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…
I am not a cigar smoker, and neither is my friend who invited me on my first expedition to Devon’s Pub, a modest-looking bar and cigar store in the Happy Canyon shopping center in University Hills. She just likes to smoke clove cigarettes indoors and watch free comedy shows. I…
A Boulder-based company making liquid cacao has scored some sweet deals recently with craft brewers around Colorado and in other states, too. Cholaca mixes up its own beverages from the organic cacao, coconut sugar and water, but the product also works well for breweries making chocolate beers. Breweries that have…
You can get just about anything at the drive-thru these days, from tacos, burgers and shakes to hotdogs, custard, coffee and paninisSo why not craft beer, made on site? In January, a Boulder County family plans to open Uturn BBQ, a brewery and barbecue joint that will serve up six-packs…
Once upon a time (a few years ago), craft beer lovers looked forward to Black Friday, not because of the sales and Christmas shopping, but because it was the day that Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Company released its Bourbon County Brand Stout — one of the most delicious, most sought-after…
On a strip of Colorado Boulevard across from the Trader Joe’s, if you look hard enough, you’ll find the Bar Car, an unassuming little local spot in a sea of strip-mall neon signs. Step into the Bar Car reveals a classic neighborhood bar decked out as a fancy railroad car, a relaxing…
