Denver Craft Beer Overview – Part II

Last week we looked at a few breweries and brew pubs in Denver, just to whet our appetites. This week we’ll continue to merely skim the surface, looking at some beer bars and bottle shops.

If you have your own general suggestions, or some questions, leave a comment below. And if you totally disagree with me, that can be fun too.

Also, I plan on going to each of these places, and many more, with the lens of “I’m here to write a blog post”, so I’ll take pictures, really pay attention to the little details, etc. This is just an overview to show you how awesome my town is and that you want to come visit.

Beer Bars

Pretty much every bar in Denver has some sort of craft beer on tap. I’d rather not even admit being there, but this one time when I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into LoDo’s, I was able to procure an Odell’s 5 Barrel. Like last week, I’ll just talk about three for now.

The taps at Falling Rock

Falling Rock Tap House

1919 Blake Street • Denver • Colorado • 80202 • fallingrocktaphouse.com

This is not only one of the best beer bars in Denver, it’s known as one of the best in the country. 75 taps, hundreds of bottles, different beers every week, all of these combine to make it the place to grab a beer. Want an IPA? They have about 20. How about a stout? Which state would you like to try?

The food here is also great, if you like greasy bar food. Which I do. My go to is an app of beer-battered mushrooms followed by the Johnny Cash, a burger with all the fixins (including bacon!) on super crunchy thick toast. Funny stat: I just looked at the reviews on Yelp; If you search them for the word “food”, only 41 of the 90 reviews are returned.

People will always add the qualifier that the service sucks. And I’m on the fence. For one, yes, it can. Especially if you wait 20 minutes at the bar to get a beer, and the bartender finally makes eye contact, and you don’t know what you want. Pick up a menu! On the other hand, it sort of adds to the character of the bar. Also, I go there a lot. So the service is fine for me. Go there with me sometime, it’ll be great.

As I do go there often, I have started to realize that the beers don’t change all that often. Probably 10 taps change often, and the rest are pretty static. But there are so many options to choose from, it works out. On pay day I can even afford some of the bottles. One time a few of us split a bottle of Isabelle Proximus. Highly recommended if you can afford it and they’ll sell it to you.

Lastly, you have to love the countdown clock on the wall. Unlike many Irish pubs who have the countdown to St. Paddy’s, Falling Rock, being the beer bar that it is, shows you the seconds until GABF.

The Cheeky Monk

534 East Colfax • Denver • Colorado • 80203 • thecheekymonk.com

A little bit east of Falling Rock on Colfax you’ll find the Belgian beer haven known as The Cheeky Monk. From the outside, it looks like just another store front on Colfax. Enter, however, and you’re transported to the basement of an abbey. The stone walls, recessed candles, and overall dark and slightly musky feel lend themselves to the perfect Belgian beer environment.

The beer selection ranges from local Belgian style ales, like 1554 and La Folie from New Belgium, to Trappist ales, including a few options from Rocherfort, and of course one of my favorite beers, Duchesse De Bourgogne. The Cheeky Monk has about 16 taps with standard and changing offerings, and many bottles to tempt you as well.

The Cheeky Monk’s selection has some overlap with Falling Rock’s. But you cannot beat this spot for the Belgian environment. Granted, I’ve never been to Belgium. So if you’d like to fund a trip for me to experience the real thing, let me know.

The food here is pretty good, but a little expensive. However, if I’m paying attention to my budget that day, I’d rather eat Ramen before hand and spend the extra money on a Gueuze.

Vine Street Pub

Vine Street Pub

1700 Vine Street • Denver • Colorado • 80206 • mountainsunpub.com

Continuing east in almost a straight line, you’ll find Vine Street Pub. I know, I know, “but this is a brewpub”. I disagree, as they don’t make beer there right now. Part of the Mountain Sun family, it soon will find itself in the brewpub category: Denver City Council just approved rezoning, allowing Vine Street to pursue their federal brewer’s permit. So, soon, I’ll move them over. But today, they’re a beer bar.

On a crowded night, the picnic style tables give Vine Street the feeling of a beer garden, surrounded by booths and a bar.

Vine Street offers about a dozen Mountain Sun brews, plus another half dozen other options. You can easily follow a Colorado Kind Ale on nitro with a Russian River Pliny the Elder. The list changes somewhat often. You’re likely to find some great local options, like a Bristol Compass IPA or a Great Divide Hibernation, as well as some regional and national flavors.

The food is super tasty, with some interesting options beyond the normal pub fare. You can get a delicious Regular Burger or an equally delicious yet less common Tempeh Reuben.

Don’t forget to bring cash, or at least your ATM card. Vine Street Pub doesn’t accept credit cards, but there is an ATM in the back.

Bottle Shops

This is a field I’m inexperienced at. I don’t have the wallet to walk in to a bottle shop and walk out with a case of what I want. However, I also don’t have the will power NOT to do that. So, I tend to be careful when entering a good liquor store.

However, my personal collection is slowly growing. I do have a few shops I trust. Definitely let me know of your experiences with other places, hidden gems, or random corner package stores that have something crazy.

I’ve been in contact with the guys (and girl) at Total Bev in Westminster on the Twitter for a while (@totalbev), but haven’t been there yet, so I can’t speak to their rare beer prowess. I’ll get there though. Promise.

For now, here’s a few words about three spots.

Argonaut Wine & Liquor

760 East Colfax • Denver • Colorado • 80203 • argonautliquor.com

That’s the official name. I’ve called it Argonaut’s or Argo’s for as long as I’ve known about the spot.

Anyway. This place is huge. It’s a little east of downtown on Colfax, and impossible to miss. Their old location is right next door to their new location. The old one is like stepping into a neighborhood hardware store, the new one is like a Home Depot. It’s big, is what I’m trying to say.

I just went on their site to see what they have worthy of a Hop Press blog post, and the first listing is a PBR Light. Followed by PBR. Followed by Miller Lite. And on. Which makes me want to stop this section now. I mean, really, no one is going on your website to buy PBR Light.

But they also have a bunch of amazing beers. From local to Belgium, their offerings are extensive. It’s not the best shop I’ve ever seen, but they’ve got a lot, and they’re centrally located.

I’ve also spoken with their beer buyer via email in the past. Argonaut’s generally has uncommon and slightly rarer beers, and they’ll try to find your favorite if they can.

From the beer cooler

Mile High Wine & Spirits

435 South Vance Street • Lakewood • Colorado • 80226 • milehighwineandspirits.com

As I wrote the name here, I realized that none of my bottle shops today have the word “beer” in them. Hmm..

Anyway, this spot is actually in Lakewood. But, I work about 30 yards from it, so I know it well. My coworker and I often stop there on the way back from a trip to the buffet at Whole Foods. It’s mainly a wine shop, with a decent 6-pack selection along the side wall. But one of the cooler doors is actually a walk through to the bottle room.

Their bottle room is surprisingly stocked. It’s small, not very spread out, and sort of feels like you’re in the stock room. Which you pretty much are. But the selection is fantastic. Hard to find bombers from both local breweries and ones further away can all be found back here. It’s cold, but the beer should warm you up.

Last week, I bought two 22 oz. bottles of Lost Abbey Carnevale for $7.99 each, and a 12 oz of Dogfish Head Chicory Stout for lunch.

That one on University

I can’t remember the name of this place. Or I don’t want to tell you about it. Because it’s a gem. Even walking in the door, should you find this place, you’d think “oh, it’s a wine shop.” But no. They have a serious beer selection hidden in a different room.

Not hidden, really. There’s a big sign that says “BEER”.

A month or two ago, after the dust from GABF had settled, I opened a bottle that the Beer Wench had brought from California. It was a bottle of Consecration. It was a bottle of heaven.

I was telling my roommate Dave about this bottle, and how hard it is to find in Denver, and he goes “let’s get in the car.” He brought me to this random wine shop he’d found while wandering around a shopping center while his girlfriend was in TJ Maxx. It’s a very nice wine shop, I think. I don’t know wine well enough to tell you one way or another. But the stock room behind the beer coolers was filled with bottles from all over the world. They had a case of Consecration. A case. They in fact had cases of many hard to find beers. I spoke with the manager, and she said that people just don’t know about their beer. Works for me!

I’ll try to find the name of this place. If you’re feeling adventurous, it’s in the same shopping center as TJ Maxx, somewhere on University a few miles south of Evans. First one to find it wins… well, you win access to this shop.

That’s all folks!

That’s it for now. Starting next week I’ll dive in to specific locations. Leave me a note if you have any specific spot in mind, or want to get a beer in Denver.

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