Olé! Mezcal’s happy hour is a rockin’ fiesta

The Place: Mezcal, 3230 East Colfax Avenue, 303-322-5219 The Hours: Daily from 4 to 6 p.m. The Deals: $2 PBR and $3 Tecate; $5 margaritas; $4.50 mojitos; half-price tacos, quesadillas and sopes. The Digs: Mezcal is everything an East Colfax cantina should be: ablaze in bright colors and funky wall…

Rocky Mountain Brewery brews dessert in a glass

On Monday, we displayed a pictorial summary of everything that was edible at the Great American Beer Festival. If mediocre barbecue and carbs weren’t your thing, though, there was another option: Make continuous circles in the line for the bakery series by Rocky Mountain Brewery, a microbrewery and bar that…

Five tips for scoring great value wines

Ask your fellow oenophiles how they go about finding deliciously drinkable value wines and you’re guaranteed to get four different answers. That’s because their criteria for making that determination is likely to be as unique as their individual personalities, wine cravings and budget. When querying most peeps, though, the consensus…

Ask the bartender: a spirited discussion of mezcal

Sean Kenyon knows how to pour — both drinks, and advice. A third-generation bar man with almost 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource Program. You can…

Great American Beer Festival: 25 things I learned in 2010

1) No matter how prepared you are for GABF, it is still overwhelming. 2) San Diego County makes more amazing beers than some entire regions of the country. 3) Maui Brewing’s CoConut Porter was one of the most heavenly beers I have ever tried. Even better, sources say they’ll begin…

Yak and Yeti takes home the gold at Great American Beer Festival

Two years ago, when Dol Bhattarai purchased an old, allegedly haunted house at 7803 Ralston Road in Arvada as the site for his second Yak and Yeti restaurant, it came equipped with brewing equipment: a holdover from the last occupant, a brewpub called the Cheshire Cat. Instead of ripping the…

Great Divide pairs with Duo for tasty eats and suds during GABF

Dan Lasiy, sous chef at Duo (2413 West 32nd Avenue) enjoys cooking with beer, but says it’s a little more challenging than cooking with wine. Lasiy was busy slinging plates of grilled veggies, quinoa salad, Smoked Baltic Porter-braised pork and cheesecake with Yeti caramel sauce to hungry brewers outside Great…

And the winner of our Great American Beer Fest tickets is…

Ariel! Ariel, if the Great American Beer Festival is your “only shot at getting laid,” then you’ve got bigger problems than we can help you with. GABF may be a feast for the tastebuds, but it’s not exactly a feast for the eyes. Nevertheless, your answer was good enough to…

NoRTH’s happy hour offers an oasis for mid-day breaks

The Place: NoRTH, 190 Clayton Lane, 720-941-7700. The Hours: Daily from 3 to 6 p.m. The Deals: $2.50 draft beers; $4 well cocktails; half-price wines by the glass; $4 small plates The Digs: Partaking in happy hour at a Cherry Creek chain restaurant isn’t something we’d usually, if ever, be…

Euclid Hall taps its own house beer from Steamworks Brewing today

When the crew from Steamworks Brewing makes the trip north today for the Great American Beer Festival, they’ll have something extra on board for Denver. The Durango brewery is making a limited-edition proprietary beer just for Euclid Hall, the happening new beer-centric gastropub owned by Larimer Square restaurant wizards Jennifer…

Cocktail Guy wins our GABF tickets

Congratulations to Cocktail Guy, who won our third Great American Beer Festival ticket giveaway. His comment was “Just Laid Off, Beat That!” Nothing could, and he’ll be heading to the Thursday session, turning economic disaster into sudsy salvation. Thanks to everyone who played…

Four great wines to pair with pizza

The combination of pizza and Chianti has got to be up there in the annals of all-time best food-and-wine pairings (at least in terms of ubiquity). But if you, as a modern-day wine drinker, have moved well past that now somewhat-trite match up, you’re probably wondering what to pour with…