River North, which built a production facility in north Denver, just announced last week that it was returning to RiNo with what will be a second taproom and brewery. But you can celebrate history — and Denver brewing history — on Friday, June 23, by raising a toast to the old building on Blake Street.
Now, here are the best craft-beer events and tappings through June 24.
Wednesday, June 14
Gunbarrel Brewing Company opens today at 7088 Winchester Circle in Boulder. "The day has finally come," the brewery says. "We have ten beers on draft, food trucks daily and a nice selection of snacks and other beverages." Gunbarrel will operate with limited hours until it's fully staffed, and will have a grand-opening party at the end of July. See the brewery's Facebook page for details, hours and a food-truck schedule.
Alpine Dog Brewing will tap a firkin of Papaya Citrus today at 6 p.m. It won't last long, so get to the brewery at Colfax and Ogden promptly.
Get this beer while it's hot: Because of customer demand, Peak to Peak Tap & Brew in Aurora decided to make Fire & Ice Green Chile beer, which it will start pouring at 1 p.m.
New Belgium has released the 2017 bottling of Transatlantique Kriek; this is the first year that the blended beer is 100 percent wood-aged. The sour ale is a mix of 50 percent New Belgium's foeder-aged golden sour and 50 percent authentic kriek lambic from Brewery Oud Beersel in Belgium. “This year’s beer is particularly iconic because it’s 100 percent wood-aged,” says the Fort Collins brewery's specialty-brand manager, Andrew Emerton. “Because of our process with this beer, we actually had the incredible honor of having Transatlantique Kriek at this year’s Toer de Geuze in Belgium, the premier sour-beer event in the world.” Lauren Limbach, New Belgium’s wood cellar director and blender, adds, "It was an incredible honor and a total dream come true!” Look for Transatlantique Kriek and another new offering, Voodoo Ranger Passionfruit Imperial IPA, in liquor stores that specialize in local and craft beers.
Thursday, June 15
Hogshead Brewery will roll out four consecutive days of cask ales starting Thursday, June 15, to celebrate its fifth anniversary, which will be highlighted with a pig roast and party on Saturday (see below). Throughout the four-day celebration, there will also be special beer tappings, music and an English breakfast.
Grimm Brothers Brewing, at 623 Denver Avenue in Loveland, has tapped the Baron, the first in its Six Soldiers of Fortune Series of historic German-style sour beers. This one, at just 3.2 percent ABV, is a traditional Berliner weisse.
Friday, June 16
Copper Kettle Brewing is tapping another round of its "mistake" brew turned GABF gold-medal winner at 2 p.m. The Belgian Blonde is smooth and refreshing. Basecamp Provisions will be serving food outside.
Avery Brewing will release its newest year-round sour beer, Ginger Sour, at 11 a.m. "Verdant fresh ginger is artfully rooted in radiant tartness, peaking in the unmistakable burst and bite of this bright barrel-aged sour ale," Avery says. The beer will be available in 22-ounce bottles. The restaurant will serve ginger-inspired dishes.
The three-day Vail Craft Beer Classic brings "all the beer we can haul over the pass to throw a beer fest like nothing else on earth," according to its organizers. "Experience the mountains the way they should be enjoyed, with a cold beer and your friends." For more information, ticket prices and a schedule, see the event website.
Denver Beer Co.'s new location in Arvada will feature an indoor food trailer.
Denver Beer Co./Gensler
Denver Beer Co. will host the official grand-opening party for its third location in Olde Town Arvada, starting at 11 a.m. The new brewery, at 5768 Olde Wadsworth Boulevard, includes a brewery, tap room and outdoor patio, plus the Mighty Burger, a permanent food truck thar will sling artisan burgers out of an Airstream trailer within the building. Mighty Burger is run by the owners of Lucky Pie Pizza. In addition to beer and burgers, there will be a photo booth and live music from 2 to 10 p.m. from Arvada musicians.
Call to Arms Brewing will focus on hops from noon to 9 p.m. at Humulus Rumpulus, a more aromatic version of its regular bi-monthly Rumpus event. To help you get your hops on, CTA will tap Meemtonio Ginger Pale Ale, Sweet Bloom Coffee IPA, and Great Great Great Gam Gam Triple IPA. In addition, High Wire Hops will be in attendance from noon to 4 p.m. to talk about its Colorado hop farm. There will be food from the Stone Lotus Food Truck from noon to 6 p.m. and from Il Porcellino Salumi from 3 to 6 p.m.; Il Porcellino will be selling salami made with CTA's Freedom Fries Saison, which was hopped with Nelson Sauvin. The Alcapones will be playing music from 4 to 7 p.m., and Habitat for Humanity will be on hand from noon to 4 p.m. Finally, the first 25 people through the door will receive a free Rumpus can-style glass, "and if all goes to plan with our Crowler equipment, we'll be releasing a limited number of twelve-ounce cans of our Great Great Great Gam Gam starting at noon," the brewery says.
The days are getting long, something Lone Tree Brewing will celebrate by debuting Cucumber Wheat in cans at its annual Summer Carnival. The event — just five days before the summer solstice — also features a strawberry-infused batch of Lone Tree’s Blonde Ale. The party also includes lawn games, live music by the School of Rock Aurora, face painting by Emma Paints Colorado, a dunk tank, and concessions by the Elevation 5280 food truck. This event is family- and dog-friendly, and admission is free.
Follow the Light, a side project of the brewer at Nighthawk Brewery, will host a dual bottle release at Nighthawk. The first beer is a rye saison fermented with a Belgian farmhouse and Brettanomyces yeasts in a neutral oak barrel. The second is a rye saison fermented with a blend of two saison yeasts and Brett in a used whiskey barrel that also once held cider. Bottles are $12 each, and the beers will also be on tap.
The pinnacle of Hogshead's fifth-anniversary celebration this weekend is a cask festival and pig roast from 2 to 11 p.m. for "108 lucky individuals, who will get to experience the joy of cask-conditioned beer from the most respected breweries in Denver," says Hogshead. The brewery will be cask-conditioning beers from Comrade, Cannonball Creek, Call to Arms, Strange Craft, West Bound and Down, Bierstadt Lagerhaus, LIttle Machine and Station 26. Ticket holders will also get a logoed commemorative pint glass and can enjoy plenty of pork from whole hogs roasted throughout the evening. Tents will be provided for shade, and live music will keep things lively. Tickets run from $60 to $75 and are available on Eventbrite.
Friday, June 23
TRVE Brewing will throw its annual Bacchanal at the hi-dive today and tomorrow. The brewery will take over the taps and has flown in bands from around the country to help celebrate the occasion. Today's band lineup includes Eternal Champion, Spirit Adrift, In the Company of Serpents, 908 and Rottstrotter. Tomorrow you can expect to see Ash Borer, Vastum, Of Feather and Bone, and Glacial Tomb.
Join Our Mutual Friend Brewing for its first bottle release of the year, a collaboration with Greeley's Wiley Roots Brewing called New Boot Goofing. A bottle-conditioned golden sour brewed, aged and rested on local Montmorency cherries, the beer has "a wonderful, light-rosy hue and flavor complexity that makes it our current go-to sour that we considered just hoarding and drinking ourselves," the brewery says. Ultimately, OMF decided to share it and will begin sales at 2 p.m. The beer will also be available on draft.
Saturday, June 24
Much has changed since Renegade Brewing opened its doors on June 26, 2011. The west Denver brewery has grown from its initial taproom and a staff of three to having a separate production facility, a full lineup of canned beers that are distributed in five states, and a staff of twenty. To celebrate, Renegade will hold its Six-Year Anniversary Block Party from 1 to 5 p.m. at its production facility, in a business park at 918 West First Avenue (the brewery has held its previous anniversary parties at its taproom on Ninth Avenue). This time around, the evening will be ticketed, and there are several levels, ranging from $40 to $70, but all of them get you unlimited beer tastings, a $5 voucher for any of the food trucks that will be on the premises, and some type of drinkware. There will also be live music from Hangman's Hymnal. For tickets and more information, go to renegadeanniversary.com.
LandLocked Ales in Lakewood will host its long-awaited grand opening starting at noon. There will be several beers on tap, and Woodhill Small Batch BBQ will be on hand.
Big Choice Brewing is moving from its Broomfield home of five years to a larger, new location in Brighton, but the owners want to say goodbye to the old spot in style, so they're hosting a party at 7270 West 118th Place, "from noon until whenever." There will be lots of beer and plenty of stories from staff and regulars. More details TBA.
