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…
USA Today’s 10Best readers’ choice survey is underway online, and once again, it includes a category for the best new brewery. That’s a hot contest considering the fact that hundreds of new breweries open each year across the country (there are now more than 6,000) and that the survey covers…
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…
Stone Brewing is suing MillerCoors over its rebranding of Keystone. Here are seven options that could pull big beer from the brink.
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 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…
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…
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…
It’s Valentine’s Day, and there is nothing more romantic that two souls finding each other and working together to create something bigger than the sum its parts — and by “something,” I mean…beer! The fifth annual Collaboration Fest takes place on March 31 at the Hyatt Regency downtown, when breweries…
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…
Almost every brewery in Colorado makes an IPA, but that doesn’t mean every brewery makes a great IPA. Only a few of them brew IPAs that truly stand out, or stand above the rest. While much of that judgement is subjective, some of it is bolstered by numbers. Beer Advocate,…
Frisco’s Backcountry Brewery, which closed last November before being sold to a new owner, will get a new name, a new look and new beers when it reopens sometime this spring.
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…
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…
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…
This is part two 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. Read…
High Hops Brewery in the northern Colorado town of Windsor just got its own canning line, and the beer makers there are wasting no time putting it to good use. The brewery plans to become one of the first — if not the very first — craft brewery to sell…
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…
Most craft brewery owners thought Oskar Blues was idiotic back in 2002 when the company became the first to regularly package its beer in cans. They said it destroyed the image of good beer and that it wouldn’t work. But those brewers have all since come around to idea that…
A new restaurant can wow first-time visitors with flashy food; a chef can pull out all the stops for a one-time tasting menu. But can they keep it up over time? Quality and consistency over months and years are what separate the great eatery from the flash in the pan…
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…
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…
