10 breweries and distilleries to visit in Colorado right now

10 breweries and distilleries to visit in Colorado right now

With hundreds of breweries and dozens of distilleries, Colorado’s craft beverage scene is overflowing with options. Choosing where to belly up can be tough when you’re oh-so-thirsty. While we highly recommend checking out the local libations wherever your journey takes you, these 10 beer and spirits producers are destinations in their own right with, drinks … Read more

Two Lakewood businesses push past vandalism, burglaries with humor

Two Lakewood businesses push past vandalism, burglaries with humor

The owners of a Lakewood fried chicken joint consider themselves optimists. Every time they’ve found their storefront window shattered by a rock, they’ve named the projectile, put it on display and got back to business. “I guess it’s just like an ongoing joke,” said Ivy Pham, co-owner of Kickin Chicken. “Now, we have three rocks, … Read more

Bowl-sized cocktails are back in Denver bars — germs be damned

Bowl-sized cocktails are back in Denver bars — germs be damned

Rubber duckies bobbing on ice. A smoke show. Colorful floral arrangements and fruit floats. Punch bowls always deliver on the “ooh-ahh” factor, according to beverage industry veteran Tasmen Braam, general manager of The Family Jones Spirit House (3245 Osage St.) So, when Braam decided to add a few shareable sippers to the menu to showcase … Read more

LCBO employees will walk off job Friday, union says

LCBO employees will walk off job Friday, union says

Thousands of Ontario liquor store employees will walk off the job Friday after contract negotiations between the LCBO and its workers broke down, the workers’ union says. Representatives of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) blamed Premier Doug Ford’s government for the breakdown at a news conference Thursday evening, just hours before the midnight strike deadline … Read more

Ex-law enforcement group opposes NY distilleries from directly shipping to customers: ‘Recipe for disaster’

Ex-law enforcement group opposes NY distilleries from directly shipping to customers: ‘Recipe for disaster’

A group of ex-law enforcement wants Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto a bill that would let New York micro-liquor distillers and cideries directly ship to customers, claiming it will increase underage drinking. New York’s wineries have had the right to make direct home shipments since 2005. “Direct to consumer shipping has been proven to weaken … Read more

Laws Whiskey’s new Denver taproom aims for August opening

Laws Whiskey’s new Denver taproom aims for August opening

As a whiskey maker, Al Laws is no stranger to waiting. Laws, president and founder of Laws Whiskey House in Denver, distilled his first batch of liquor on July 4, 2011. But because time is an essential ingredient in whiskey, it wasn’t until October 2014 that he released the first bottles. That said, it’s been … Read more

Denver’s Ironton Distillery will move to Louisville by 2026

Denver’s Ironton Distillery will move to Louisville by 2026

A Denver distillery is relocating operations to the suburbs, and when it does it will close its taproom and restaurant in the city. Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse, which opened in the River North Arts District in 2018, will soon break ground on a brand new production facility located at 1303 Empire Rd. in Louisville. According … Read more

Stranahan’s Aspen Whiskey Lodge opens March 9

Stranahan’s Aspen Whiskey Lodge opens March 9

Denver-based Stranahan’s distillery marks its 20th anniversary this year, and to celebrate, the whiskey maker is tracing its roots back to Aspen with a new tasting room and restaurant opening in March in the mountain town. The Aspen Whiskey Lodge, at 307 S. Mill St., serves alpine-inspired dishes alongside drams and cocktails featuring the distillery’s … Read more

Colorado bourbon named best in the U.S. (outside of Kentucky)

Colorado bourbon named best in the U.S. (outside of Kentucky)

Coloradans looking for excellent whiskey don’t need to look far. That’s according to the judges at the Whisky Magazine Awards, who recently honored several local distilleries in its nationwide competition. Laws Whiskey House’s Four Grain Bourbon Cask Strength was named the best single-barrel bourbon (non-Kentucky) at the 2024 Whisky Magazine Awards.(Provided by Laws Whiskey House) … Read more

William H. Macy debuts Colorado whiskey with Woody Creek Distillers

William H. Macy debuts Colorado whiskey with Woody Creek Distillers

William H. Macy describes his first visit to the mountains near Aspen, Colorado, as “pretty much love at first sight.” It was sometime in the mid-1980s, Macy recalls, and he was traveling with then-girlfriend Felicity Huffman back to the area where she grew up. “Her mom was a magnificent cook, and they ride horses,” Macy … Read more