I love the Thin Man. It was one of the coolest places around when I moved to Denver in 2005; it was hipster before hipster was a thing. The strings of red lighting, the artfully displayed infused-vodka collection, and the copious amount of religious imagery hanging everywhere combined to suggest…
In the old days — back when a phone call cost 25 cents and we had to walk ten miles through the snow just to get a replacement ribbon for our typewriters — the new year meant heading to the office-supply store to buy a new planner for the upcoming…
The craft brewing world felt a squeeze at the top this year as the number of breweries across the country soared past 4,000, and the number of bottled and canned offering grew by the thousands. In Colorado, where there are approximately 360 brewing licenses, competition was as fierce as ever…
The Bull & Bush Pub and Brewery, affectionately called “The Bull” by regulars, has definitely attained status as a Denver institution. The English-style pub has been a bar far longer than a brewery, but even the beer-making setup has been turning out suds since 1997, before nearly everyone and their…
Maybe you thought Denver couldn’t possibly hold another craft brewery. Or maybe you thought the boom was slowing down. I know I did. If so, then we were both wrong. Denver’s thirst for new breweries continued unabated in 2016 as eight new taprooms with Denver addresses (Brewability Lab, Bruz Beers,…
Oskar Blues never stops. Just when you think the company will rest and take a break, it launches a new concept, location, passion project or major initiative. The latest is the announcement of plans for a new restaurant and beer bar in downtown Colorado Springs. Located in the historic DeGraff…
Palenque Mezcaleria became Denver’s first bar specializing specifically in mezcal, tequila’s smoky sibling, when it opened in April. After a few months of experimenting with mezcal drink recipes, bar manager Chris Wingate has released Palenque’s first cocktail menu, which offers a small collection of his staff’s creations. While Wingate and…
Though the primary function of Scissors & Scotch (7600 Landmark Way, Greenwood Village) is to provide hair care for men, a peek into the Greenwood Village shop reveals a setup that looks more like a sleek saloon than a salon. In fact, on a recent visit the bar was half full…
We may be on the brink of a revolution when it comes to mixed drinks: the cider cocktail. While they’re far from a staple at local bars and taprooms, cider cocktails have consistently been a top seller at places like the Rackhouse Pub, where the bar always has at least…
What makes a great bar? Neighborhood appeal is always important, along with friendly, professional staff and a well-rounded drinks list. Mostly, though, it’s that indefinable feeling when you set yourself on a bar stool, feel instantly at home — and then never want to leave. Whether you call for a…
Right under my nose, in my own neighborhood, the Mozart Lounge and its old-school neon sign had been hiding, disguised as the Aqua Lounge at 1417 Krameria Street. For the past eight years, and since I have lived in Mayfair in East Denver, the location has been known by the…
One of the tiniest breweries in Colorado is getting more attention in beer circles recently for its farmhouse-style saisons and oak-aged wild ales. Atom Brewing, which operates out of a small building on Jeff and Christina Porn’s property in Erie, opened last April and only occasionally releases one of its…
Sure, you have a family, a job, a few hobbies and, you know, a life, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find the time to visit every brewery in Colorado. While the task might sound daunting, the guys who have done it say it wasn’t that hard — and they…
We’ve all been faced with the “Where should we go?” question. Sometimes the answer is obvious, but other times we need help. Whether it’s finding the perfect place to celebrate the right occasion, determining what kitchen can accommodate an unusual dietary restriction, or maybe just discovering a new place…
In mid-February, just before beer lovers George Rapko, Daniel Hess and Gary Brown were scheduled to hit a slew of breweries in Summit County, the Vail Valley and Glenwood Springs, they got word of a little problem: Several car-sized boulders had rolled down from the cliffs above Glenwood Canyon, blocking…
December often sees some of the biggest, baddest-ass beer releases in Colorado. Maybe it’s because of the weather and way people get in the mood for heavier beers with a higher alcohol content. Maybe its the chill or even the need for something to smooth over holiday stress. Whatever the…
2016 was not the nothing short of a challenging year for Ryan Negley. He left his bartending job at Tooey’s Off Colfax for another job that didn’t pan out, leaving him in the lurch. With a new wife and a one-year-old child at home in Congress Park, he was uncertain about…
I am really into karaoke, which means I am really into Armida’s Restaurant. I honestly don’t know why it’s taken me this long to make my love of the place more publically known. There’s nowhere else in town that has public, crowd-pleasing karaoke every night of the week on this…
Everyone needed a beer in 2016. Luckily, there are 5,005 breweries in the United States, so finding one isn’t really an issue. That was just one of the things that the Boulder-based Brewers Association — the trade group representing small and independent craft breweries — mentioned in its look back…
In the bar world, nothing says “deck the halls” and “happy holidays” better than a glass of creamy, boozy eggnog. But despite the popularity of this seasonal tipple, the real deal (not that artifical grocery-store swill) is not that easy to find come December. Worry not, this winter you…
Denver drink slingers Rob Corbari and Alex Kady won first place last night at Knob Creek’s Repeal Day cocktail competition at Star Bar. The contest is an annual event that coincides with the date Prohibition was repealed in 1933. At the competition, twelve teams of two bartenders each offered up…
How can a brewery that specializes in sour beers explain to customers that it has made something that isn’t sour? Simple: call it “sourless.” That’s what Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project did a couple of months ago when it tapped Sourless IPA for the first time in its taproom. Since…
