Humans have been trying to get drunk for a long time. The earliest evidence of people drinking fermented wheat or barley-based beverages dates all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia (where Iraq is now) about 7,000 years ago, while the earliest beer recipe was discovered in a 4,000-year-old poem. But on…
Before my first taste of a new vermouth from one of Denver’s few urban wineries, the sweetish herbal concoction was just another ingredient in my favorite vodka martini. At the Infinite Monkey Theorem Urban Winery at 3200 Larimer Street, I discovered the unique, stand-alone virtues of a glass of vermouth. In…
As the days get colder, you can count on Colfax Avenue to stay burning bright at all hours, full of places to take refuge from the wind. One place that has become a quietly reliable Colfax fixture over the years, as well as a great place to warm yourself and…
It’s not every day you can find American spirits created in a traditional Scottish Forsyths still, but at Vapor Distillery in Boulder the whiskey passes through a copper pot from the respected manufacturer before being aged and bottled. The man behind the machine is Alastair Brogan, also a Scottish import,…
Fireman Capital Partners, the Boston-based private equity firm that owns Longmont’s Oskar Blues Brewery, Perrin Brewing in Michigan, Florida’s Cigar City and the Squatters and Wasatch breweries in Utah, is changing the name of the holding company that operates these breweries from Oskar Blues Holdings to CANarchy. CANarchy “provides a…
Gird your loins and steel your livers; the most wonderful time of the year is upon us, bringing with it the attendant consumerism, family drama and, of course, drinking. No doubt you’ll be making a few runs to your local liquor store for supplies, but this festive season is also…
At least a dozen breweries closed their taprooms in Colorado in 2017. That’s the bad news. But eight of the twelve were replaced by other existing breweries or breweries-in-planning, so the vacated spaces are at least being recycled, the brewing equipment reused and thirsty beer drinkers are being served. One…
Westword’s most-read drink stories of 2017.
South Broadway can be gritty along the half-mile stretch known as Antique Row, and the owners of Alternation Brewing, which opens its doors Saturday, want it to stay that way. “This isn’t LoDo or even River North. I like the grunge feel, so I hope the neighborhood doesn’t change too…
Family roots and a love of wine run deep at the newly opened Deep Roots Winery & Bistro at 1516 Wazee Street in historic lower downtown Denver. Located in a long, narrow Victorian-era building just off the 16th Street Mall, the winery produces more than a dozen high quality wines…
When Salt Lake City’s Epic Brewing revealed in 2012 that it would open a newer, larger production facility in Denver, co-owner Dave Cole mentioned that the search had come down to Colorado and California. Colorado won out, though, and Epic unveiled its $2.5 million, twenty-barrel brewery the next year. But…
Although it may seem easy to shop for that cocktail and beer-loving co-worker or father-in-law, this year go beyond the usual bottle of bottom-shelf bourbon and try something better made right here in the Centennial State. Whether the recipient lives in town or somewhere else, nothing says “taste the Rockies”…
I have noticed the awning and sign for W.T. Shorty’s Sports Grill (990 South Oneida Street) a few times over the years, tucked back in a strip mall off of Leetsdale Drive in Virginia Vale among establishments with names like the Gift Card Shop and David’s Kebab House. It always looked…
In the past two weeks, two well-respected national beer writers have penned articles foretelling the demise of craft brewing. Neither predicted its death based on competition with big beer or on ingredient shortages or other economic factors, though. Rather, they bemoaned the surging popularity of two different styles, sounding the…
Three years ago, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project dismantled its Cellar Reserve program — one of the first such craft-beer membership programs in Colorado — because of production constraints and other growing pains. The move gave the brewery more freedom, but also alienated a significant number of its original supporters…
If Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday had you sweating it out on Can’t-Pay-the-Rent Tuesday, then you might want to turn away from this bit of news: In recent months, a few Colorado craft breweries have begun selling beers exceeding $30, $40 and even $50 a bottle. It’s…
3 Freaks Brewing in Highlands Ranch posted a message on its Facebook page on Saturday saying it would be closed temporarily because it had inadvertently failed to renew its state licensing. The brewery, located at 7140 East County Line Road, was opened in June 2014 by Jeff Atencio. Atencio declined…
Chai beers are nothing new, but they’re also not that easy to find. For years, Yak & Yeti in Arvada was the only local brewery that made a brew with Indian spices on a regular basis, and that experience showed: brewery-restaurant won a silver medal for its chai milk stout…
Brrrr, these sixty-degree days are really chilling, um, nothing. But that’s okay, our internal body clocks know it’s winter, and so do Colorado’s breweries. That’s why they are unleashing a host of wintry beers and hosting the best holiday-themed beer bashes imaginable. So, grab your ugly sweaters (and flip-flops) and…
TRVE Brewing, which has always eschewed trends in favor of doing things their own way, will release one of the company’s most unusual bottled beers to-date on Saturday, December 2. Wavering Radiant is a wild/sour ale that was spontaneously fermented using yeasts and microbes that are floating in the air…
I’ve been starting to run short on Denver neighborhood bars to visit, so it was time for another trip to Lakewood with a friend of mine who lives out that way. West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood is full of amazing-looking dive bars, so we decided to shoot for that general…
On Tuesday, Boulder’s Avery Brewing announced that it had given up a thirty percent stake in the company to Spanish brewing giant Mahou San Miguel. The sale keeps Avery founders Adam and Larry Avery in charge of the brewery’s future, but it means that the beer maker, founded in 1993,…
