For devotees of yoga, the practice is all about cleansing and strengthening the body, searching for a higher purpose by standing on your head, and twisting your ankles behind your ears. Hardcore yogis don’t smoke, or eat burgers after class, or pour too much Splenda in their organic, free-trade tea.But…
Santa’s Private Reserve Rogue Ales Newport, Oregon If you’ve been bad this year, Santa will bring you a six-pack of Miller Chill. If you’ve been good, he’ll put a bomber bottle of Santa’s Private Reserve in your stocking. The perfect present for any hop-head, this dark red beer from Rogue…
2 Below New Belgium Brewery Fort Collins Argh, no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get into the beers from New Belgium Brewery. Fat Tire, Mothership Wit, 1554, 2 Below Ale: I’ve tried them — repeatedly — in an effort to figure out what I’m missing, and what…
Money’s tight, times are hard, here’s your fucking Christmas card. Given all the bad news, I’m having trouble getting in the holiday spirit this year — so I’m making an effort to get out of the house and spend time with friends rather than stay at home fretting. Still, even…
The Cherry Cricket (2641 East Second Avenue) — formerly Duffy’s Cherry Cricket and, before that, Mary Zimmerman’s Bar — didn’t always have a door guy checking IDs and stamping hands at 5:30 p.m., or a forty-minute wait for a table on a Tuesday night, or a national reputation for serving…
We’ve known about the delights of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey for a couple of years now, awarding it Best Colorado Distillery in 2007 and enjoying its warming company on other occasions. But now Men’s Journal has named Stranahan’s one of its favorites as well, including it on the magazine’s list of…
Ten FIDY Imperial Stout Oskar Blues Lyons Ten FIDY is a big, bad mutha. Almost completely black, it looks like motor oil when poured out of one of Oskar Blues’s unusual black-and-silver cans. But it tastes fantastic – rich, complex and brimming with roasty, toasty chocolate, nut and coffee flavors…
This beer was a welcome change of pace from a multitude of sweet, dark, heavy beers. But it wasn’t exactly light – more like a brown than an English strong ale, with thick head and a lighter, red hue. The nutty, roasted flavor reminded me of a holiday-season toffee –…
How to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the 18th Amendment? At Steuben’s, the two-year-old restaurant/watering hole at 531 East 17th Avenue that celebrates regional cuisines and quirks, they marked the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933 — which effectively ended Prohibition…
Tonight, and tonight only, starting at 9:30 p.m. all Smithwick’s pours at the Fainting Goat, the new bar at 846 Broadway, will be just a nickel. Until the joint runs out of the Irish ale, that is, and we’ve been assured they have at least sixty pints. Cheers!…
Isolation Ale Odell Brewing Company Fort Collins Isolation Ale is one of several local winter warmers – Avery’s Old Jubilation, Boulder Beer’s Never Summer and Breckenridge Brewery’s Christmas Ale among them. But this traditional English-style strong ale is lighter and easier to drink than some of the others. It’s a…
Above is the season’s greeting that Nancy Levine, our intrepid Drink of the Week columnist, found when she was out last night judging the 2008 Holiday Cocktail Competition. Seventeen restaurants — all members of the Denver Independent Network of Restaurants — had signed up to create special holiday drinks for this contest…
Double Bastard Stone Brewing Company Escondido, California Double Bastard, made by one of my two favorite breweries in the country, packs a punch — and feels no guilt about the violence. This beer, highly alcoholic (more than 10 percent), highly sought after, rich in flavor and texture, is one of…
The report in today’s Rocky Mountain News was a real eye-opener (and we’re not talking a Bloody Mary): According to Bill Scanlan’s “State fades a little in health stats,” Colorado fell from the 16th to the 19th healthiest state in the latest report from America’s Health Rankings, largely because of a rise…
The bummer about Bar Bar (officially the Carioca Cafe, at 2060 Champa Street) is not that the bathrooms are glacial, grimy, graffiti-covered dungeons. It’s not that the volatile mix of white, black, brown and out-of-town patrons are wont to drink until an altercation seems like a good idea. It’s not…
Christmas Ale Anchor Brewing Company San Francisco Like other spiced beers, this one hides the malt and hops, but in this case, it worked. The usual pumpkin pie-like suspects — like cinnamon, ginger and clove — were there, as well as what I believe was a touch of myrrh. (By…
It was hard to tell if the three homeless men gathered outside the brand-new Argonaut Wine & Liquor this morning were waiting for the store to open to the public or for Mayor John Hickenlooper, who was scheduled to arrive for the grand-opening ceremony. Either way, they got what they…
Alaskan Winter Ale Alaskan Brewing Company Juneau, Alaska Get ready for something different when you drink one of these, something different and something delicious. Although I normally don’t like fruit-flavored beers, pine needles are a different story, and that’s what the company says goes into this ale. The distinctive taste…
Winter Warlock Bristol Brewing Company Colorado Springs Winter Warlock offers a complex mix of sweet caramel and roasted chocolate flavors that really jumps off the tastebuds. Pouring black with a thick head of foam, it is a solid, well-done stout that I look forward to drinking again. And again. –…
Santa’s Little Helper Port Brewing Company San Marcos, California Port Brewing Company doesn’t mess around. The company, which began as a pizza place in Solano Beach and now owns a large brewing facility in San Marcos, makes unbelievably big beers. And like Stone Brewing, their Golden State neighbor to the…
I’ve been reviewing some the best holiday beers available on local liquor store shelves, from Colorado favorites like Left Hand’s Snowbound Ale to out-of-state greats, like Deschutes’ Jubelale. But on December 2, at 7:30 p.m., the Falling Rock Taphouse, address, will host its 12th Annual Christmas Beer Dinner. Some…
Alaskan Smoked Porter Alaskan Brewing Company It’s really quite simple. Alaskan Smoked Porter is one of the best beers ever made. It is like a rare gem in a field full of sandstone, a shooting star, a pearl in the oyster that is my local liquor store. I read about…
