Happy Hour Hunt: Encore

The Place: Encore Restaurant, 2550 East Colfax Avenue, 303-355-1112. The Hours: Monday through Saturday from 3 until 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. until close. The Deal: Half price well drinks, beer, and wines by the glass; small plates range from $4-7 and artisan flatbreads are priced from $5.50 to $6.50…

Russian River’s Pliny the Younger goes fast at Falling Rock

It wasn’t the fastest a keg has been drained at Falling Rock Tap House, but it was a close second to the all-time record. Two five-gallon kegs of Russian River’s Pliny the Younger went down in fifteen minutes last Friday. A packed house of hop heads was waiting to pounce…

Swirl Girl: Vegetarians need wine, too

This time of year makes me crave and consume copious amounts of meat. You could chalk this up to evolution. Once upon a time, a diet that included meat-based protein greatly increased your chances of surviving what must have been some pretty brutal pre-historic cold spells. So in that very…

The highs and lows of Stout Month at Vine Street Pub

The Vine Street Pub, which is celebrating the last few days of its annual Stout Month, is an unusual place to get a beer. Unusual because of the high highs and low lows. It offers one of the most delicious lineups of homemade brews on tap in any brewpub in…

Zio Romolo’s Alley Bar

I like to go out and get blotto as much as the next self-respect-less drunk. I do not, however, like having to piece together whole portions of benders using leftover evidence and eyewitness accounts. Yet this is exactly my fate the morning after spending a solid six hours at Zio…

Malt Advocate names Stranahan’s “Artisan Whisky of the Year”

It’s about time that Stranahan’s American Whiskey get the recognition it deserves. Yes, it’s a relatively young distillery — but young or not, Stranahan’s kicks ass. While the first year or so of production was a little hot, I’ve done a lot of “quality testing” of Stranahan’s and, in my…

Happy Hour Hunt: Crepes ‘n Crepes

The Place: Crêpes ‘n Crêpes, 2816 East Third Avenue, 303-320-4184 The Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 4 to 6 p.m. and again from 9 to 10 p.m. The Deal: Various savory and dessert crêpes are between $3 and $5; glasses of wine are $4…

Swirl Girl: Cozy up with a few winter comfort wines

There’s nothing like snowy, blustery weather to conjure up images of classic cold-weather comforts like snuggling in front of a roaring fire with a warming bowl of steaming-hot chili. But as the saying goes, “man cannot live by bread alone,” so channel your inner oenophile and find yourself a bottle…

Dublin Coffee at Colt & Gray

In sales, they say that it takes five good impressions to overcome a bad first impression. I know this is true, because I have, on occasion and against all odds, made a lousy first impression — and have had to work hard to overcome it. And although I loved the…

Happy Hour Hunt: Tavern Uptown

The Place: Tavern Uptown, 538 East Seventeenth Avenue, 303-830-9210. The Hours: Happy hour plays out Monday through Saturday from 2 to 7 p.m. and from 10 p.m. to close; food specials run Monday through Thursday from 10 p.m. to midnight, and Twilight Hour runs Monday through Saturday from 7 to…

Bartending Olympics includes two hometown heroes

The Nightclub and Bar Convention & Trade Show (NCB) in Las Vegas in March is the one event that everyone in the industry feels they need to attend — or wishes they could. The show includes a cocktail contest called the Shake It Up Competition, in which 25 mixologists, who…

Have a Rocky Mountain Caipirinha for Carnival

Tonight is the last night of Carnival, and if you’re looking for a way to join in the celebration without leaving the state, Jared Boller at TAG (1441 Larimer Street) has crafted a Rocky Mountain Caipirinha made with Cabana Cachaça, Colorado wildflower honey, Palisade peaches and lemon juice. “Inspired by…

Swirl Girl: Upgrade your wine drinking habit, part deux

Remember all that talk about how to break up with the same boring white wines you’ve been holding onto for years? Now it’s time to dig out of the red wine relationship ruts you’ve been stuck in. If you’ve been obsessively buying Pinot Noir ever since you saw the movie…

Hop to the Wynkoop tonight for some Auld Rabbit

At 5 p.m. today, the Wynkoop Brewing Company will pull the hand pump on the 2010 Beerdrinker of the Year beer, one of the perks of winning this august crown. The beer is Auld Rabbit, a cask-conditioned, molasses-infused brown ale that’s 6.4 percent ABV, brewed by Wynkoop head brewer Andy…

Guess where I’m drinking?

Sometimes, a cocktail requires the presence of pigs, in this case a male and female who were apparently as enamored as I with this Valentine’s Day flame. Who poured on the love? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am I drinking/eating posts is…

Pour on the Love: Hearts on Fire from Tambien

Denver’s Independent Network of Restaurants (DINR), the group responsible for Harvest Week and A Saucy Affair, is asking its member restaurants to spread the love…through their liquid assets as part of DINR’s Valentine’s Day Cocktail Contest. The competition, which has already kicked off, continues through Wednesday, February 10, at which…

Getting down with the mojitos at Root Down

I’m almost never in a hurry to get drunk. Drunk is somewhere I often end up, yeah, but whenever I rush to get there, I miss all the great stops along the way — stops like More Talkative Than Usual, Can’t Stop Smiling and So Happy to Be Here (regardless…

Happy Hour Hunt: Strings

The Place: Strings, 1700 Humboldt Street, 303-831-7310. The Hours: Monday through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. The Deal: Coors Light and Corona go for $3; glasses of 2007 Painter chardonnay and red zinfandel are $4; well drinks and specialty martinis ring in at $5; food specials are also $5…

Swirl Girl: Drink dessert wines on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day. The holiday perhaps most feared in the hearts of…well, everyone. How can one silly, Hallmark greeting-dominated day be so over-hyped, yet so continuously underwhelming, at least in terms of delivering that rapturous, romantic haze we all want to be caught up in? One sure-fire way to make sure…