The cops are everywhere by the time we roll up to the Squire Lounge (1800 East Colfax Avenue) just after 8 p.m. — two squads blocking (and facing) eastbound traffic, another pulled halfway onto the sidewalk, all of them screaming red and blue, all of it a familiar and strangely…
It all starts with a graying Latino gentleman wearing a jean jacket and a straw cowboy hat being told he can’t have a beer. “I’ll give you a bottle of water or a Coke, sir,” the bartender pronounces, “but I can’t serve you another alcoholic beverage tonight.” Poor bastard, we’re…
It was always a desperation drink, what you grabbed when you just couldn’t look at another beer, something you could pretend was a gin-and-tonic in a bottle if you used enough limes. Coors Brewing Company, then the nation’s number-three brewer, devoted one and a half years–and a reported $3.5 million–to…
After reading Adam Cayton-Holland’s hilarious (and quite principled!) column, “How Adam Cayton-Holland survived a cougar attack!,” which chronicles his fending off a cougar at a recent comedy event, I found myself Googling “cougar.” I came across a hilarious web site devoted to the subject. Among other features, the site, urbancougar.com,…
Fall is my favorite season. I love the warm, sunny days and the cool, crisp nights, the quintessential autumn-in-Colorado experience of experiencing all four seasons — heat, cold, rain, snow — in one day. But most of all, I love Indian summer, when I can sit on one of my…
In sum, I’ve consumed seventeen and a half cold beers by the time I fall through the doors of the Wazee Supper Club (1600 15th Street) just after midnight. The first eight went down between 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., while I was watching college football. The half a beer…
See the slide show here. Forget the grooming routine from vines to wine. Forget the proper way to hold a wine glass — and which glass to use, for that matter. And that sniffing, swirling, what-have-you, forget that, too. It’s all important, of course, and was taught in one of…
The audacity of hops. It’s been faked, photo-copied, duplicated and replicated, mocked and knocked off. But Shepard Fairey’s now-iconic blue-and-red print of Barack Obama’s hopeful face never gave us reason to drink – until the folks at Oskar Blues got a hold of it. The Lyons-based brewery, makers of Dale’s…
Drink up! I went to the Great American Beer Festival last Thursday, October 9, and concluded that craft beers made West of the Mississippi River are, with a couple of notable exceptions, better than those created on the Eastern side. Many of you offered suggestions as to where I could…
Jealous? Let’s face it. For all of its prestige, for all of its variety, for all of its cachet, it’s hard work to have fun at the Great American Beer Festival. There are lines to get in, lines at many of the beer stands, and masses of people every way…
Calling all bar chefs! Finlandia is looking for Denver’s best bartenders to compete in the eleventh annual Finlandia Vodka Cup regionals at Martinia Ranch on October 20. This is a fabulous opportunity to show your creativity, as the contest emphasizes crafting delicious, original cocktails, not just bartending skills. I judged…
Many people tell me they dislike sake. When I mention sake to neophytes, they complain that it’s just hot turpentine served in small, white vases — or, worse, that concoction of bad sake and Chambord called Purple Haze. But saying you don’t like sake based on this dreck is like…
Watching Chine inspect wine glasses — the way he delicately scoops each stem from the counter, elevating it high above his head and rotating it below the track lights at the recently reopened Gelman’s Restaurant & Bar (2911 West 38th Avenue) — is like watching poetry emerge from the page…
With the Great American Beer Festival opening the taps tomorrow, the time is right to clear up some lexiconic confusion we’re having with Drunk of the Week columnist Drew Bixby. Says he: “Shitcanned is just one of many adjectives I use for drunk.” Says we: “Shitcanned” means cut off –…
More beer! Tickets for the 27th annual Great America Beer Festival – which starts this Thursday – are sold out, but you can still get in on some beer-drinkin’ action. Falling Rock Taphouse, 1919 Blake Street, will host a series of spillover events all week long for anyone who is…
Out of Hibernation. Yes, it’s only October 2, but unlike Christmas decorations and glossy newspaper ads, holiday beers never…NEVER…come too early. This is my favorite time of the year for hops, barley and malt, and one Colorado brewery has already tapped special seasonal releases, with more on the way. Yesterday,…
Some locations seem jinxed, most notably 410 East Seventh Avenue. Just a block away from such neighborhood powerhouses as Benny’s and Govnr’s Park, this spot would seem like a gimme for any restaurateur. At one point, it was home to the infamous Sacre Bleu, where I spent far too many…
Daniel’s mad because he can’t bring booze into the green room. “I mean, what the fuck?” he whisper-screams into my left ear as local singer-songwriter Ryan.Mad.son channels Howie Day to a half-dozen people standing by the stage of the Walnut Room (3131 Walnut Street). “The whole hallway of rehearsal spaces…
Wonder twin powers activate! Shape of an agave plant. Form of a hangover. At Lime XS, I recently met up with Dave Elger, who’s launched MuchoTE Tequila with his brother, Will. Born in Mexico City but now based in Denver, the twins have taken on the super-heroic task of making…
They’re everywhere, the foot soldiers of the political process — clipboards and pens in hand, earnest fervor oozing from their eyes and dripping from every “Are you registered to vote, man?” The answer, from me and almost everyone, it seems, is a piqued-though-not-pissed “Yep.” Not so from an off-balanced gentleman…
I’d actually forgotten how much I both love and hate election years. Hate: I’ve been tasting my shoelaces a lot these days, since I keep putting my feet in my mouth. I’d just assumed that most of my friends would find Sarah Palin’s ultra-religious, conservative social views as despicable as…
My buddy Darren will never be featured on a televised episode of American Idol — not because he’s a lousy singer, but because he’s not lousy enough. Granted, he won’t be charting on Billboard or CMJ anytime soon, either, but that doesn’t say shit about his ability to nail Bowie’s…
