A serious bartending scene in Denver has culminated in dozens of cocktail contests, many of which propel our local bar men and women to a national spotlight, where they go up against the country’s best. And tonight, one of the biggest contests of 2012 is going down at Green Russell:…
Just a month after opening its doors, River North Brewery on Blake Street has bottled thirty cases of its double IPA and plans to start selling it within two weeks. The move is unusual among the wave of small breweries that has opened in the Denver area over the past…
Changes have been at the works at Pizzeria Basta, the Boulder-based restaurant that has served Napolitano-inspired — but American-sourced — pizzas paired to a wine and beer list for the past two years. A couple of months ago, chef/owner Kelly Whitaker rolled out a menu of housemade pastas to supplement…
Happy Place:Irish Hound, 575 Saint Paul Street, 303-996-0709. The Hours: Monday through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. The Deals: $2-4 beer specials; $3.50 well drinks, house wines, and Jameson; $3.50 appetizer specials. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out…
When Sudhir Kuva and his business partners took over the Orange Cat Studios underground-arts space at 2625 Larimer Street last year and transformed it into the Matchbox, Kuva was concerned about how a non-music bar would do in an area with three live-music venues within a block. But now he…
Cap the week off with a free tour of Roundhouse Spirits, 5311 Western Avenue in Boulder, from 3 to 7 p.m. today and tomorrow. See how booze phenom Ted Palmer and crew craft and bottle their award-winning spirits — and then taste them. No RSVP required, and make a note:…
Breckenridge Ballpark Pub is undergoing its first renovation since it went into business in 1992, three years before Coors Field was built. The pub, which served as Breck’s primary brewing facility until 1996, closed March 18 and will reopen by April 9, Colorado Rockies Opening Day. “She’s twenty years old…
As you may have noticed, spring has been threatening to commence here in Denver for the past several weeks. In spite of the fact that our split-personality-disorder-of-a-weather-pattern may at any moment revert to what we should have been subjected to since February, our seasonal wine drinking habits don’t seem to…
On Tuesday, beer-makers from five Colorado breweries gathered at Funkwerks in Fort Collins to whip up a special beer to commemorate the late Danny Williams and to raise money so that his family can keep his one-of-a-kind gold mine beer cellar. “We pow-wowed on the recipe, and it came together…
Great Divide Brewing will release its second new beer of the year in July, Wolfgang, a big, malty dopplebock that will replace Smoked Baltic Porter in the brewery’s seasonal lineup. Wolfgang is the first beer that was designed and tested on Great Divide’s new seven-barrel pilot brewing system, which was…
You’re gonna need a scorecard to identify your almost-all-new Colorado Rockies this season, but the team isn’t the only entity shaking things up at Coors Field. During the Rockies’ April 9 home opener, Blue Moon Brewery @ the Sandlot will debut Farmhouse Red, a sour-style beer that may challenge the…
Dating back to the time of the Egyptians, beer has benefited man (beer was prescribed as a medicine, naturally.) Through the modern age, beer was an economic driver behind railroad development, commercial refrigeration, and yes, the automatic (and hypnotic) bottling process. Below is an infographic on other high points in…
In this interview, Freshcraft’s Adam Dunbar weighs in on the night of the Beast, his go-to beer and where he heads for a perfectly made Manhattan…
Happy Place: The Wine Loft, 1527 Wazee Street, 303-284-3493 The Hours: Monday through Friday, 4 to 7 p.m. The Deals: All wines by the glass $10 & under are $5; $11-$15 are $10; $16-$20 are $15. $15 red sangria pitchers; $5 sangria by the glass; $8 signature cocktails; discounted small…
Saturday is Ian Clark’s day off. Instead of getting out of the kitchen, however, the Centro Latin Kitchen chef has been using some of his favorite ingredients to brew beer. He was doing it so much, in fact, that he decided to start his own commercial brewery. Clark is creating…
When I interviewed Josh Burbank of Jax Fish House last week, he had an excellent rule of thumb for bartending: “Never shake a Manhattan,” he said. “Next time I see someone shake a Manhattan, I’m going to leap over the bar. That’s my biggest pet peeve, for sure.” We wholeheartedly…
AC Golden Brewing is cranking up its volunteer hops growing program again this year, offering Colorado Native fans a chance to grow hops in the yards for inclusion in a batch of the beer. Sign up on Facebook and receive two Chinook rhizomes (along with planting, growing and harvesting information)…
The wine world’s practically been doing head spins over the past six months as notable hip-hop players Nelly, Drake, Kanye West, and even poor, misbegotten Lil Kim spit verses praising moscato, a fairly under-the-radar wine known by most as a sweet wine from Italy. It seems that a few vaunted…
Avery Brewing hosted the kind of festival on Friday and Saturday that has made it one of Colorado’s top beer makers of the past decade, while Avery’s founder spent the weekend touring Germany, preparing for the future, a future that includes a new, 5.6-acre brewing campus and restaurant in Boulder…
Ron Tarver has owned the Broadway building a block north of Alameda that houses Bardo Coffee House for some time, but when he was looking for a new tenant to replace a business that vacated after ten years, he ended up drawing up plans for his own venture instead: a…
Bobby Stuckey’s wine team at Frasca Food and Wine is one of the most formidable in the state, and the crew is frequently praised for its deep, well-built cellar and the knowledgeable, well-spoken sommeliers who create unforgettable pairing experiences for diners, whether their taste is California Cabernet or Austrian Gruner…
It’s an idea whose time has come. In June,Hugo’s Colorado Beer & Spirits will open in Capitol Hill, selling primarily craft brews and spirits cooked up in Colorado. “My goal is to get everything I can get my hands on, and that includes stuff from small breweries,” says Joe-Michael Wright,…
