Colorado may be the “Napa Valley of craft beer,” but our three major sports venues have always been more like the Death Valley of craft beer: although you can find a can or a cup of something from a local independent brewer if you look hard enough at Mile High…
For longtime Coloradans, late summer means the beginning of the harvest bounty — in particular Western Slope peaches, Olathe corn, Pueblo chile peppers and Rocky Ford cantaloupe. While you can get these gifts of the earth from anywhere, our local versions are particular sweet and delicious. Rocky Ford’s cantaloupe growers,…
The cheery husband-and-wife team that runs Kingman Estates Winery can’t stop smiling; after all, they just won two gold metals during the third annual Governor’s Cup Colorado Wine Competition in July. To add to the glory, their 2013 cabernet sauvignon was also chosen as one of the twelve wines to grace…
Jefferson Park Pub is a small neighborhood bar in one of the tiniest neighborhoods in Denver. Jefferson Park itself is a roughly 45-square-block residential enclave bordered by Speer to the north and Federal to the west. The Platte River cuts along its eastern border, and the southern border of the…
It’s easy to like Todd Usry, Garrett Wales and Meg Gill. All three are smart, approachable and passionate about beer. They all have a good sense of humor and firm handshakes. It’s even easier for some people to dislike their decisions, however. All three sold their breweries — Breckenridge Brewery…
Denver Beer Company, which helped kick off the city’s brewery surge when it opened on Platte Street in 2011, is taking its beer and its successful formula on the road: the company plans to open a third brewery and tasting room in a former car dealership in Olde Town Arvada…
Colorado Springs whiskey maker Distillery 291 recently released a new spirit that was created — literally — by accident. An unexpected doubling of the amount of rye in the process of making the distillery’s flagship Colorado Bourbon Whiskey resulted in a whiskey with a spicier flavor than originally planned. Owner…
Halloween night, that creepiest of holidays, is full of pumpkins and horrors. But those horrors don’t compare to the ones that beer drinkers face every August when breweries in Colorado and nationwide begin releasing pumpkin beers while it’s still 95 degrees outside. Ah, yes, #firstworldproblems. Still, it’s a little rough…
Ah, to be a tourist on the 16th Street Mall. The lights, the music, the… smells. Perhaps you’ll grab a sandwich from Acme Delicatessen in Union Station as you gawk at the high ceilings. Or you’ll be entranced, as so many others are, by The Cheesecake Factory and its fiesta-colored…
The majority of Denver’s public schools opened their doors this week, ringing in tens of thousands of students with the first bell. And although the teachers who give their all would love a few apples, it’s likely that they’d prefer a beer — or two. That’s why Spangalang Brewery is offering…
The Dive Inn is a relatively new spot in Denver as neighborhood bars go, but since opening in 2012, it has become a staple in the Platt Park neighborhood along South Broadway. No matter what you’re into, you can probably find it at the Dive Inn. Most of my familiarity…
Natural beauty, a Wild West history and some of the nation’s best breweries: “These are the three things about Colorado that I love the most,” says Denver Business Journal reporter Ed Sealover. And he proves it with a series of ten three-day Colorado treks that he created for his new…
Boulder kombucha brewer Rowdy Mermaid joined the ranks of Colorado’s craft-beer brewers with the release of two kombucha beers on Saturday, August 13. The two brews are wild, sour kombucha ales — one flavored with cherries and the other with notes of apple. The Wild Sour Cherry beer is a…
Former Future Brewing is a thing of the past. The present lies with Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales. James and Sarah Howat, who founded Former Future on South Broadway in 2014, have decided to refocus and rebrand their brewery — changing the name, the decor and, most importantly, the…
The Germans have been brewing lagers the same way for hundreds of years. So when Ashleigh Carter and Bill Eye open Bierstadt Lagerhaus on Saturday inside the building that also houses the Rackhouse, they have no intention of changing things up. “No flair, no twist, no added things,” says Carter…
Opened and crewed by service industry experts, The Way Back is a polished, accomplished bar that stands out on well-trod 38th Avenue. Given the talent behind the place — alumni of Williams & Graham, Linger and twelve, for starters — little wonder that it landed with feet firmly planted. The…
John Carlson, who has led the Colorado Brewers Guild for two decades, has taken a “leave of absence” from the organization while the state’s craft breweries try to sort out what direction they are heading next. The move comes two months after fourteen craft breweries — including the state’s four…
Colorado’s biggest mega-brewery may own the naming rights to one of the state’s largest sporting venues — Coors Field — but our largest craft brewer is getting in on the action, too. Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing said late last week that it would donate $4.3 million to Colorado State…
While there was plenty of action in Rio this weekend, hometown heroes competed in the fifth annual Denver Beer Olympics at Civic Center Park on Saturday, August 6. And the competitors poured it on, because the first-place prize was tickets to the Great American Beer Festival. But everyone came out…
In a city searching for authenticity and identity amid the constant barrage of shiny condo buildings springing up out of the skeletons of old hospitals and storefronts, new breweries opening on a seemingly daily basis, and a plethora of hipster restaurants opening in old warehouses, neighborhood bars are comforting reminders…
One of the greatest challenges facing museums today is getting people to come in the door, and then keep them coming back for more. So the History Colorado Center is testing a concept this summer that could be just the ticket: History Buffs & Brews, a libations-centric opportunity to learn…
IPAs are still the top selling style among craft beer drinkers by far, making up nearly a third of the craft market, and Colorado breweries have long specialized in hoppy beers like these. Odell, Oskar Blues, Avery, Great Divide and Ska Brewing all made their names in part because of…
