Ryan Conklin, certified Cicerone and head barman at Euclid Hall, doesn’t think his reasons for going into bartending were very different from what motivates other professionals in the industry. “Like a lot of bartenders, you just kind of have some sort of drive to it, whether that’s getting behind the…
While downtown yesterday afternoon, we thought we’d stop by Chloe for a happy-hour drink and start the new year out right. Opening the unlocked front door just before 5 p.m., we found what looked like the remnants of a very big New Year’s Eve party — but not a soul…
This year will be my 25th New Year’s Eve behind the bar. My last post of 2010 was an amateur’s guide to navigating New Year’s Eve successfully, and those tips are still relevant for anyone planning a night on the town. But this year, I have a half-dozen tips for…
On Wednesday, I laid down my picks for the best new Colorado beers of 2011 — a group that had to meet certain qualifications to make the cut. Then, on Thursday, I posted pictures of seventeen new Colorado beer labels we’ll be seeing in 2012. Oskar Blues wasn’t on either…
Happy Place: Le Grand Bistro and Oyster Bar, 1512 Curtis Street, 303-534-1155. The Hours: Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. The Deals: $3 Trummer Pilsner and wines by the glass; $1.25 deep cove oysters; $7-$12 small plates. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out…
There are plenty of places around Denver to drink good beer on New Year’s Eve, and that appears to be the main event this week as breweries, beer bars and beer-friendly restaurants are focusing on their 2012 celebrations. Look below for all the details…
The past twelve months have seen the release of some truly amazing canned and bottled beers in Colorado, and 2012 is shaping up to be quite a big year as well…
Over the past four weeks, we’ve ponied up a list of wines guaranteed to make your Thanksgiving a party, the perfect set of locally sourced, wine-themed gift ideas, and our picks for the twelve most holiday-worthy bottles of 2011. And you know what? We are officially exhausted. And because you’re…
Colorado breweries released dozens of amazing beers this year, further expanding their range and making once-exotic beers easy to find and enjoy. A few stood out above the rest, though. To make this list, the beers needed to have been new year-round offerings, seasonals that will return, old beers that…
Over the last few months, I went from the worst shape of my life to the best while continuing to eat like a food critic. Don’t punch me in the face; instead, read how I did it in part nine of this series: Try and guess what I ate for…
Growing up, I was a fat kid — things haven’t changed — and I looked forward to egg nog every Christmas. I would drink tons of the stuff — thinking, “It’s milk, so it’s good for you, right?” It wasn’t until years later, during one of my thinner periods, that…
After working in the craft-beer industry for five years, writing about it for one and geek-ing out over it with fellow beer nerds for nearly a decade, I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like the past year in beer. The revolution is especially — and not surprisingly –…
Kelly Wooldridge, beverage director and sommelier at the recently opened Trillium, was still in high school when he felt the first stirrings of interest in professional bartending. “There was this guy, Willie Grandison, at the American Restaurant in Kansas City,” he explains. “This bartender had been there since the restaurant…
We’ll drink just about anything hot this time (and temperature) of the year, hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps (or some other sort of delicious liqueur) included. But there are a few cocktails on drink lists right now that make us clap our chilled hands with delight: Their warming qualities and…
There are dozens of holiday beers on tap around town, whether it’s at beer bars like the Falling Rock Taphouse and Freshcraft or at local breweries themselves. But there’s one style of beer that absolutely screams Christmas: peppermint porter…
With only a few days to go until Christmas, it’s time to ‘fess up: Have you been naughty or nice? For goodness’ sake, here’s hoping you’ve been on your very best behavior this year — because then you’re fully deserving of these six stupendous bottles. Read on for the continuation…
‘Tis the season to get obliterated with family members and co-workers, and just in time for those special events, Food & Wine has released its list of the fifty best bars in the country. And while you’re sure to find it a useful guide if you’re headed out of state,…
Fifty Fifty Brewing out of Truckee, California, is the latest out-of-state brewer planning to see if there is room in Denver’s crowded craft-beer market for another name. But Fifty Fifty will take an interesting tack, initially distributing just one beer here, its most sought-after, most expensive product: Eclipse, an oak-aged…
There’s an “it” couple that everyone wants at their party every Christmas — the duo that livens up the festivities, gives the crowd something to talk about, and adds that certain something to make the gathering memorable. This pair, for example: a delicate bite of a smooth, hand-dipped pomegranate-raspberry-rose chocolate…
Over the last few months, I went from the worst shape of my life to the best while continuing to eat like a food critic. Don’t punch me in the face; instead, read how I did it in part eight of this series: “Just hope you got your dad’s metabolism,”…
Is Denver just a pathetic, Midwestern version of Portland? That debate is raging across westword.com, particularly in the comments section after “Fifteen reasons why young people move to Colorado,” but this city’s beer lovers stand by their taps. Says Max:…
Stranahan’s built its brand on its original Colorado Whiskey, which grew the company from a micro-distillery to an explosive phenomenon — and then resulted in Proximo Spirits buying Stranahan’s late last year. Over the years, though, Stranahan’s has mixed it up every so often and released special bottles from the…
