer is Colorado Startup Brews, a quintessentially Colorado networking event. Here’s how it works: Participating startup companies each home-brewed a beer that was then judged last month by numerous beer experts, writers and credentialed beer judges (including…
I’m from the East Coast. From Maryland, to be precise. I realize this may impact my credibility with some Denver natives but I have been living here more than years so at least I think that gives me at least a few Denver points. Being from elsewhere, I do appreciate…
When a second location of Black Eye Coffee opened last year at 800 Sherman Street, the owners knew they wanted to expand the scope of the popular Black Eye at 3408 Navajo Street. While the original spot is cozy and arty, this second spot is sleek and contemporary, with expanded hours…
Later this month, Black Shirt Brewing will bring four canned beers back to the market with a new look, new names and updated recipes. The four-year-old brewery had been forced to pull out of stores last year because it couldn’t get cans from its supplier in a timely way. But…
Last Monday I said a final farewell to Patsy’s Inn, which supplied north Denver with fresh pasta and red sauce for more than ninety years, and then walked around the block before heading back to my car. Along the way, I passed a semi-demolished structure at the corner of West…
Like a high school friend who shows up to his twenty-year reunion looking almost exactly like he did back then, but richer, Colorado’s craft-beer industry has defied expectations, powering forward with a vigor and energy that seems like it should have faded. There are a few wrinkles, sure, maybe the…
It’s one thing to sit down over a beer and try to solve the world’s problems. It’s quite another to sit down and try to solve the craft-brewing world’s problems. But that’s what board members of the two-decade-old Colorado Brewers Guild and the upstart breakaway group, Craft Beer Colorado, will…
While breweries might argue over whether bottles or cans are better for packaging beer, two of the companies that make rival packaging equipment are joining forces. Meheen Manufacturing, a well-respected, two-decade-old Washington-based maker of craft-beer bottling lines, and Wild Goose Canning, the Boulder canning-line upstart, have merged into one business…
Sure, Denver is the Napa Valley of beers, but a town can only handle so many suds. So, take a break from brews and explore the world of urban wine this Labor Day weekend? Although Colorado isn’t the wine capital of the U.S., quite a few decent bottles have been…
A few breweries are making a point this year of not brewing pumpkin beers. It’s not that they want to squash the pumpkin craze, it’s just that they want to do something different. Alaskan Brewing, for example, which distributes in Colorado, chose to forego its traditional pumpkin offerings this year…
My dog loves going to the bar. As summer draws to a close, it seems like a good idea to let my him go out with his friends a time or two before the cold and the Denver health inspectors limit his options when it comes to nightlife. The recent…
Imagine this scenario: You’re on the brewery bus tour, hopping from taproom to taproom, trying out new beers and getting a nice buzz on without worrying about driving — and then you notice that the bus driver is drinking, too. In fact, he’s been matching you pint for pint. Would…
Colorado may be the “Napa Valley of craft beer,” but our three major sports venues have always been more like the Death Valley of craft beer: although you can find a can or a cup of something from a local independent brewer if you look hard enough at Mile High…
For longtime Coloradans, late summer means the beginning of the harvest bounty — in particular Western Slope peaches, Olathe corn, Pueblo chile peppers and Rocky Ford cantaloupe. While you can get these gifts of the earth from anywhere, our local versions are particular sweet and delicious. Rocky Ford’s cantaloupe growers,…
The cheery husband-and-wife team that runs Kingman Estates Winery can’t stop smiling; after all, they just won two gold metals during the third annual Governor’s Cup Colorado Wine Competition in July. To add to the glory, their 2013 cabernet sauvignon was also chosen as one of the twelve wines to grace…
Jefferson Park Pub is a small neighborhood bar in one of the tiniest neighborhoods in Denver. Jefferson Park itself is a roughly 45-square-block residential enclave bordered by Speer to the north and Federal to the west. The Platte River cuts along its eastern border, and the southern border of the…
It’s easy to like Todd Usry, Garrett Wales and Meg Gill. All three are smart, approachable and passionate about beer. They all have a good sense of humor and firm handshakes. It’s even easier for some people to dislike their decisions, however. All three sold their breweries — Breckenridge Brewery…
