Bryan Dayton, owner of Boulder’s Oak at Fourteenth (which is under construction after a fire there this spring), flew to Vegas this fall and outdid dozens of mixologists from around the country to bring home a big first prize: He was named GQ Bombay Sapphire’s most inspired bartender in the…
Sometimes, just sometimes, big holiday celebrations can feel like a bit of a grind. Whoops, did we say that out loud? It’s not that we don’t love our families — we do. But we suspect that you’d agree that occasionally these annual gatherings can feel like more of an obligation…
Twisted Pine Brewing will debut a new series of one-off beers next year, releasing one per month. The Artisan Ale series will all be sold in limited quantities (about one hundred cases) in 750 ml bottles, and the labels will be adorned with artwork by local artists…
Over the last few months, I went from the worst shape of my life to the best while continuing to eat like a food critic. Don’t punch me in the face; instead, read how I did it in part six of this series: Three weeks into Bonza Bodies and the…
A few hundred years ago, while sugar traders from Britain and the American colonies were distilling their molasses into fiery rum, a very different tradition was unfolding on the French islands in the Caribbean. The French produced their own sugar in Europe, and so had no need to refine it…
Bill Eye, the award-winning head brewer at Aurora’s Dry Dock Brewing, has taken a job as brewmaster — and one of the managing partners — at Prost Brewing, an all German-style lager beer maker that plans to open in Denver next spring. Eye was responsible for several of the Dry…
Happy Place: The Mediterranean Restaurant, 1002 Walnut Street, 303-444-5335. The Hours: Daily from 3 to 6:30 p.m. The Deals: $1 off draft beers; $4 featured wines by the glass, sangria, and well cocktails; $6 martinis; $2-$5 small plates. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out…
Highland Tap and Burger caters to a lot of different neighborhood groups, but owner Katie O’Shea has made a point of frequently hosting a large group of women in her restaurant who have one thing in common: a love for beer. At those gatherings of the Craft Ladies’ Beer Club,…
Details were sparse when we heard Mile High Spirits was going into a space on 29th and Larimer Streets — we knew the new distillery would be making vodka, and we knew it was tentatively slated to open in January. Owner Joe Vonfeldt confirms that January is still looking good…
When Mitch Abate, Matt Causey and Andy Causey opened Downslope Distilling three years ago, they didn’t just start working on the variety of vodkas, rums and whiskeys that comprise their regular line. Almost as soon as they got their license, they set up a one-off and also put together a…
Crabtree Brewing has never canned its beers and doesn’t own a canning line; its owner, Jeff Crabtree, doesn’t even think craft beer belongs in a can. Nevertheless, the Greeley brewery’s Eclipse black IPA will probably become the first Colorado beer to be packaged in sixteen-ounce cans…
The wine topic that everyone seems to be obsessed with this week is what goes best with turkey (Thanksgiving is next Thursday, or hadn’t you heard?). Not us. There’s still plenty of time to tackle that topic, and if you tend to procrastinate as much as we do, then you’ll…
The holiday beer releases came early and often this year, and there are now dozens of them on the shelves and on tap at bars where you can get your cheer on. The Falling Rock Taphouse, in particular, knows how to get into the spirit, wrapping its tap wall in…
Colorado’s distilleries will get their due in the New York Times travel magazine on Sunday. And the piece, in “Blithe Spirits,” has already been posted on the web. The article celebrates this state’s burgeoning spirits scene, describing distilleries ranging from the Boulder Distillery to Peach Street Distillers to Leopold Brothers,…
In the past few years, attention-seeking breweries like Sam Adams, Scotland’s BrewDog and Germany’s Schorschbock have been engaged in a battle over who could make the highest-alcohol beers in the world — turning out concoctions that weighed in at 40, 50 and even 60 percent alcohol by volume. But back…
Over the last few months, I went from the worst shape of my life to the best while continuing to eat like a food critic. Don’t punch me in the face; instead, read how I did it in part five of this series: I like to blame my line of…
We’ve taken the cooler days as our cue to indulge in the flavors of fall, shoving cinnamon-ed apples, pumpkin anything and heavy stews into our mouths whenever we can. Two of our very favorite seasonal delights are whiskey and salted caramel — and now we know where you can get…
Happy Place: Boulder Café, 1247 Pearl Street, 303-444-4884. The Hours: Daily from 3 p.m. to close. The Deals: Half-priced beer, cocktails, wines by the glass, and appetizers. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out…
Taprooms and food trucks are a perfect match: the taprooms need good grub to feed their customers, and the food trucks need to find good spots with a lot of hungry people. Over the past few years, it’s a combination that’s worked well for more than a dozen breweries in…
The news these days is enough to drive you to drink. That’s why we asked a local barfly, Schmitty, to take on the task of creating a shot to go with the hottest story in the news. His debut offering? The Joe Paterno Shot…
Breckenridge Brewing doesn’t always release limited-edition, barrel-aged beers, but when it does, there’s a big to-do about it, complete with a party. On Saturday, the brewery, located at 471 Kalamath Street, will offer 240 hand-numbered 750 ml bottles of Summer Cab Ride, Breck’s Summerbright golden ale aged in cabernet sauvignon…
While 2011 may have been the year of the small brewery in metro Denver — which has so far toasted the arrival of six new ones — 2012 may be even bigger. Black Shirt Brewing, 3719 Walnut Street, and Prost Brewing, 2540 19th Street, have both announced plans to open…
