For all of this week's craft beer events, turn the page.
Wednesday, April 2
It's Blonde Ale Cask Month at Copper Kettle Brewing, which will tap a different firkin each Wednesday featuring different kinds of blondes. Today's is Ugli Fruit Blonde Ale, made with a Jamaican fruit that is a hybrid of a grapefruit, orange and tangerine. CKrêpes & CKatering will be out at 3 p.m.
River North Brewery will tap an India Brown Ale, followed by a Belgian Dubbel today for its Wayward Wednesday series. There's only five gallons of each. The first one goes on tap at 3 p.m.
Thursday, April 3
Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery will tap a brand new beer today, Keyhole Session IPA. Also,the Basic Kneads food truck will be in the house.
Friday, April 4
Most of the breweriesa and beer bars in the LoDo and Ballpark neighborhoods, like Jagged Mountain, Falling Rock, Great Divide, River North and others will be tapping special brews or extending their hours today in honor of Opening Day. Yay, baseball!
The Blake Street Vault will host a Dry Dock Brewing tap takeover today in honor of Colorado Rockies opening day. The takeover runs from noon to 6 p.m. with nine different Dry Dock beers on tap. There will be a $3 special draft pint each inning along with a $1 draft pint during the seventh-inning stretch and Dry Dock prizes every hour.
Monday, April 7
Barrels & Bottles in Golden will help kick off the Craft Brewers Conference & World Beer Cup with a tap takeover today from 5 to 10 p.m., featuring twelve rare or unusual beers from four breweries, Dry Dock, Bonfire, Trinity and Eddyline (go to Barrels & Bottles Facebook page for the beer list). Brewery representatives and owners will be on hand with giveaways and to talk about their beers.
Odell Brewing will celebrate the release of its newish session beer, Loose Leaf, in six-packs today -- which also happens to be "Session Beer Day" nationwide -- with a party in its Fort Collins taproom. Session beers are typically considered to be under 5 percent ABV, and Loose Leaf comes in at 4.5 percent ABV.
Tuesday, April 8
Hops & Pie will surrender a few of its taps to River North Brewery today at noon for a tap takeover featuring a one-time-only pilot brew, a Belgian Dubbel with tart cherries. Also on tap: J. Marie Barreled & Bretted, the brewery's farmhouse ale aged in red wine barrels with Brettanomyces, along with other beers.
Euclid Hall will get into the spirit of the Craft Brewers Conference by tapping different beers each day this week. Today, the restaurant digs into five kegs of Boulevard Brewing's Chocolate Ale, along with Euclid Sour, beginning at noon. Then, at 6 p.m. they'll tap a Elda M. Bourbon Barrel Milk Stout from No Label Brewing in Texas.
Ernie's Bar & Pizza will host an unprecedented tap takeover today featuring thirty beers that were brewed by women at breweries in Colorado and across the country. The event, starting at 9 p.m., benefits the nonprofit Pink Books Scholarship Fund, which helps pay for women to go to brewing school. Many of the brewers will be on hand to talk about their beers, which will remain on tap through April 11.
Boulder Beer Company will party like its 1979 today when it taps the first kegs of its 35th Anniversary Imperial Black IPA at Marlowe's in Denver during the Craft Beer Conference taking place here this week. "Dark black in color with a big all-around hop presence, Boulder 35 remains a well-balanced big IPA with a smooth roasted malt flavor," the brewery says. There will also be other Boulder Beer libations on tap from 9:30 p.m. until after midnight, along with live music from Gipsy Moon. The event is open to the public, however, all CBC badge holders will receive two free beers from Boulder Beer.
Wednesday, April 9
For its weekly Wayward Wednesday tapping, River North Brewery will pour two versions of its Imperial Stout at 3 p.m. -- Barrel Aged Avarice and B-Side Avarice; they are the same base beer, aged in different barrels.
Freshcraft will host beers from the Bruery and Cigar City tonight at 7 p.m. Beers on tap include Cigar City's 5 for 5 American Barleywine, 5 for 5 Imperial Oatmeal Cream Porter, 5 for 5 Tangerine Florida Weisse, and Invasion Pale Ale. Beers from the Bruery include Filmishmish, Saison De Lente, Melange #1, Grey Monday. Among others.
As usual during big events, Hops & Pie will have many rare or hard-to-find beers on tap during the Craft Beer Conference. Today's are Jester King's La Vie en Rose, Noble King, RU55, Ambrée, Ol' Oi, Atrial Rubicite & Funk Metal. You can also drink several Crooked Stave beers, including Batch 60, Nightmare on Brett, Surette, Winter St. Bretta.
Join Denver Beer Co for a good old-fashioned pizza party tonight at 6 p.m. when the brewery welcomes in two of the city's best pizza trucks, Basic Kneads Pizza & Brava! Pizzeria. There will also be live music from Modern Whiskey Market.
Breckenridge Brewery has teamed up with SweetWater Brewery in Atlanta, Georgia, on a special collaboration beer that will be tapped today at Ale House at Amato's while the Craft Beer Conference is in town. The beer, called O'Tay, is a dry-hopped red wheat wine ale and will available elsewhere later this month in Colorado. Brewed with red wheat malt from the Colorado Malting Company and malted Buckwheat and Mosaic hops, it's a tribute to the friendship between Breckenridge head Todd Usry and Sweetwater chief Freddy Bensch, who "used to pal around Colorado in the early days of craft beer." Amato's will also host a tap takeover by Breckenridge and SweetWater. "The night will also honor the late Curtis McArthur of SweetWater Brewery with a toast at 4:20 p.m. Brewer friends of McArthur, Upslope Brewing Company and Crooked Stave, will be in attendance with a few of their beers to pour as well," the brewery says.
Ska Brewing will release a new collaboration with Sweden's Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri today from 5 to 8 p.m. at a party at Star Bar. Wipa Snapa White IPA was brewed in Durango when the Swedish brewery came to Ska's world headquarters for a visit. The beer -- a hybrid of the Belgian witbier and India Pale Ale styles -- is the second that Ska and Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri have worked on together. It features ingredients from both Colorado and Sweden, including Sea Buckthorn berries -- a tart, refreshing berry native to Scandinavia -- and Chinook hops from High Wire Hop Farms in Paonia.
Euclid Hall will tap Boulevard Brewing's unusual Foeder Projekt sour beer at 7 p.m. There will be national brewery reps in attendance.
For more events later in April, turn the page. Thursday, April 10
Euclid Hall will have representative of Anchor Brewing and Brewdog in the house today at 6 p.m.. They will be tapping Anchor OBA, Anchor IPA, Anchor Saison & Brewdog cocoa Psycho, Brewdog Dogma, Brewdog Libertine Black IPA.
Hops & Pie will host a festival of bourbon-barrel-aged beers today featuring ten brews from Odell, Sun King, Elevation, Mission, Grand Teton, Stone, Eel River, Oskar Blues.
Breckenridge Brewery and Sweetwater Brewery of Atlanta, Georgia, will embark on a pub crawl to seven Denver bars today that are serving O'Tay, a new collaboration beer that was brewed by the two companies (see above). Follow @BreckBrew and @SweetWaterBrew on Twitter and Instagram to locate the crew and join the crawl. The bars are Scruffy Murphy's, the Lobby, Star Bar, Lucky Pie, Blake St. Vault, Pour House, and the Strata Bar at the Hyatt Regency.
Crooked Stave will bring back its What the Funk festival today from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Exdo Event Center, featuring dozens of rare and unusual sour, wild and barrel-aged beers. See the list at evenbrite.com. Basic Kneads Pizza and Street Frites Denver will be serving food. Tickets are $80 plus fees.
Friday, April 11
Hops & Pie will tap a selection of beers from the Bruery and Cigar City. Be there or be square.
The Denver Bicycle Cafe will celebrate CBC with Funky River, an event in which River North and Funkwerks will each tap three unusual beers There will also be live bluegrass music from Timber.
Ska Brewing and DC Brau will host a CBC Wrap Up Party at Tooey's Off Colfax tonight from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. This event will feature a live performance by the Dendrites and a special tapping of Taster's Choice, a collaboration between Ska and DC Brau. Taster's Choice is Doppelbock style lager brewed with coffee.
Saturday, April 12
River North Brewery will say goodbye to the CBC today with a party starting at 1 p.m. in conjunction with CR Goodman, which distributes River North and other local craft breweries in Colorado. CR Goodman will setup their draft trailer outside the taproom. The brewery will tap rare and barrel-aged kegs throughout the day, and local food truck El Toro the Tot will serve their handmade burgers and tater tots.
Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, which will begin canning one of its beers. Little Red Cap, in April, will hold a party today to celebrate the new 12-ounce package. The Loveland brewery is selling the GABF award-winning alt-style beer in six-packs. The can-release party will feature Little Red Cap beer can chicken as well as a canned food drive benefiting House of Neighborly Service.
Sunday, April 13
Denver Beer Co will team up with the Real Dill for round three of Beers & Spears, its beer-and-pickle paring pickle party (yes, I said "pickle twice"). This time, the pairing will include three beers paired with three pickles, as well as fried pickles from Big Country Bar B Que. Oh, and there will be a spicy-pickle eating contest, too (the winner gets a growler of beer and a jar of pickles.) Tickets are $15.
Saturday, April 26
Parry's Pizzeria & Bar in Highlands Ranch will host its second annual Big Ass Tap Takeover today beginning at 11 a.m. in conjunction with Avery Brewing, which will take over at least thirty taps. "There will be kill-the-keg contests, raffles for Avery and Parry's merchandise and three VIP tours to Avery's own brewery as well as hourly bottle releases. Bottles being released range from Avery's barrel projects including sours, big ales and even some vintage selections straight from their cellar," Parry's says.
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