Bars & Breweries

If Elvis is here, can Michael Jackson be far behind? All bets are off.Big clue to our location below:…

After two months of moving – and twelve- to fifteen-hour work days – Jess Graber, Jake Norris and the rest of the Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey crew are just about up and running in their new digs inside the former Heavenly Daze Brewery at 200 South Kalamath Street. And they’ve leased…

A new bar in town stocks not just quality booze, but a handy library of reference volumes to settle bets.Except this one: Bet you can’t guess which bar this is……

Tonight, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.,Morton’s in the Denver Tech Center, 8480 East Belleview Avenue, is uncorking five different Argentinian Malbec wines for oenophiles willing to fork over $45 for plenty of sips, plus hors d’oeuvres, including cheeses, sliced tenderloin with chimichurri sauce, broiled sea scallops and miniature hot chocolate…

It was just a matter of time before the Ritz-Carlton, Denver’s swankiest slumbering pad at 1881 Curtis Street, realized that you’re only as good as your happy hour, which has never been one of the Ritz’s gazillion amenities – until now, anyway. Now, if you’re a guest at the hotel,…

“This here’s an Indian hangout,” Gary reveals to me and three friends just a few minutes after we’ve bellied up to the bar he’s tending. Although there are no Native Americans present right now, he says that during the March PowWow, the owner brings in three bouncers at night just…

It’s not too late to make reservations for the single malt scotch tasting at the Wynkoop Brewing Company, 1634 18th Street, slated for Thursday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m. But if you want to sample the slew of Britain’s best single malts — MaCallan, Famous Grouse and Highland Park Scotch,…

Members of the Colorado Bartenders Guild took first, second and third at the Bombay Sapphire regional cocktail competition on Tuesday night. Coming in third, Mike Henderson of TAG; second, Sean Kenyon of Steuben’s and Vesta Dipping Grill. And in first place? Anika Zappe, the musician/mixologist at Root Down. Zappe won…

I know you’ve been worried. Or worried-ish. But rest assured that, unlike their peers up at Molson Coors in Canada, the approximately 2,800 employees at MillerCoors in Golden will continue to get their 864 free beers a year … for now. Last week, I read that Molson Coors — the…

A number of Denver restaurants have bars that just do everything right. The restaurateurs recognize the importance of a comfortable bar setting. The bartenders are professionals who understand the complexity of a cocktail — and the simple value of a substantial pour. And the chefs realize that it’s important to…

Eighty-two year-old JoAnn Turner, who bought the Rustic Tavern (5126 West 29th Avenue) with her husband 52 years ago and continues to oversee its daily operations, is showing me her photo albums. There’s so-and-so: His dog got hit by a car and we buried it out back. There’s Uncle Fred:…

Twins Will and Dave Elger, who were born in Mexico but are very much Denverites, worked in the tequila business for a decade before creating their own five years ago: Muchote Tequila. Nancy Levine first caught up with it last September at Lime XS, where she discovered it made a…

The Beer Clothing Company, the Central City firm that graced the world with its (patent-pending) Beer Buckle, has landed a contract with Boston Beer (the maker of Sam Adams) to manufacture Beer Buckles branded with the Twisted Tea logo. The Beer Buckle is a genius creation: a belt buckle that…

For two hours last Friday, I was happy, happy, happy. The reason for my happiness? Vesta Dipping Grill, more specifically, the happy hour at Vesta Dipping Grill (1822 Blake Street), which runs Monday through Friday, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and may very well be the happiest deal in Denver,…

Falling Rock Taphouse, Westword’s Best Beer List winner three years in a row, celebrates its twelfth anniversary tonight with a party starting at 6 p.m. Enjoy free barbeque while it lasts, and try a couple pints of beer from Elysian Brewing, a Seattle-area brewery that is entering the Colorado market…

When Brian Dunn organized his business plan back in 1993, he was worried about being late to the game. A half dozen other microbreweries had already started here, selling small batches of craft brew to the hops- and malt-loving denizens of downtown Denver. But it turned out Dunn was right…

As part of the ever-expanding effort to pump a little “spirit” into the venues that host Denver’s First Friday events in several arts districts around town, the Artwork Network showroom, 878 Santa Fe Drive, will sell glasses of wine and bottles from the Bonacquisti Wine Company, beginning with the First…

I could be a homosexual man trapped in a heterosexual woman’s body. The fact is, I love gay boys. I’m the quintessential “fruit fly,” formerly and less attractively known as a “fag hag.” And as such, I love a great gay bar. I hate to stereotype, but not only does…

Colorado’s highest-altitude brewery, Rosie’s Brewpub in Leadville, has served its last pint as of May 30, according to its website. “Unfortunately with the economy, we here at Rosie’s Brewpub must close our doors. This past winter has impacted us in the worst way possible. Thanks to the many that did…

Perhaps, in the distant past, beer drinkers looked down their red, shiny noses at alfalfa sprout-munching yoga lovers, while those body-mind-and-soul spiritual types disdainfully ignored the smelly hopheads. But not anymore. The Bristol Brewing Company has created a place for everyone to come together, first in the downward dog position…

In apparent anticipation of The Hangover, a new movie going straight to DVD coming to a theater near you on June 5, the Northglenn-based Allied Advertising and Public Relations Group is trying to convince us that after lubricating ourselves with booze tonight, we’re going to wake up tomorrow morning (presumably…

Yesterday, we told you about a host of Belgian beer releases in Colorado, but the brew news just won’t quit… Tonight, Boulder’s newest brewery, Upslope Brewing Company, will hold a grand opening for its tap room, at 1501 Lee Hill Road in Boulder. Upslope, which cans its beers, will have…