As Denver’s recent craft beer revolution continues to ripple outward, the city’s southern suburbs are finding themselves at the forefront of the next wave of breweries. The latest city to land its own taproom is Littleton, where the owners of 38 State Brewing have just signed a lease for a…
When did you first start drinking coffee? The sudden realization that this dark and mysterious beverage that brings your parents to life each morning is actually delicious is a mark of growing up, not unlike turning 21. The first tentative sips begin a new identity — cream? sugar? — and,…
There’s a harvest of autumn restaurant openings that I’m looking forward to, but the one that I’m most excited about — the one that I’m tracking with intense anticipation — is Session Kitchen, a new restaurant from Breckenridge-Wynkoop that’s tentatively slated to open in Platt Park on October 29. We…
Epic Brewing will open its soaring new taproom at noon Saturday, September 28, welcoming thirsty Colorado beer drinkers who’ve been curious to get a peek inside the $2 million facility that the Utah-based company has been working on for months. In addition to 25 taps of Epic beer and two…
Harry Smith, a longtime brewer at Breckenridge Brewery, opened his own place today, just a block from his old employer and with its full support. Black Sky Brewery, which dishes up Connecticut-style pizza along with more than ten taps of local beers, was a long time in the making, Smith…
Size is relative when it comes to most things, and breweries are no exception. Over the past couple of years, Breckenridge Brewery has made some commercials poking fun at the big boys of beer for their sales techniques, and now Yak & Yeti is doing the same to Breckenridge. Although…
Left Hand Brewing marked its twentieth anniversary last week (a trying week, considering the floods that nearly wreaked havoc on the brewery), and to celebrate, the Longmont company is temporarily bringing back five beers it no longer makes. “These are some old favorites,” says Joe Schiraldi, who is vice president…
As Westword’s Ask the Bartender columnist, I’ve talked with many bartenders for Cafe Society’s “Behind the Bar” series, posing numerous questions to Denver’s top bartenders…and often receiving the same answers: “I love chartreuse,” or “I’m really into smoked cocktails/barrel aging/bottled cocktails.” See also: A bartender by any other name…is still…
As the Colorado floods subside and relief efforts move forward, stories have surfaced about how people fared, especially in the town of Lyons, which was hit particularly hard. Craig Engelhorn was concluding a typical day at Spirit Hound Distillers last Wednesday, when he got in his car to head home…
Matt Hughes had a harder time thinking of a name for his brewery than he did for his kids, but the result seems to fit the bouncing baby business. Goldspot Brewing, which will be located on Lowell Boulevard about a block from Regis University in northwest Denver, is named for…
When Barrels & Bottles Brewery opens at 5 p.m. today in downtown Golden, it will serve 24 wines on tap, 22 beers — including two of its own — and sell bulk olive oils and vinegars, a concept that will make it stand out, say owners Abby and Zach George…
As quickly as the floodwaters rose, Colorado is organizing benefits to help those affected, and bars and breweries are no exception — especially those in Longmont, Lyons and Boulder where some of the flooding hit the hardest. One of those benefits is Longmont’s Oktoberfest, organized by Left Hand Brewing, but…
Do you like the cozy, kooky feel of your grandma’s house? Then you’ll feel right at home at Grandma’s House, a new brewery that will be modeled after your Nana’s place. “I wanted to go with the crafting and craft brewing aesthetic and maintain that kind of Etsy-type community feel,”…
The owners of the Cheeky Monk Belgian Café are racing to open their new Denver brewery before the Great American Beer Festival starts on October 10. But even if they are delayed, Lost Highway Brewing will be pouring two beers at GABF. “We’ve had our brewing permits for almost two…
Lance Hanson is a self-described “classics nerd.” And he parlayed that interest into a job teaching Latin to high school kids, eventually giving up academia to pursue a career in the software business, which made him, well, rich — rich enough, at least, to “dive off the deep end and…
Left Hand Brewing, which for years has proudly touted its beer as being “brewed on the banks of the mighty St. Vrain,” has been cursing the river over the past few days. The St. Vrain, which has destroyed homes, roads and bridges all over Longmont, also flooded parts of the…
As Westword’s Ask the Bartender columnist, I’ve talked with many bartenders for Cafe Society’s “Behind the Bar” series, posing numerous questions to Denver’s top bartenders…and often receiving the same answers: “I love chartreuse,” or “I’m really into smoked cocktails/barrel aging/bottled cocktails.” See also: A bartender by any other name…is still…
Despite the weather, Chris Holston, general manager of Bacaro Venetian Taverna in Boulder, has decided to brave the elements and continue serving the specialty Bloody Marys introduced last weekend for a new rooftop brunch. See also: Best Bloody Mary Bar 2013 — the Corner Office…
Fun fact: before microbreweries took over Colorado, Golden was home to the state’s first — and so far, only — sake brewery. The Hakushika Sake U.S.A. brewery opened in 1992 and produced sake for America and the ravenous European market until the Japanese recession tanked the business six years later…
UPDATE: We have a winner of our Denver Beerathon contest, in which we asked Cafe Society readers to answer this question: How many glasses of Empire Brewing pumpkin ale were poured during the 2012 New York Beerathon? Congratulations to Leah McCracken, who guessed 715; the actual answer is 727. Leah,…
Nick Nunns doesn’t worry much about convention. He likes heavy-metal music, black-and-white photos, Norse letters and unusual beer styles. In fact, when Nunns opened TRVE Brewing in the summer of 2011, one his first creations was Prehistoric Dog, a salted American wheat that almost nobody makes. See also: TRVE Brewing…
As Westword’s Ask the Bartender columnist, I’ve talked with many bartenders for Cafe Society’s “Behind the Bar” series, posing numerous questions to Denver’s top bartenders…and often receiving the same answers: “I love chartreuse,” or “I’m really into smoked cocktails/barrel aging/bottled cocktails.” See also: A bartender by any other name…is still…
