Winter Warlock Bristol Brewing Company Colorado Springs Winter Warlock offers a complex mix of sweet caramel and roasted chocolate flavors that really jumps off the tastebuds. Pouring black with a thick head of foam, it is a solid, well-done stout that I look forward to drinking again. And again. –…
Santa’s Little Helper Port Brewing Company San Marcos, California Port Brewing Company doesn’t mess around. The company, which began as a pizza place in Solano Beach and now owns a large brewing facility in San Marcos, makes unbelievably big beers. And like Stone Brewing, their Golden State neighbor to the…
I’ve been reviewing some the best holiday beers available on local liquor store shelves, from Colorado favorites like Left Hand’s Snowbound Ale to out-of-state greats, like Deschutes’ Jubelale. But on December 2, at 7:30 p.m., the Falling Rock Taphouse, address, will host its 12th Annual Christmas Beer Dinner. Some…
Alaskan Smoked Porter Alaskan Brewing Company It’s really quite simple. Alaskan Smoked Porter is one of the best beers ever made. It is like a rare gem in a field full of sandstone, a shooting star, a pearl in the oyster that is my local liquor store. I read about…
When I woke up after a long evening at the bar at Spago in the Ritz-Carlton in Beaver Creek, I had an e-mail from Scotty, the bartender. “Thank you for gracing my bar last night,” it read. “Truly a pleasure to meet you. I always have a good time working…
I have never before asked a bartender for permission to buy a drink. Why would I? Bars, taverns, saloons — they exist for the sole purpose of selling alcohol. Yet my first few seconds inside Scoreboard Restaurant & Lounge (3940 York Street) are so straight out of a movie —…
Jubelale Deschutes Brewery Bend, Oregon This strong ale stands a head above the others. Why? The complex malts are balanced by a powerful hoppiness that gives it an extra punch and you a good reason to stay up late on a cold winter night. Graced by a spicy kick…
Celebration AleSierra NevadaThis is a beer that I sometimes dream about during the summer months; it’s the only thing that makes me look forward to cool weather. It’s also the first beer I think of when I consider the holidays — and the first one I buy. Although it differs from…
Craft breweries in Colorado and around the country make seasonal beers all year round, but my favorites come out in the fall. I call them holiday, or Christmas, beers. Often dark and with a higher percentage of alcohol, these big beers are the bad boys of the microbrewery world. Colorado…
Last year’s winner toasts with the judges. Millions of people drink beer, and many more consider themselves to be beer experts – either in quantity or quality — but only one can be Beerdrinker of the Year. The Wynkoop Brewing Company is now taking resumes for its thirteenth annual Beerdrinker…
For those of you who don’t like margaritas because the sweet and sour makes your teeth squeak, have we got a discovery for you: agave nectar. At a Partida Tequila tasting at Lola this week, we got to sample Partida’s 100 percent organic agave nectar — clean-tasting, sweet, not as…
Kokopelli’s may have been my least favorite bar in Denver. The service was awful and the space so dark and dirty, you couldn’t have paid me to eat anything coming out of the kitchen. So I was glad to know that something, anything, had replaced it — even if I…
“Rita, I’m sick of this shit,” Tom says of his Beck’s bottle, then orders a Smirnoff screwdriver. His friends and acquaintances smirk at the switch. “This guy ain’t fucking around,” Rex exclaims. “You know,” Tom responds with mock irritation, “I’ve spent so much time learning how to drink, I oughta…
The only thing this menu is missing is a “Dust Bowl” soup du jour. If life gives you grapes of wrath, make some wine. That’s the idea behind the “Recession Menu” at Paris Wine Bar, 1549 Platte Street, a selection of all-day and all-night specials designed for gloomy economic days…
A hidden curse on beer drinkers. If the economy has driven you to drink, you might as well get your money’s worth. That’s the philosophy behind the Beer Gauge, a Boulder scientist’s invention to avoid getting ripped off on his microbrews and to address a problem that has long plagued…
I learned the joy of eating at the bar at Cafe des Artistes on the upper west side of Manhattan. I was in my early twenties, and Doug, an older colleague, insisted on buying me dinner every two to three weeks because he said he loved my stories of poverty,…
When the It’ll Do Lounge closed its doors last year after 27 years in business, regulars wondered what would happen to the small structure at 2001 West 48th Avenue. Two months ago, JD’s Neighborhood Bar happened, and if Deb the bartendress’s word is as good as her Bloody Marys, business…
Oxymoron, or just moron? I’m trying to adopt a Great Dane that I want to rename Tiny — or, if I’m willing to spend the rest of his life explaining his name, Chopine (that’s a bottle of Bordeaux containing a third the volume of a standard bottle of wine). I’ve…
The Hill-Top Tavern (4907 Lowell Boulevard) will not run a tab for anyone. I know this because a sign taped behind the bar says so. Other signs, some written in Sharpie on scraps of cardboard and paper, some typed but so yellow they look like they were hunted, pecked and…
All the food groups. All I want for Christmas this year are some delicious, warming Christmas beers, and all I want for Hanukah is a place to find out which ones are available in Colorado. What’s that you say? Hanukah Claus has answered both of my wishes already? Oh, merry…
I went to the original Brooklyn’s at 2644 West Colfax Avenue after the Broncos game yesterday, and ordered a Manhattan. Not only was it served in the smallest plastic cup I have ever seen, it was a whopping $6.25 for well liquor. I guess when you have a captive audience…
What would Chelsea Handler do? I’m a huge fan of Chelsea, and recently saw her at a benefit performance for NewGenesis, a wonderful organization that provides a transitional community for the homeless (www.panhandlingsucks.com). Although I’m not nearly as funny as Chelsea, we have other things in common. For example, we…
