Denver Beer Co. Opening a Cerveceria Focused on Mexican-Style Beers

The owners of Denver Beer Co are planning to “create a bridge, rather than a wall” with their latest concept, a craft-beer bar serving ten Mexican-style beers and collaborations with Mexican breweries. Cerveceria Colorado, at 1635 Platte Street, will be located next door to Denver Beer Co in the space that…

Denver Sake Maker Pushes for Change in Brewing Laws

Colorado seems like the perfect place to make alcoholic beverages; just look at the proliferation of breweries and distilleries around the state, and the growing number of wine and cider makers. So what if your drink of choice is sake? That shouldn’t make too much of a difference when it…

The Happiest Hour: Guilty Pleasures Abound at Señor Bear’s Hora Loca

Two words for you, as you contemplate what to order at Señor Bear’s hora loca, or happy hour: Gordo Crunch. The Gordo is a flour-tortilla-swaddled crispy taco shell filled with juice-oozing chorizo and topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, jack cheese and a couple of racy chilies. It’s served embedded in…

Milkshake IPAs Are Shaking Up Colorado’s Craft-Brewing Scene

Craft breweries have been experimenting with IPAs for decades, adding and subtracting hop varieties and malt bills, as well as changing up yeast strains and adjunct ingredients like fruit and spices. There have been Belgian-style IPAs, Cascadian (black) IPAs, red IPAs, wild IPAs, oak-aged IPAs, fruited IPAs (which was a…

Canned Wine Spritz Creator Explains Why You Need One

You may have seen a saucy pink can decked out with a woman with a citrus smile and the name Ramona blasting out in bold lettering. What is this jazzy beverage and who is responsible for such a creation? Ramona is a canned spritz made with Sicilian grapefruit juice and Italian…

Wake Up, Colorado! This Is the Year for Coffee Beers

Coffee beers are nothing new. Breweries in Colorado have increasingly focused on coffee as an ingredient over the past few years, widening the breadth and deepening the depth of their knowledge — and then producing some seriously geeky concoctions based on the origin, variety and local roaster of the beans…

The Ten Best Colorado Craft-Beer Events in February

February comes pre-loaded with two beer-friendly holidays: Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day (or Anti-Valentine’s Day, as the case may be). But the shortest month of the year is also special in Colorado because of Stout Month, which was started by the Mountain Sun Pub 25 years ago and which is…

The Happiest Hour: Get on the Tavernetta Aperitivo Train

So complete was the transformation of Union Station that it’s hard to remember a time when it was once not much more than a forlorn depot for AmTrak and the Winter Park ski train. Today, thanks to a soup-to-nuts restoration of the building’s former glory — and a development plan…

Haykin Family Cider Proves That Colorado Does More Than Beer

With names like Cox’s Orange Pippin and Esopus Spitzenburg, the sparkling beverages pouring from Champagne-like bottles at a new Aurora tasting room might be hard to identify — unless you’re an apple aficionado. Both are the products of Haykin Family Cider, which opens to the public at 12001 East 33rd…

Beer Calendar: Stout Month and Two New Sour Beers

It’s often difficult to find a seat at 105 West Brewing in Castle Rock, which has been growing in popularity since it opened in late 2015. But that will change over the next few months as the brewery expands. Immediate plans call for moving the adjacent Castle Rock Homebrew Supply…

New Belgium Adds New “Craft Your Own Adventure” Tours

In the beginning, at the dawn of the craft-beer era in Colorado, there was free beer. And it was good. Anyone who was interested in checking out breweries like New Belgium, Odell and Great Divide could stop by, learn about the brewing process and sample the beer for free. If…

After Six Years of Work, Denver Distillery Opens Its Doors

It’s been a while since Ron Tarver first announced plans to open Denver Distillery (244 South Broadway), but after almost six years, the time has finally come. “This is all my design from out of my head from over five years ago,” says Tarver, as he shows off the finished…