Turn the page to see all of this week's craft beer events.
Wednesday, February 12February is Decadent Chocolate Cask Month at the Copper Kettle, and today's beer is Chocolate & Vanilla Cream Ale, a light- to medium-bodied classic American style, brewed with Tahitian vanilla beans and cocoa. It goes on a 3 p.m.; the Ckrepes food truck will roll in at 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 13
Station 26 Brewing will tap a firkin of Black IPA with raspberries and cacao nibs today at 4 p.m. as part of its weekly firkin series.
SOLD OUT: The Wynkoop Brewing Company will present the inaugural Masters of the Brewniverse Beer Festival and Brewery Pageant tonight from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the Oriental Theater. Guests will receive unlimited tastings from more than fourteen breweries while watching reps and brewers from each brewery compete on stage for the crowning title of "Master of the Brewniverse." Teams will showcase the personality of their brand through various rounds of beer pageantry, and will be graded on fashion, talent and interview. Contestants include Asher, Big Choice, Black Bottle, Caution, Crooked Stave, Denver Beer Co, Elevation, Epic, Great Divide, Left Hand, Mountain Sun, Renegade, Twisted Pine, Yak & Yeti and the Wynkoop. Tickets are $25 and available at ImbibeDenver.com. Proceeds benefit the Mile High United Way.
Friday, February 14
River North Brewery will kick off its week-long, two-year anniversary party by opening early, at 1 p.m., and tapping its Anniversary Ale #2, a Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin. Today you can try a side-by-side tapping of Anniversary Ale #1 (an Imperial Stout) and Anniversary Ale #2, along with other rare River North brews. There will also be food trucks on hand. Bomber bottles of AA#2 will be for sale throughout the weekend for $9 each, with a six-bottle limit.
Wit's End Brewing will hold its third annual Valentine's Day Beer and Chocolate Pairing from 2 to 8 p.m. today, welcoming singles and couples. The brewery's "alternative to the institutionalized dinners and 'specially' overpriced roses continues with our own offering to the Hallmark gods," Wit's End says. "We will be bringing back some of the awesome previous pairings as well as some new ones to blow your mind. Also, be ready for a special sappy playlist of music (think Atlantic Starr meets Journey meets The Cure) to wallow in the sorrow of love lost, or simply indulge in some guilty pleasures while celebrating your highly functional relationship."
As part of Stout Month, the Vine Street Pub, along with the Mountain Sun and Southern Sun pubs in Boulder, today will tap Cherry Chocolate Stout (brewed with milk chocolate, dark chocolate and a blend of more than 300 pounds of dark sweet cherries and red tart cherries).
Epic Brewing is offering a three-cheese, three-chocolate, four-beer pairing today at the taproom's chocolate pairing. It costs $15 for one, or $20 for a couple.
Denver Beer Co is hosting a Valentine's Day Beer & Chocolate pairing today from 7 to 11 p.m. in the Barrel Room next door. Lovebirds will be treated to eight artisanal chocolates from the Chocolate Lab paired with four beers. It's $30 per pairing.
Barrels and Bottles Brewery in Golden will host a tap takeover today by Oskar Blues, featuring eleven beers, including rare and small batch ones like Ten FIDY aged in Makers Mark barrels; Gubna aged in thirty-year-old tequila barrels; Brewing Market Coffee Stout; Chaka aged in Merlot barrels; Icey Wheat IPA; Reeb Rye'd pale ale; and more. The brewery will also have chocolate desserts paired with beers and wines like Odell Brewing Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout, Epic Brewing Company Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout, the Strange and Epic collaboration called Epically Strange Cherry Imperial Stout, Rogue Ales Double Chocolate Stout.
Starting at 7 p.m. today, Copper Kettle will host the, yes, Romance and Bro-Mance Beer Dinner with the El Toro the Tot food truck and chef Vincent Burns.The four-course meal is $65 per person and includes dishes like Tempura Fried Soft Shell Crab, Potato and Chive Gnocchi, and Braised Pork Osso Bucco. The featured beer will be a Belgian blond ale with rose hips, but the brewery will serve several others as well.
Saturday, February 15
River North Brewery will continue its week-long two-year anniversary party today by tapping its Anniversary Ale #2, a Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin, along with some other rare brews. There will also be food trucks on hand. Bomber bottles of AA#2 will be for sale throughout the weekend for $9 each.
Sunday, February 16
TRVE Brewing will release the third in its series of bottled sour "Mythological Occult" ales today at 2 p.m. Winter Zephyr is a "black sour, with the most potent acidity of the series," the brewery says. "Citrus and roast akin to cold-brewed coffee make this one of our proudest achievements." There is a four-bottle limit per customer. CVLT members get in a half hour early.
River North Brewery will continue its week-long two-year anniversary party today by tapping its Anniversary Ale #2, a Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin, along with J. Marie Barreled & Bretted (a farmhouse ale aged in red wine barrels with Brettanomyces). There will also be food trucks on hand. Bomber bottles of AA#2 will be for sale throughout the weekend for $9 each, and today only, the brewery will host its first Cellar Sale, offering limited quantities of rare bottles from throughout the brewery's history.
Monday, February 17
Every Monday from 5 to 8 p.m. during the month of February (Stout Month), the Mountain Sun, Southern Sun or Vine Street pubs will offer anyone who buys a six-beer sampler a preview of the next day's special stout release and a tour of the brewery. Today's preview beer is Mutual Respect Imperial Coffee Stout, a collaboration with Odell Brewing.
Upslope Brewing and Crooked Stave have collaborated on a beer that is part of an upcoming series from Crooked Stave, called Ferus Flexus, or Wild Flow. The beer, Wild Belgian Ale, is a batch of Upslope's Belgian Pale Ale that has been inoculated with Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus and aged for nine months in first-use red wine barrels. There will be two release parties. The first is today at 6 p.m. at Crooked Stave's Denver taproom. The brewery will be selling 375-ml bottles for $10 each (limit is four); the beer will also be on tap beginning at 6:30 p.m. Then, on Tuesday, February 18, Upslope will have a party beginning at 6 p.m. at its original Lee Hill Taproom in Boulder. The beer will be for sale there in 19.2-ounce cans for $14 (limit of three). Other barrel-aged, one-off styles will be on tap, and the Heirloom food truck will be serving up grub.
Tuesday, February 18
As part of Stout Month, the Mountain Sun, Southern Sun or Vine Street will tap Mutual Respect Imperial Coffee Stout today. Made in collaboration with Odell Brewing, this Belgo-American Imperial Coffee Stout "has a fruitiness contributed by American hops and Belgian yeast, which complement the robust flavors of cold extracted coffee," the brewery says.
Upslope Brewing in Boulder will tap Wild Belgian Ale -- a collaboration it did with Crooked Stave (see listing from Monday) today at 6 p.m. at its original Lee Hill Taproom in Boulder. The beer will be for sale there in 19.2-ounce cans for $14 (limit of three). Other barrel-aged, one-off styles will be on tap, and the Heirloom food truck will be serving up grub.
For more events later in February, turn the page. Wednesday, February 19
February is Decadent Chocolate Cask Month at the Copper Kettle, and today's beer is Orange Grand Marnier Chocolate Milk Stout, a sweet, roasted stout brewed with fresh orange peel, cocoa, and Grand Marnier liqueur. It goes on a 3 p.m. The Ckrepes food truck will be on hand at 4:30 p.m.
Falling Rock Taphouse will tap a keg of Pliny the Younger today -- the first of three days that the beer bar plans to serve the cult triple IPA from Russian River Brewing. For times and details, go to our PTY in Colorado 2014 page.
TRVE Brewing will tap a beer at 6 p.m. that it brewed in collaboration with Denver Off the Wagon to celebrate the booze blog's third anniversary. Circle the Wagons, a French saison finished with wine yeast, comes in around 7 percent ABV. "We'll be at the brewery enjoying tulip glasses full of Circle the Wagons for $5," writes DOTW founder PJ Hoberman on the blog. "You can also find Circle the Wagons at Star Bar, Stapleton Tap House, and a few other places to be announced.
Saturday, February 22
Two22 Brew, at 4550 South Reservoir Road, in Centennial, will hold a grand opening today (appropriate date) with beer, food trucks and live music. The name comes from an idea that husband-and-wife owners Paige Schuster and Marcus Christianson have for combining their love of beer with their interest in philantrophy. Specifically, they plan to donate $2.22 from every $10 of profit to charity. They'll have at least four beers on tap on opening day, including a blond, a porter and an IPA.
300 Suns Brewing plans to open today at 335 First Avenue in Longmont. The brewery has four owners, a 3,000-square-foot space and a seven-barrel brewing system.
Falling Rock Taphouse will tap a keg of Pliny the Younger today, the cult triple IPA from Russian River Brewing. For times and details, go to our PTY in Colorado 2014 page.
BeerAdvocate co-founders Todd and Candice Alstrom, who recently moved from Boston to Denver, will begin hosting a series of monthly Social Gatherings to meet and greet and hang out with beer fans; the first runs today from 1 to 5 p.m. at Lucky Pie Lodo.
SOLD OUT: Denver Beer Co will host its third annual -- and highly-anticipated -- Beer, Bacon & Coffee Fest today from 9 a.m. to noon. Coda Coffee will provide an assortment of locally-roasted coffees for sampling, while the Denver Bacon Company will bring its specialties. Tickets are $32 and include a breakfast burrito from Chile Billy. In addition to unlimited coffee and bacon, Denver Beer Co will have the following firkins going: Apricot Pale Ale with blueberries and mango; Russian Imperial Stout with chicory; and Rauchbier with maple. There will also be Coffee Stout; Cascara Pale Ale; Cacao Chile with espresso; Mocha Graham Cracker Porter; and Red beer
Sunday, February 23
Dry Dock will release 22-ounce bottles of its highly-acclaimed Bligh's Barleywine today, starting at 11 a.m. Bottles are $20 and they'll have a limited amount on tap as well.
Avery Brewing will release bottles of its eighteenth small-batch, barrel-aged sour today, Opuntia, beginning at 1 p.m. at its Boulder taproom. This one has "a dose of prickly pears and was patiently matured in first use small batch tequila barrels for nine months," the brewery says. Each twelve-ounce bottle is $12 cash, with a limit of twelve bottles per person. As usual, there will be a lineup of rare and exclusive beers available on draft.
Falling Rock Taphouse will tap a keg of Pliny the Younger today, the cult triple IPA from Russian River Brewing. For times and details, go to our PTY in Colorado 2014 page.
Odell Brewing will have a party to celebrate the re-release of its Tree Shaker Imperial Peach IPA today from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in its Fort Collins taproom. The beer was brewed with 3,000 pounds of pureed Colorado peaches. There will also be food and live music.
Monday, February 24
Every Monday from 5 to 8 p.m. during the month of February (Stout Month), the Mountain Sun, Southern Sun or Vine Street pubs will offer anyone who buys a six-beer sampler a preview of the next day's special stout release and a tour of the brewery. Today's preview beer will be the winner of the Stout Month 2014 Homebrew Contest.
Tuesday, February 25
As part of Stout Month, the Mountain Sun, Southern Sun or Vine Street will tap a beer brewed in conjunction with the winner of their annual hombrew contest.
Wednesday, February 26
February is Decadent Chocolate Cask Month at the Copper Kettle, and today's beer is Strawberry Chocolate Blonde, a malt-oriented American craft beer brewed with fresh strawberries and cocoa. It goes on a 3 p.m. The Ckrepes food truck will be on hand at 4:30 p.m.
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