Esters in Virginia Village Has Earned Its Neighborhood Pub Status

In my journey through Denver’s bars, I sometimes debate whether an establishment falls into the category of “neighborhood bar” or not. But Esters Neighborhood Pub in Virginia Village makes my deliberation easy by including “neighborhood” in its name. And I discovered that the place is definitely a watering hole for…

The Colorado Spirits Trail Officially Launches This Saturday

Colorado’s booze industry has been a growing scene for years now. From long-running favorites such as Woody Creek Distillers, Leopold Bros. Distillery and Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey; to new players like Longtucky Spirits and Denver Distillery, there are plenty of quality bottles to choose from. Now, there’s a service that ties…

The Happiest Hour: Campus Lounge Is No Longer a Dive Bar

One of the unfortunate consequences of continued rising real estate prices in this town is that our beloved neighborhood dives are under threat: Unable to compete with the trendier cocktail lairs and breweries going in around them, many are simply drying up. Occasionally, though, these bars get new life, when…

The Coolest Brewery Flight Trays in Colorado

The beer is the thing at Colorado’s four hundred or so breweries, but if you like presentation as well — and most of us do — then you’re going to appreciate the extra mile that some breweries go to make their suds look good. From custom-built metal taster trays in…

The Beermuda Triangle, Part Three: The Berkeley Inn

This is the final installment of our three-part Beermuda Triangle series, which explores the Beer Depot, Tennyson’s Tap and the Berkeley Inn, three bars at the corner of West 38th Avenue and Tennyson Street that are as easy to get lost in as the mysterious waters of the Atlantic Ocean…

Denver Beer Co. Opening a Cerveceria Focused on Mexican-Style Beers

The owners of Denver Beer Co are planning to “create a bridge, rather than a wall” with their latest concept, a craft-beer bar serving ten Mexican-style beers and collaborations with Mexican breweries. Cerveceria Colorado, at 1635 Platte Street, will be located next door to Denver Beer Co in the space that…

Denver Sake Maker Pushes for Change in Brewing Laws

Colorado seems like the perfect place to make alcoholic beverages; just look at the proliferation of breweries and distilleries around the state, and the growing number of wine and cider makers. So what if your drink of choice is sake? That shouldn’t make too much of a difference when it…

The Happiest Hour: Guilty Pleasures Abound at Señor Bear’s Hora Loca

Two words for you, as you contemplate what to order at Señor Bear’s hora loca, or happy hour: Gordo Crunch. The Gordo is a flour-tortilla-swaddled crispy taco shell filled with juice-oozing chorizo and topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, jack cheese and a couple of racy chilies. It’s served embedded in…

Milkshake IPAs Are Shaking Up Colorado’s Craft-Brewing Scene

Craft breweries have been experimenting with IPAs for decades, adding and subtracting hop varieties and malt bills, as well as changing up yeast strains and adjunct ingredients like fruit and spices. There have been Belgian-style IPAs, Cascadian (black) IPAs, red IPAs, wild IPAs, oak-aged IPAs, fruited IPAs (which was a…

Canned Wine Spritz Creator Explains Why You Need One

You may have seen a saucy pink can decked out with a woman with a citrus smile and the name Ramona blasting out in bold lettering. What is this jazzy beverage and who is responsible for such a creation? Ramona is a canned spritz made with Sicilian grapefruit juice and Italian…

Wake Up, Colorado! This Is the Year for Coffee Beers

Coffee beers are nothing new. Breweries in Colorado have increasingly focused on coffee as an ingredient over the past few years, widening the breadth and deepening the depth of their knowledge — and then producing some seriously geeky concoctions based on the origin, variety and local roaster of the beans…

The Ten Best Colorado Craft-Beer Events in February

February comes pre-loaded with two beer-friendly holidays: Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day (or Anti-Valentine’s Day, as the case may be). But the shortest month of the year is also special in Colorado because of Stout Month, which was started by the Mountain Sun Pub 25 years ago and which is…

The Happiest Hour: Get on the Tavernetta Aperitivo Train

So complete was the transformation of Union Station that it’s hard to remember a time when it was once not much more than a forlorn depot for AmTrak and the Winter Park ski train. Today, thanks to a soup-to-nuts restoration of the building’s former glory — and a development plan…