“The idea was to make a sangrita that was traditional, and yet complemented the tequila — which was the most important thing,” says McLain Hedges, winner of the Viva Sangrita Cocktail Competition, held June 17 at Linger. Six bartenders competed in the event, which drew 200 people to Linger’s rooftop…
In hard times, people are often forced to find ways to make money. Sometimes those means of generating much-needed revenue aren’t always legal. Growing up in rural western Iowa in the 1930s, Keith Kerkhoff was the son of a farmer searching for ways to feed his family. The family had…
On Thursday morning, a group of six small Colorado breweries will take a decidedly modern approach to beer-making when they all brew Simultaneous Saison at the same time at their respective locations across the state. The six breweries — Denver’s Strange Craft, Echo Brewing in Frederick, Monument’s Pikes Peak Brewing,…
“I can put 49 people inside the taproom and another 25 or so outside, depending on who wants to sit on whose lap,” says Jeff Atencio, a homebrewer and firefighter from Highlands Ranch who is always quick with a quip of some sort. In fact, it was a joke about…
The heavens above blessed the site of Great Divide Brewing’s future location on Saturday afternoon by unleashing a dramatic rainstorm on the brewery’s twentieth anniversary party. But the rain couldn’t dampen the celebratory atmosphere as Great Divide welcomed the public to what will eventually be a massive production brewery, along…
Craft breweries across the country will begin registering for the Great American Beer Festival next Tuesday, but the Brewers Association has completely changed how the process works in order to avoid the ugly situation that developed in 2013. So many breweries tried to enter last year that all of the…
Sometimes, the journey is worth the reward. You want the destination to be like it is in the brochure. You want a return on your investment. You may find yourself in a remote part of town, thinking, “Where the heck am I?” What good thing could possibly be out here?…
Colfax Avenue may be the longest street in America, but until Mu Brewery opened last weekend in Aurora, none of its 26 miles was graced with a craft brewery. The last beer-maker with a Colfax address was an outlet of the Florida-based Hops Grill & Brewery chain, but that company…
In a state where new craft breweries and new beers debut every week and beer festivals and events run nearly every weekend, it’s hard to notice when one goes missing. But that’s what happened last February, when Wynkoop Brewing decided not to host its Beerdrinker of the Year competition, which…
Denver Beer Co is just a few weeks away from firing up the kettle at its new production facility, dubbed “Canworks,” and brewing its first batches of Graham Cracker Porter and Incredible Pedal IPA in Sunnyside. The brewery’s second location should begin canning those two beers before its third anniversary…
You may not be familiar with Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, but in Wisconsin, he’s a big deal. In the early 1800s, the botanist, geographer and explorer traveled through the state in search of the source of the Mississippi River. He eventually found it in 1832 (it’s Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota);…
“I didn’t even know that Cinsault was grown in Colorado,” says Rob Corbari, bar manager at The Populist. But once he found out it was, he incorporated a wine made from the Cinsault grape into a drink that won the Colorado Wine Cocktail Competition last week at Green Russell. See…
Denver Pearl Brewing, which opened quietly in the Platt Park neighborhood last week, will hold its grand opening party on Saturday, June 7, with a wide variety of beers. “We have seven beers on tap right now, and we’ll have ten on Saturday,” says Colby Rankin, who owns Denver Pearl…
Great Divide Brewing will open a small tap room called the Barrel Bar next spring at 35th Avenue and Brighton Boulevard, on the site of its future brewery in the River North neighborhood. With a patio outside and room for an estimated forty to fifty people inside, the Barrel Bar…
Although they’ve both been operating in Fort Collins for more than two decades, Odell and New Belgium had never collaborated on a beer. That changed last month when the two Colorado stalwarts teamed up on FOCOllaboration Ale, a pale ale made with Fawcett Crystal Malt (an Odell favorite), Centennial, Cascade…
The brand new owners of the popular Craft Lager Festival — which has taken place in the Manitou Springs area for eleven years — announced this week that they have canceled the event this August because of poor planning and a lack of available breweries. “We only got eleven signups;…
On Thursday night, Green Russell, Frank Bonanno’s sultry, subterranean speakeasy in Larimer Square, is hosting a beer vs. spirits showdown, pitting brews from Avery Brewing against cocktails from Peach Street Distillers — and pairing them all with a five-course dinner. And unlike a lot of dinners, where you’re away from…
Mile High Spirits, a private label micro-distillery, cocktail lounge and tasting room that opened two years ago on Upper Larimer, shuttered on Saturday night following a late-night bash that went well into the morning hours. Partners Joe Vonfeldt, Chase Campbell and Wyn Ferrell originally opened the distillery, which makes –…
Gotham needed Batman. But even Batman would have been nothing without Bruce Wayne. Denver, it turns out, needs Batman as well. And our version of the Dark Knight? Well, he needs Brews Wayne – and preferably a couple of pints. Breckenridge Brewery and Denver Comic Con will introduce their latest…
Saint Patrick’s Brewing, a tiny nanobrewery in Englewood, is moving into a much larger space, where co-owner Chris Phelps will have the chance to make a lot more of his passion: lagered beers, many of them with unusual ingredients. The new taproom, at 2852 Bowles Avenue in Littleton, will be…
The Republican National Committee announced last week that two of the six cities — Las Vegas and Cincinnati — that were vying to host the Republican National Convention in 2016 have dropped out. That means the 24 members of the site-selection committee will now pay visits only to Dallas, Cleveland,…
There’s been a lot of talk in Colorado over the past six months about whether legal pot sales will impact beer sales, but so far — at least based on the continuing success of the state’s ever-expanding craft-brewing industry — that doesn’t seem to be happening. But pot will definitely…
