Blind tastings: They’re not just for sommeliers anymore. It’s true. A significant part of becoming an advanced level sommelier involves learning to identify wines the hard way — by relying 100 percent on the wine’s appearance in the glass, smell and taste. Given that you are probably not, nor are…
It may be winter, but the Cherry Kriek is flowing fast at Strange Brewing, which is finally able to make enough of the taphouse favorite to supply a few bars, including the Rackhouse Pub, Ale House at Amato’s and Freshcraft, where it goes on tap this weekend. Strange Brewing replaced…
One of the owners of Brauns on Blake plans to open a new brewery next spring that will rely on no-nonsense German-style beers and forty-year-old brewing equipment shipped from a brewery in the world-famous beer region of Bamberg, Germany…
Breckenridge Brewing will break ground this week on a new annex to its facility at 471 Kalamath Street, where it will house six massive 300-barrel fermentation tanks. The first two tanks are scheduled to arrive on December 15; the other four should be here by February or March…
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 four of this new series: It is impossible to overstate my…
Happy Place: Row 14 Bistro and Wine Bar, 891 Fourteenth Street, 303-825-0100. The Hours: Sunday through Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to midnight. The Deals: $2-$3 beer specials; $4 specialty cocktails; $5-$10 appetizers. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out…
The Wynkoop Brewing Company has had some fun over the past year naming some of the one-keg-only beers that it serves as part of its Firkin Friday program. Remember Weiner’s Wood Oak-Aged IPA, which the brewery named for a certain former New York Congressman? Now you can try something with…
Palisade-based Peach Street Distillers has rocked the marketplace in the Centennial state with clear spirits, but whiskey — and, more specifically, bourbon — has been part of the plans since the get-go. “My two partners, Bill Graham and David Thibodeau, are two of the founding fathers of Ska in Durango,”…
Crazy Mountain Brewing in Edwards is the latest Colorado beer maker to undergo a major expansion, doubling the size of its brewery, adding high-speed canning and bottling lines, and hiring at least seven employees. All told, the Vail-area brewery, which was founded in 2010 by Kevin Selvy, will spend $4.1…
How come no one ever seems to talk about how expensive it is to be a wine drinker? Think about it: Thanksgiving is a scant three weeks from now, and according to the near-endless refrain of shopping mall adverts, Christmas shows up in precisely 54 days. Heap on top of…
The Mountain Sun string of brewpubs hopes to have its flagship operation at the Vine Street Pub in Denver up and running by February, which is also when Mountain Sun celebrates Stout Month — one of the most anticipated beer fests of the year. In the meantime, however, you can…
New Belgium Brewing releases its new winter seasonal, called Snow Day, today (and props to them for waiting until a part of the year when we can actually get snow to unveil a winter beer). Snow Day, a cross between a black IPA and a winter warmer, replaces 2 Below,…
Do you like Fat Tire? How about Ranger IPA? If so, you’ll be getting more of both in February when New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins releases both beers in sixteen-ounce cans. The two beers will be the brewery’s first tallboys and they’ll be among the first to be produced…
Avery Brewing Company, which has outgrown the Boulder business park where it was founded eighteen years ago, has settled on a 5.6-acre spot in north Boulder, where it hopes to build a brand new beer compound. The location, at 4910 and 4920 Nautilus Court, would include a 30,000 square-foot brewery,…
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 three of this new series: I love booze. I try to…
Happy Place: Lime XS, 730 East Sixth Avenue, 303-722-5463. The Hours: Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. The Deals: $3 house wines, well drinks, margaritas, and draft beer; $3 appetizers. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out…
Six breweries have opened in the Denver area so far this year, and there are more on the horizon. And while craft beer lovers might say it’s impossible to have “too many breweries,” it is becoming exponentially more difficult to stand out in the ever-growing crowd of competition. But the…
After a four-month delay, Arvada Beer Company will open today at 11 a.m. in a 95-year-old brick building that has been gutted and restored to make room for the brewery and other shops. “It’s been a long journey, but we are really excited,” says co-owner Kelly Floyd. The delays were…
Great Divide Brewing is known for taking big, bold beer styles and turning them on their head, and they plan to mix it up again by releasing an unexpected beer — a light lager — at an unexpected time: winter. Nomad is a 5.4 percent ABV Bohemian pilsner that will…
Yes, it snowed. Get used to it. Better yet, take advantage of it. The Rackhouse Pub, which celebrates its two-year anniversary later in the week, is marking the time-honored tradition of calling in sick on powder days by offering a free pint to anyone who shows up with a lift…
Like it or not, for years people have habitually lumped wines from Colorado into its own special (read: inferior) category of domestic winemaking. Bottles from other, more mainstream wine-producing regions in the U.S., like California, Oregon, and Washington State, seem to score all the props, while the Centennial state gets…
Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them and cook up a feast. While this week’s…
