Thirst Colorado November-December 2018

SERVING UP THE COLORADO EXPERIENCE

Vol. 4, No. 1 November-December 2018

CURLING ON THE RISE

CARE TO TEST YOUR SKILLS?

2

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FOODIES REJOICE

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LIBATIONS BEYOND

Colorado’s artisans continue to shine What a year! While there is still plenty of time to fulfill your 2018 aspirations, the year is coming to a close with the holiday season ushering in snowy days, hot drinks and winter recreation.

Don’t let the cooler weather keep you from enjoying our state’s endless recreating possibilities. A majority of the state’s 22-million acres of public lands are accessible by snowshoe, skis, snowmobiles, sleds or even a snowcat.

If getting your groove on is more your style, check out one of Colorado’s up-andcoming local bands (see page 14). From the Boulder Theater to slope-side in Vail, our state has amazing options to see live music this winter. Steamboat’s Winter Wondergrass, Red Rock’s Winter on the Rocks and Vail’s Snow Days are just a few of the ways to get outside and enjoy live music. Or, stay warm and enjoy holiday classics from the Colorado Symphony at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, or jam on to The String Cheese Incident this New Year’s at the 1st Bank Center.

While the state’s live music scene continues to grow, so does its active lifestyle. Last winter the Outdoor Retailer show moved here from Utah, cementing Colorado as an outdoor mecca. This winter we will continue to see growth in the outdoor industry with the emergence of the Ikon ski pass and the growth of the Vail Resorts Epic pass.

Additionally, we received word that juggernaut VF Corporation will soon move to Denver. The move means brands such as The North Face, JanSport, Eagle Creek and Smartwool will all be headquartered in our state. Various media reports say that the company, valued at $36.8 billion, may bring up to 800 jobs to Colorado.

Meanwhile our craft beer, spirits and food scenes continue to impress. New libations destinations are popping up monthly. And yes, there are awards galore for our state’s purveyors of great craft beverages of all kinds. Whether it’s inside or outside, get moving and enjoy this truly wonderful season in the state of craft creativity.

Happy holidays and here’s to a successful and enjoyable new year!

Remember, live your passion and thirst responsibly!

Paul Johnson Publisher & Tasting Guru

ADVISORY BOARD Jean Ditslear Owner, 300 Suns Brewing

Sean Smiley State 38 Distilling

Bess Dougherty Head Brewer, Grateful Gnome Sandwich Shoppe and Brewery

Alan Laws Owner, Laws Whiskey House Charlie Sturdavant Owner, Golden City Brewery

Publisher Paul Johnson paul@thirstcolorado.com Associate Publisher & Editor Joe Ross joe@thirstcolorado.com Vice President of Sales Tod Cavey tod@thirstcolorado.com Design & Layout Michele Garner President & Founder Wilbur E. Flachman Marketing & Distribution Neill Pieper Editorial Assistant Natasha Lovato Editorial Intern Jordyn MacDonald Contributors Mary Anderson, Katie Coakley, Kim Fuller, Steve Graham, Kyle Kirves, R. Scott Rappold, Dionne Roberts, Angie Wright For advertising and editorial information, please contact Joe Ross at 303.428.9529 Ext. 227 or email joe@thirstcolorado.com Proud member of the Brewers Association and the Colorado Brewers Guild Thirst Colorado is produced by The Publishing House, a division of Colorado Word Works, Inc. The Publishing House also produces Colorado’s Performing Arts Publications, serving arts venues along the Front Range.

7380 Lowell Blvd., Westminster, Colorado 80030 303.428.9529

Drink up life in large amounts, but restrict your alcohol consumption. We do not endorse or support excessive drinking.

Thirst Colorado is published six times a year by The Publishing House, 7380 Lowell Blvd., Westminster, CO 80030. © The Publishing House, 2018. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

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November-December 2018

Except where noted, the content of Thirst Colorado is the property of the magazine and should only be reprinted with permission. Thirst Colorado is not responsible for false or misleading claims made in advertising or editorial materials published herein.

Steve Indrehus - President

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THIRST COLORADO | November-December 2018

31

INTERSECTIONS

20 Strange Brew

Maxline Brewing combines great ingredients for better flavor

22 Art of Brewing

Colorado’s first craft brewery gets a refresh

28 Untapped

8

Explore Colorado’s finest extravaganzas, events and more

18

38 Prime Pairings

Try these tasty recipes at home with a paired craft beverage

44 Holiday Gift Guide

Find the perfect gift for your loved ones in our special advertising section

Tales from 48 True the Lying Log

Majestic creatures that come alive in the fall

On the cover: Curling is heating up at the Denver Curling Club Photo: Neill Pieper

52 Brewery, Cidery & Distillery Guide

We’ll help you find great drinks wherever you end up in Colorado

ADVENTURES

22 30

6 ThirstColorado.com

32

November-December 2018

8 The Rise of Curling

With its Scottish roots, the sport is heading for mainstream USA

31

Slope-side Prep

Try these yoga poses for ski and boarding success

14

From the Heart

32 Sweet Country

18

Foodies Rejoice

40

26

Fresh Libations

The Hang Rounders provide a slice of life experiences

Fort Collins multi-concept eatery has something for everyone Two new distilleries put a shine on the Denver scene

Checking out Colorado’s sugary history

A Delicious Paradox

In small-town Divide, local brewery expands to meet demands

Hazel’s for the Holidays Gifts Cards Available In-store and Online

THROW THE ROCK

Is it time to test your Olympic skills?

By Natasha Lovato

8 ThirstColorado.com

Photos: Neill Pieper

November-December 2018

D

espite its 16th century roots and its large doses of etiquette and finesse, the sport of curling is open to nearly everyone.

Pam Finch, event coordinator of the Denver Curling Club (DCC) and former Team USA member, says all players,─ regardless of ability, age or gender ─can participate in sending a 42-pound granite stone down the ice toward a bullseye.

The Denver Curling Club opened in November 2014 as one of the most prominent curling arenas in the West. With leagues seven days a week, as well as scheduled events, corporate events and tournaments, the club is 400 members strong. Additionally, people drop in throughout the year to sample the sport.

From elementary-aged kids to seniors and those with disabilities, curling accommodates all participants, adding a few helpful tools so anyone can play.

Interest is at an all-time high. Sure, the gold-medal win by the USA men’s team in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics got the nation’s attention. But the real tipping point was the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, when curling was first televised to a national audience.

Finch emphasized how much the sport had grown since then because of regular folks wanting to participate in an Olympic sport.

“They look like everyday guys. And they are everyday guys. They still have to work at a full-time job after training,” Finch said of the USA Olympians. “They’re not professionals.

They’re professionals in the sense that it is a skill, but they don’t get paid like a professional baseball player or football player. So it’s really taken off in clubs around the country.”

Gold-medal Olympian John Shuster visited the DCC in September to offer his expertise to participants at a corporate event.

Shuster showed videos from his experiences in PyeongChang and over the past few months since the championship. It was a whirlwind of appearances and photo ops for all of the team members, all while they still worked full-time jobs. Although Shuster is

from Minnesota, he had curled in Colorado and around the country over the years, forming friendships along the way.

Finch was one of those friends.

“It’s a small community,” she said. “You go to another curling club, and you’ll always know somebody,” she said. “And if not, you’ll get to know them like you’ve known them all along because you have that one thing — you have curling in common.”

The closeness curlers share with one another is largely based on the peaceful, calm nature of the sport.

Finch said no one is pressured to develop and push their limits like many other sports.

Curlers are able to move at their own pace and excel as they wish despite their age or mobility. There are balancing devices and other adjustments that provide opportunities for everyone to play.

“Our Little Rockers league starts at first or second grade and

November-December 2018

ThirstColorado.com 9

our oldest player is in their late eighties,” Finch said. “So, this is a life sport and a gentleman’s sport. I like the comradery to be able to say to your opponent, ‘that was a nice shot.’ And vice versa. You appreciate the other person’s skill when they make a shot, which is different from other sports.

Then you come off the ice and have a nice conversation, get to know your opponents and, as a tradition, the winners buy the losers a drink.”

There is something to be said about the finesse and nuance needed to excel at curling, but truthfully anyone can play.

“There’s all walks of life,” Finch said.

“That’s the beauty of working with so many different people. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, if you come out here to play a game, you’ll have fun with it.”

Which only leaves one question: Are you ready to test your Olympic skills? The Denver Curling Club is located at 14100 W. 7th Ave., in Golden.

Colorado native Natasha Lovato will soon graduate from MSU Denver with a degree in Integrative Written Communication in the Arts.

HERE ARE SOME CURLING CLUB OPTIONS AROUND THE STATE: The Denver Curling Club Aspen Curling Club, Aspen Ice Garden Broadmoor Curling Club, World Ice Arena, Colorado Springs

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November-December 2018

Poudre Valley Curling Club, Edora Pool Ice Center, Fort Collins Steamboat Springs Curling Club Telluride Curling Club, Hanley Rink in Telluride Town Park

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November-December 2018

ThirstColorado.com 11

OPEN UP YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE

© 2018 Patagonia Brewing Co., Bohemian Pilsner Lager (Ale in TX), Fairfield, California. Brewed in USA.

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN Conifer country singer taps raw Nashville roots

By Steve Graham

J

ohno Roberts can wax nostalgic about his Southern childhood.

“I sure miss those country nights, staring up at the Tennessee sky. I miss my mom, my brother too, fresh-cut hay, the morning dew,” he sings with a twang on “Wild,” by his country band, the Hang Rounders.

His lyrics have the directness and heartwrenching details of legendary country songs. Other songs reflect the pitch-dark side of his childhood, but in this case they lead into a sweet ode to his daughter, Ellymae Wild Roberts.

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November-December 2018

“Now she’s three feet tall, hell, she’s five years old, big brown eyes, pretty blond curls, she’s my baby, she made Colorado my home,” Roberts sings.

Raising a family in Conifer, he is giving his daughters a far happier childhood than he had in Nashville. But he’s also mining his experiences and his Tennessee roots to bring some real country to the Colorado music scene with the Hang Rounders.

When Roberts was 2 years old, his father went to jail. His dad was released, then died two weeks later, when Roberts was 16. But three years earlier, Roberts ran away from

home to jump freight trains and shoot heroin.

He was scared straight after he and some friends were playing with a gun that accidentally fired and killed one of them.

“After I lost my best friend, that’s what knocked me sober,” he said.

It all sounds like a grim movie — or a classic country song.

“All my songs are pretty much about my own downfalls and I use it as an escape and a therapy,” Roberts said. “People want to see the train wreck. They don’t want to watch you cruise around in a Prius.”

Photo: Claire Roeth

He said he is happy to provide catharsis for listeners.

“If I can make somebody feel less alone in the world, I guess I’m doing a good thing,” Roberts said.

Country music also made him feel less alone growing up in “honky-tonk bars all over the city,” where his single mom sold cocktails.

“I was always bathed in the best of country music as a kid,” he said.

At 7, Roberts started learning guitar from Sammy Kershaw’s pedal steel player, a neighbor. He met plenty of other musicians

and soaked up Nashville’s country scene.

When he was on drugs, he wasn’t playing music or “really doing anything.” Once they sobered up, he and a friend decided to escape Nashville and drive west for a fresh start.

They arrived in Denver when the flagship REI store was having a garage sale, and some outdoor enthusiasts were camped in the parking lot. They pitched a tent and joined in for midnight tubing on the South Platte River.

“Denver seemed cool, so we stayed,” Roberts said.

He got a roofing job that eventually took him to Florida and Oklahoma for disaster recovery work. With nothing to do in rural Oklahoma after sundown, he started playing and writing music again.

When he eventually returned to Denver, he worked with Curt Wallach, who was then a bike messenger and now co-owns the Hi-Dive. They started playing music together, and Wallach decided they needed to share Roberts’ lyrics.

“Johno is a fantastic songwriter, and creating a fitting background for his words is fulfilling,” Wallach said.

To fill out the band, Wallach tapped an old high school friend, Dan Feely, to play drums.

He also recruited bassist Matthew Lilley from the Legendary River Drifters, and pedal steel player Ty Breuer.

The Hang Rounders started as a dance band for country two-stepping nights at Globe Hall. There wasn’t much true country music in Colorado at the time, and most of the other band members were playing in rock bands.

“We were all involved in different subcultures around Denver,” Roberts said.

“Presenting to that whole crowd, we didn’t know what to expect, but people instantly accepted it.”

He said other Denver musicians have also been very supportive.

“We just play music because we love doing it,” Roberts said of most local bands.

“There’s not a lot of ego, which is a breath of fresh air, especially after growing up in Nashville.”

Wallach said the Hang Rounders are really about playing good music and having a good time.

“We’d love to meet you and dance around and have some drinks and forget about the hell world we live in for a night,” Wallach said.

Steve Graham is a freelance writer and former newspaper editor who likes taking his two young boys biking, hiking and brewery-hopping in northern Colorado.

November-December 2018

ThirstColorado.com 15

�is about SUMS it up

US 36 & McCaslin

Superior, CO 80027

303 499 6600

Š2018 Breckenridge Distillery, 1925 Airport Rd, Breckenridge, Colorado. Please drink responsibly.

BRINGING BACK THE CLASSICS

GINGER and BAKER brings new life to historic site

By Dionne Roberts

Photos: Courtesy of Ginger and Baker and PhoCo Photography

18 ThirstColorado.com

November-December 2018

O

ne of the newest eateries in Fort Collins is much more than a restaurant. Ginger and Baker is a center for the community on an historic site.

The Northern Colorado Feeders Supply building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and has been an integral piece of the Fort Collins community since the early 1900s.

It has served as a grain mill, co-op, mercantile and gathering place for the townspeople.

One year ago, with the opening of Ginger and Baker, the building returned to that historic use as a multi-concept facility made up of seven distinct venues: The Cache restaurant, The Cafe, The Market, The Bakery, The Teaching Kitchen, and dedicated event spaces The Mill Top and The Wine Cellar. Together, they successfully restore the property’s cultural integrity with a hyper-local commitment that recreates the agricultural focus of days past.

“I feel like the significance of the structure itself allows us to be a destination,” says Ginger Graham, co-owner of Ginger and Baker. “It’s well known and loved in northern Colorado, but through the quality of the food and service we want to make this a piece of history in Fort Collins to celebrate as well.”

Tours of the distinctive space are offered daily, complete with contributions of mood music, lighting and smells from the bakery and The Cache.

“We’re trying to make the food true to Colorado,” says Graham. “Lamb, pork, bison and chicken are all from Colorado,

and our vegetable and fruit selections as much as possible. It’s local food, a little bit of adventure, casual.”

An entire wall of glass creates an outdoorsy experience that perpetuates farm-to-table dining with intentional touches representing the time when French Canadian trappers stashed gunpowder during a blizzard, giving the Cache la Poudre River its name. Tables are carved from original beams, and a massive entryway chandelier consists of wheels from the old mill.

I GREW UP ON A FARM AND WE GREW EVERYTHING WE ATE.

- Ginger Graham, Co-Owner

“We’ve tried to create those early days of the West,” says Graham. “There are coat hangers that are made from railroad spikes, and finishes that look like steel. We salvaged everything we could so people can appreciate what this building is all about.”

Ginger Graham co-owns Ginger and Baker with Jack Graham, former athletic director at Colorado State University. They relocated to the area in 2012 and quickly began their own farmstead, Two Trees Horse Farm. They nurture 25 fruit trees, a pumpkin patch and a beehive, alongside herbs,

tomatoes and sunflowers that are all utilized in The Cache kitchen or sold in The Market.

“I grew up on a farm and we grew everything we ate,” says Ginger Graham. “It was about family, community and food. We have a love of local cuisine that we want to advance even further.”

If it’s not from their own land, it’s from as close as possible. Local partners include Hazel Dell Mushrooms, Morning Fresh Dairy, Mouco Cheese Company and Vitality Greens.

They source meat and eggs from Jodar Farms, and organic produce and proteins from Croft Family Farm.

“At The Cache in particular we’re hoping to really make a dining experience that is everything Fort Collins is about,” says Ginger Graham. “From the finishes to the service to the local farm and ranch options.”

At Ginger and Baker, their representation of the long game captures the entire experience, from an award-winning wine list to progressive novelty cocktails and their ability to facilitate a staggering number of local partnerships. So whether you’re sipping their signature Peter Rabbit cocktail made with Ginger and Baker tequila, house beer from Black Bottle or their coffee made by local roaster Bindel, their reach extends “all the way through so you can only get it here,” says Ginger Graham.

Dionne Roberts is the editor of the Rocky Mountain Food Report, rockymountainfoodreport.com

November-December 2018

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STRANGE BREW

BEER SCHOOL BREW EARNS AN A+ Maxline turns educational experiment into seasonal favorite

hen you help brew with other amateurs in a class, you might not expect to make top-grade suds. But when Shawn Woodbury made an orange peppercorn saison with his “beer school” students a couple of years ago at the Mayor of Old Town bar in Fort Collins, it was so popular that he brought it back and turned it into a seasonal favorite at Maxline Brewing.

The class focused on recipe formulation — from concept to glass. Woodbury, head brewer at Maxline, worked with his class to discuss ideas for a fall beer and settled on the fruity, spicy saison.

“Orange and peppercorn go really well together,” Woodbury said. “You have that nice citrusy bite but a little bit of sweetness from the orange, and the peppercorn comes through to really cut that off.”

He also said the peppercorn matches the phenolic compounds from the French saison yeast he uses.

He incorporated four malt varieties and added cracked black peppercorn and bitter orange peel to the boil, then added a little more of the same spice mix to the fermenter.

The resulting orange flavor and aroma are definitely noticeable, but the peppercorn bite is subtle.

“A lot of people are surprised they like it, because of the peppercorn,” Woodbury said.

He admits he was concerned about the peppercorn levels. “Underdoing it is OK, and overdoing it makes it undrinkable,” he said.

After making the saison for his beer class, Woodbury started tinkering with the idea at Maxline.

“We did one batch of it and it did really, really well, then we shelved it for a while,” he said. “It wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be.

That said, I’m a brewer and nothing’s ever quite where I want it to be.”

After tweaking the recipe a bit, he said he pretty much perfected it this fall.

He wanted the beer to bridge the gap between swim season and ski season.

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November-December 2018

“We’re not quite over summer yet, but we’re not quite into winter yet,” Woodbury said. “It’s got elements of summer in the idea that there’s citrus in there, but it’s also reminiscent of late fall and spice cakes and things like that.”

Woodbury has been brewing for almost 10 years, holding a variety of jobs at larger craft breweries including Shipyard in Portland, Maine, Harpoon Brewing in Boston, and Left Hand Brewing in Longmont.

“A lot of people will start small and move to big, and I kind of did the opposite,” he said.

He then applied for the head brewing job at Maxline before the central Fort Collins brewery opened in 2016.

Maxline has grown quickly even though its original space, a former post office, was very small. “Our plan for year one was 250 barrels, and we hit that by month four or five,” Woodbury said.

Maxline is somewhat hidden in the back of a strip mall, next to a CrossFit gym and behind an ARC thrift store. However, it has become a neighborhood draw.

“This part of town is underserved by bars and beer and that sort of thing,” Woodbury said.

Maxline is still a small brewery, but the taproom doubled in size last summer. They hope to open a second patio soon, and expect to start canning for the first time by the end of 2018.

Steve Graham is a freelance writer and former newspaper editor who likes taking his two young boys biking, hiking and brewery-hopping in northern Colorado.

Orange Peppercorn Saison Brewery: Maxline Brewing Location: Fort Collins IBU: 30 ABV: 6.5 Percent

Photo: Angie Wright

W

By Steve Graham

ART OF BREWING

A FRESH TAKE ON A CLASSIC BRAND Colorado’s first craft brewery revamps its look

By Kyle Kirves

W

hen the as-yet-unwritten quasibiblical history of Colorado craft beer comes to pass, Chapter 1, Verse 1 should read something like “In the beginning, there was the Boulder Beer Co.” No, Colorado’s first craft brewery didn’t spring fully formed from the mind of some beer god or goddess. But it does date back to a foggy and mythical past known as “the late seventies” — a time of bell bottoms and Burt Reynolds, when the Bandit’s smuggled beer wasn’t micro or craft, but rather that ubiquitous macrobrew that comes in the golden can.

It is a story of humble beginnings, but with the happiest of endings.

“Two astrophysics professors had homebrewed for years before

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November-December 2018

starting Boulder Beer Co. (BBC) in 1979 at a goat farm just north of town,” recounts Tess McFadden, director of marketing. “And we’ve been at the Wilderness Place location since 1984. When we came on, there were just over 40 brewers in the country, much less in Colorado.”

BBC takes great pride in being out in front of the craft beer phenomenon, and you can see it in the company’s bold, new brand refresh. The black banner at the bottom of the cans proudly proclaims “Colorado’s First Craft Brewery — Enjoyed Since 1979.” It’s the next step in a brand history that, like all hero stories, is about evolution.

“When Boulder Beer started out, we were definitely a branded house,” says McFadden, who could serve as in-house historian and chief storyteller. “It was Boulder Amber, Boulder Pale Ale, Boulder Porter.

And the labels always showed the Flatirons, something that still figures in our branding.”

However, brewers are a naturally creative lot and, in 2001, Boulder Beer branched out with a new series of one-off, pub-only beers, including one flagship that is now virtually synonymous with BBC itself.

“Hazed & Infused was an experiment for us in terms of production and hopping,” says McFadden of the hybrid amber/ dry hopped ale. “We realized very quickly –

very quickly – that we would need to package it. But it didn’t fall in line with our other brand packaging and product. We created a new line that we called the Looking Glass series.

We created whole new branding around that.”

The branding was all done in-house, with aid from then-local artist Jeff Keffer. The new branding was a significant departure from the regal, painterly branding BBC had in place originally, and created new possibilities for the brewery.

“Hazed & Infused was the first experiment, but that opened the door for others like Mojo (IPA), Killer Penguin (barleywine) and Sweaty Betty (hefeweizen),” McFadden says.

Thematically, the branding was tied together – bright, brand-driven, text-heavy labels. You’ve seen them on the full BBC bottled line, including the incredible Shake Chocolate Porter.

“The whole idea was kind of whimsical and fun. We take our beers seriously, but not ourselves,” she said.

Eventually, the new line’s popularity would force the gradual diminution of the old, legacy lines (so long, Boulder Beer Porter!) but

that’s a good problem to have. And BBC will still occasionally brew up a batch of the legacy recipes for the pub.

Never satisfied to stand pat, a few years ago Boulder Beer began ruminating on a brand refresh. Not necessarily new beers per se (that’s always on their minds), but a new way of reimagining the packaging.

“It’s becoming more important on a crowded shelf to stand out,” McFadden says. “We want to remain fresh, relevant, and appeal to younger, emerging beer customers.”

Enter the new, can-only artwork,

designed in collaboration with Boulder-based design house Moxie Sozo.

“We love the vibe at Moxie Sozo,” McFadden says. “We love their detailed, fun, illustrative work. That work dominates our new can art.”

Getting BBC on the can in a much more visible way was also part of the goal.

“We kept hearing, ‘Oh, I love Hazed & Infused, but I never knew who made it,’” McFadden says.

With the new can art, there’s no doubt of the source and longevity of the brewery.

Boulder Beer Co., its origin date, and a halfhop, half-Flatiron logo they call the “Hopiron,” are prominently displayed. And the Hopiron is sure to be a favorite on t-shirts and caps.

And what a new look it is. While the Looking Glass series labels were eyecatching and colorful, the new labels go one step further, providing more depth and a full wrap so that the images are rendered with more dimension than previous brands.

Two of my favorites in the new line are the Due East New England IPA and the seasonal Festbier. The pairing is a study in contrasts.

Due East is rendered in dark blues and black, and shows a shipwreck with a valiant skipper eyeing the safe promise offered by a lighthouse.

Festbier’s bright, sky blue and copper tones tell a more pleasurable tale of a day at Oktoberfest, complete with Ferris wheels, session ales and a band.

Both are imbued with narrative possibility, and, with the full wrap around the can, they are alive with motion absent from flatter art.

Characteristic, too, of the new art is that, in both of these new offerings, you are looking over the shoulder of the characters on the labels, taking in the same scene as they are — you are invited in to be part of the story, not just witness to it.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive. “Anecdotally, we have heard a lot of positive feedback. People love the art, the black lids to the cans. It’s all been great,” McFadden says.

All-time favorites like Mojo and Hazed & Infused will share a new look. As new beers come online for the experimenters at BBC, they will too. In a nod to the pub’s outdoor mural designed by Husky Creative, look for the upcoming Spaceman beer.

Just because BBC was the first craft brewer in Colorado doesn’t mean it has to get old or complacent. Boulder Beer Co.’s creative energy, curious nature, and experimental philosophy are present not just in the beer they craft, but the cans they put it in. Be part of that story and maybe you too will be written into the history of craft beer.

Kyle Kirves is a solid dude who believes drinking beer should be a five-senses experience.

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VODKA AND WHISKEY AND AQUAVIT, OH MY:

Two New Distilleries Open in Denver

“We all travel a lot, which is a lot of the inspiration for the cocktail bar,” said co-owner Scott Yeates. “We want to bring back some of the tastes, flavors and experiences we’ve had.”

The cocktail menu reflects the peripatetic influence. Try the Honi Honi, made with Mythology whiskey, orange juice, orgeat and demerara syrups, and a spiced wine float. Or the Jabber-Ruski, which combines Mythology’s rye vodka, pamplemousse liqueur, agave, lime, rhubarb bitters, chili tincture and a ruby port float, served with a black salt rim and a flower.

Mythology is currently bottling and pouring the Chatter Wolf Rye Vodka, Feather Jester Silver Rum, Needle Pig Mountain Gin, made with

botanicals from the Denver Botanical Garden, and Hell Bear American Whiskey, a proprietary blend of straight rye whiskey and straight bourbon from head distiller Scott Coburn, formerly of High West Distillery in Utah. Two Station 26 beers are on tap, as well as a selection of canned beers and a few wines.

IF YOU GO Mythology Distillery is open Tuesday-Sunday 3622 Tejon St., Denver 720-458-0501 mythologydistillery.com

By Katie Coakley

T

Photos: Courtesy of Mythology Distilling

here’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, as Denver’s burgeoning crafts spirits scene illustrates.

After two new businesses opened this year, we’re up to a whopping 14 craft distilleries in the Denver metro area, with more on the way. But you won’t hear hard liquor enthusiasts complaining. After all, variety is the spice of life, and the addition of Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse, as well as Mythology Distillery offers new opportunities to sample a one-of-a-kind whiskey or an insanely sipable aquavit. Here’s the rundown on two of Denver’s newest watering holes.

Mythology Distillery Situated on the ground floor of the Barrel Lofts at Tejon Street and West 36th Avenue, Mythology Distillery feels a bit like your cool aunt’s house — the single aunt who travels around the world and knows how to make a perfect daiquiri because she may or may not have had a brief affair with Ernest Hemingway.

From the Indian door carved with elephants that now serves as a communal table to the tiles on the bar, the décor is distinctly global — with good reason. The owners, a group of friends who decided to open a distillery while on a heli-skiing trip to Alaska, are wanderers.

Photo: Noah Berg

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Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse Though Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse opened in August, it feels like it’s been a part of the RiNo art district for years. In a way, it has. Founders Robbie Adams and Kallyn Peterson took over the former Ironton Studio and Gallery, transforming the interior while retaining the artistic spirit. The expansive patio area contains multiple seating areas and plenty of eye candy, including a winebottle spout fountain, swinging lift chairs and beautifully verdant landscaping. Inside, you can warm up next to the fireplace or belly up to the copper bar.

Head Distiller Laura Moore (formerly of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey) has created a solid selection of spirits including vodka, a traditional gin (made with botanicals from Ironton’s own garden), Genièvre gin (a Dutch-style gin made from malted barley), a rye aquavit (an herbal Scandanavian spirit) and amaro, cacao, coffee, ginger, mint and orange liqueurs.

Ironton’s garden is for more than looks.

In addition to providing ingredients for the gin, the garden also provides herbs and vegetables for the cocktails. For example, the Garden Variety is made with Ironton’s Aquavit, fresh veggies and basil oil, and is garnished with a dried vegetable rim. Another favorite is the Thai Gin Fizz, made with Ironton’s Colorado Native Gin, lemon, nitro coconut cream, soda water and a lemongrass and lime leaf garnish — add in an umbrella and you could be soaking up the sun in Phuket.

Ironton will add spirits as they’re ready, including a whiskey and an old-world style rum from a recipe that “has been lost over the years,” Adams said.

In addition to cocktails and tasting flights of their spirits and liqueurs, Ironton also serves wine and beer, including Ironmoon, a blueberry Berliner Weisse from neighboring Blue Moon Brewery.

IF YOU GO Ironton is open every day 3636 Chestnut Pl., Denver 720-532-0937 irontondistillery.com Katie Coakley is a Denver-based freelance writer who focuses on craft beer and spirits, travel and outdoor adventures — the best stories combine all three. You can see her work at katiecoakley.com.

Photos: Courtesy of Shannon Hudson and Moxom Artistries

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THE POLAR EXPRESS NOVEMBER 16 - JANUARY 3 Durango

Feel the spirit of the season as you relive the award-winning book and beloved movie about a magical Christmas Eve journey aboard the Polar Express train. All ages are welcome to partake in the special trip to the North Pole. durangotrain.com

TURKEY TROT NOVEMBER 22 Denver

Last year, more than 10,300 participants made the 44th Annual Mile High United Way Turkey Trot part of their Thanksgiving tradition. Walk or run the four-mile course in Denver’s Washington Park and support Mile High United Way. unitedwaydenver.org/turkey-trot

Photo: Denver’s 9 News

PARADE OF LIGHTS NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 1 DENVER

A two-mile parade route in Downtown Denver is the stage for Colorado’s brightest holiday tradition, the 44th annual Parade of Lights. The

NOVEMBER

DENVER INTERNATIONAL WINE FESTIVAL NOVEMBER 1-3 Westminster

Denver International Wine Festival includes enough events to fill three days, including a food and wine pairing competition between Colorado chefs, a libations tasting, wine seminars, and a tour of local wineries. denverwinefest.com

MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS NOVEMBER 9 Pueblo

The off-Broadway hit based on John Gray’s bestselling book is coming to the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center. This 90-minute comedy show will have couples elbowing each other all evening as humorous and relatable topics cover everything from dating to marriage and even the bedroom. marsvenuslive.com

NITRO FEST NOVEMBER 10 Longmont

America’s only exclusively nitrogenated beer festival will feature more than 30 breweries from across the U.S. pouring rare and exclusive nitro-style beers. The dark and swanky event

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free holiday spectacular features marching bands, ornate floats, Major Waddles the Penguin and, of course, the one and only Santa Claus.

downtowndenver.com

includes fire spinners and aerialists, and performances by Marchfourth Marching Band and Big Something, a funky alt-rock band.

Proceeds from the festival benefit the Left Hand Brewing Foundation. lhbfoundation.org/nitro-fest

ALL COLORADO BEER FESTIVAL NOVEMBER 10 Colorado Springs

The 12th Annual All Colorado Beer Festival is moving to the Chapel Hills Mall, where an expected crowd of 3,200 can enjoy world-class beers from all over the state, and raise money for local charities. To date, the festival has donated $464,900, becoming one of the largest nonprofit organizations in Colorado Springs. allcoloradobeerfestival.com

CHRISTKINDL MARKET NOVEMBER 16 - DECEMBER 23 Denver

The annual Christkindl Market brings authentic German and European holiday traditions to downtown Denver. Find delicious cuisine, festive German drinks, handmade jewelry, toys, clothing, gifts and much more. Live entertainment is featured inside the festival tent every evening, and dancing is highly encouraged. christkindlmarketdenver.com

BLOSSOMS OF LIGHT AT THE DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS NOVEMBER 23 - JANUARY 1 Denver

An annual holiday shindig that transforms the Garden’s York Street location into a sparkling winter wonderland. Expect new features alongside fan favorites and a brighter and more expansive setup than ever before. botanicgardens.org/events

CANDLELIGHT DINNER PLAYHOUSE NOVEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 31 JOHNSTOWN

Indulge in dinner at Candlelight Dinner Playhouse while enjoying a professional theatrical experience.

MICRO BREW FEST NOVEMBER 23 Denver

Enjoy live music, food trucks, beer pong, yard games, swag, gift shopping, VIP entry and more at the Fox Street Compound, 725 W. 39th Ave. Enjoy unlimited pours of delicious craft beer. denver.org/event

BOULDER BALLET’S THE NUTCRACKER NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 2 Boulder

Enjoy a holiday favorite at one of Colorado’s major productions of The Nutcracker. Over 80 dancers including professionals and young student dancers, a full live orchestra, spectacular scenery and special effects make this performance not-to-miss. boulderballet.org/performances

WASSAIL DAYS NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 9 Frisco

Drink wassail and fill up the “12 Sips of Wassail Card” in exchange for a commemorative Frisco Wassail Days mug. Aside from this winter beverage, Frisco’s events throughout the week encourage some good clean holiday fun with a dose of magic and wackiness. townoffrisco.com

This northern Colorado theater brings two excellent musicals this winter: Mary Poppins and Scrooge!

The Musical.

coloradocandlelight.com

Photo: Neill Pieper

BIG BEERS, BELGIANS & BARLEYWINES JANUARY 10-12 BRECKENRIDGE

The perfect combination for a winter getaway: A world-class beer festival and the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Meet renowned brewmasters and

DECEMBER

JINGLE BELL RUN DECEMBER 2 & 9 Loveland, Denver

Be part of this holiday-themed 5K race series to help fight arthritis in Loveland or Denver. The Arthritis Foundation’s original Jingle Bell Run is a fun way to get decked out and be festive while racing to raise funds and awareness to cure America’s leading cause of disability. ’Tis the season to live it up and be jolly for a reason. arthritis.org

WINE, CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE FESTIVAL DECEMBER 9 Ouray

Consume all the wine, chocolate and cheese you can at the 10th annual Wine, Chocolate and Cheese Festival. Cram your stomachs full with a visit to the many different vendors and indulge in a day of guilty pleasures. coloradowinefest.org

VAIL SNOW DAYS DECEMBER 13-16 Vail

This four-day festival brings live concerts at Ford Park, in-town and on-mountain early-season specials, après and after dark parties, lively expo village and more. vail.com Photo: Candlelight Dinner Playhouse

- Compiled by Natasha Lovato

brewery owners, taste hundreds of big, Belgian style and experimental beers, explore beer and food pairings. Plus, take the opportunity to learn from an array of industry experts over an actionpacked three-day weekend.

bigbeersfestival.com WINTER DEW TOUR DECEMBER 13-16 Breckenridge

Breckenridge hosts the Dew Tour, showcasing ski and snowboard athletes on the slopes. This event brings in competitors from all over the world and features big air and halfpipe action. dewtour.com/snow

WINTER SOLSTICE DECEMBER 21 Lakewood

Celebrate the first day of winter with a guided night hike at Bear Creek Lake Park. Then, gather around the campfire for a marshmallow roast and celebration of the winter solstice, including the traditional burning of the yule log.

Remember to bring your own mug to enjoy a hot beverage. lakewood.org

THE STRING CHEESE INCIDENT DECEMBER 28-31 Broomfield

Ring in the new year with music! The 1st Bank Center hosts jam band The String Cheese Incident. The Colorado band is celebrating 25 years of performing with a three-day run to bring 2019 in with a resounding chord.

1stbankcenter.com/events

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THE SEASON OF APRÈS Be ready to carve up the mountain this winter T

By Kim Fuller

he season for winter sports is upon us. You may be feeling that initial concern of whether you’re in shape for shredding powder, but there is something else to consider: Are you ready to après?

Denelle Numis is a yoga teacher and founder of Après Yoga Events. She began running the events in Denver to pair yoga with a social gathering, and what better place

High Lunge with Shoulder Extension Numis says high lunge is one of her all-time favorite poses, as it helps you feel empowered and ready for a day on the slopes. Take one leg forward and the opposite leg behind you. Bend the front knee to a 90-degree angle, rise into a high lunge and release your arms behind you. Interlace your grip and extend your arms out to broaden your chest. This posture builds strength in your legs and opens the front of your body.

to do this than a brewery? Not to mention, Numis skis and says she “loves to après.”

“We welcome students of all kinds into your favorite local watering hole for an alllevels yoga practice,” Numis shares. “Après Yoga, or after class, students come together in community to enjoy some of the best handcrafted brews, wines and cocktails around.”

Breweries like Alpine Dog, Ratio

Sumo Squat You will either love to hate or hate to love this one. Take a wide stance with toes turned out, heels turned in. Lower your elbows to the top of your thighs or inside your knees. Grab hold of your calves, shins or ankles. Press your elbows into your knees and knees back into elbows for a deep adductor and inner-groin stretch. Squats are great for obvious reasons but this one takes it to a whole other level.

Beerworks and Crazy Mountain have worked with Numis to host the classes, and she is already filling up the winter calendar.

In honor of ski and snowboard season (and all the après sessions we are about to enjoy), Numis has shared four poses to get your body ready to hit the slopes.

Half Splits Now that we’ve built some strength in your legs, it’s time to stretch them out. Come onto your hands and knees, step one foot forward and keep your back knee down. Extend your front leg forward and flex your front foot. Press into your front heel as you find extension in both your spine and your hamstrings. Breathe and enjoy the release behind your legs.

Runners Lunge with Quad Stretch From half-splits, bend your front knee and walk your front foot wider to the edge of your space.

With the back knee down, bend your back knee and circle your opposite arm around to capture the foot. For a deeper quad stretch, squeeze your heel to your seat. For a deeper hip flexor release, kick your foot into your hand and pull your heel away from your seat. Pulse in between the two to feel the deep release in the front part of your leg.

Repeat as desired avant ski or après ski, then check out the upcoming Après Yoga classes at apresyogaevents.com.

Contributor Kim Fuller is a magazine editor and writer based in Vail.

Photos courtesy Denelle Numis

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A LAND OF CANDY

Exploring 5 of Colorado’s Sweet Artisans

By Mary Anderson

W

ith a history that’s even sweeter than the confections they create, Colorado’s candy companies have stood the test of time. Some have survived and prospered throughout two world wars and the Great Depression.

They proved even in the worst of times, as long as there is a candy maker, people find a way to treat themselves. Whether that be a juicy piece of hard candy or a rich assortment of chocolates, Colorado’s high altitude and dry climate truly make for a land of scrumptious candy.

Join us as we explore five Colorado ventures that seduced the sweet tooths of America.

HAMMOND’S CANDIES • Carl T. Hammond went to his first day of high school and decided he knew enough. One thing he didn’t know is that he would create a global brand of colorful suckers and candy canes.

The story of Hammond’s Candy is one of entrepreneurship and family. Carl never borrowed any money to operate his business.

He also never took a salary. Every dollar made was either invested back into the business, or put toward food and supplies for his family. His hard work was an inspiration.

Three generations of Hammond’s owned and operated the candy company.

Hammond’s entered the 21st century with new ownership, and a new leader at the

SEE PAGE 34 FOR MORE HISTORY Hammond’s Candies Denver | hammondscandies.com Enstrom Candies Grand Junction | enstrom.com Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Durango | rmcf.com Jolly Rancher Golden, Wheat Ridge | hersheys.com/jolly-rancher Russell Stover Denver | russellstover.com

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helm. Andrew Schuman was hired to lead the company and it was a perfect fit. Maintaining Carl Hammond’s entrepreneurial image but adapting to the changing times, Schuman transformed the business and sales sky rocketed.

ENSTROM CANDIES • For Chester K. “Chet” Enstrom, it wasn’t about making money.

Candy was his passion.

“He always said that he’s just making a little candy for a few of his friends and family,” recalled Doug Simons, Jr., vice president of manufacturing, a fourth generation candy maker.

Chet began his journey to toffee stardom in the ice cream business. His favorite part was making the ingredients to mix into the frozen treats, especially toffee. So when the time came for him to open his own shop, he looked to a candy store.

From its humble beginnings to the company it is today, one thing has remained the same: Enstrom was and is a family affair.

Currently in its fourth generation, the family puts tradition at the forefront of their brand.

It is as much of a tradition for them to make toffee as it is for their customers to enjoy it.

MORE COLORADO CANDY COMPANIES

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHOCOLATE FACTORY (RMCF) • RMCF is more than just a chocolate store.

It’s an experience that includes a massive granite slab, traditional cooking utensils and a copper kettle. Customers get a full view of the candy making show.

From fudge to caramel apples, it’s in nearly every Colorado native’s bank of childhood memories.

But for founder Frank Crail, it was Durango’s small town vibe that brought him to Colorado, not his passion for candy making.

Crail simply wanted a quiet environment to raise his family of seven and he decided starting a business would be a good way to get involved in the community. After surveying local residents and merchants, the majority expressed the need for a car wash. But one person suggested a candy store and the rest is history.

JOLLY RANCHER • Those who lived in Wheat Ridge during Jolly Rancher’s time here in Colorado probably remember one thing: the smell. A sweet aroma, coming from founders Bill and Dorothy Harmsen’s family farm in Wheat Ridge, filled the local air. The farm became a tourist attraction, drawing two million visitors a year.

But Jolly Rancher’s true origins trace back to Golden in the late 1940s. Bill was a pilot for Continental Airlines, yet he dreamed of

owning his own business. So, they opened an ice cream shop at the base of the iconic “Welcome to Golden” arch. During the winter months, when ice cream sales declined, they made chocolates and then assorted flavors of hard candy. The candy outsold the ice cream and Harmsen had found his niche.

He soon hired engineers to design a piece of machinery that churned out large amounts of high-quality candies.

RUSSELL STOVER CANDIES • Russell Stover, with years of candy making experience, had his first success story with Eskimo Pies, the world’s first ice cream bar covered in chocolate. Partnering with inventor, Christian Nelson, the novelty was an instant success. But, after the patent fell through and competition became too strong, Stover and his wife moved to Colorado and founded “Mrs. Stover’s Bungalow Candies,” the precursor to Russell Stover Candies.

Denver’s Congress Park neighborhood, sitting at exactly 5,280 feet of elevation, was the original home to one of the greatest chocolate candy companies in the nation.

Partially made famous by Forest Gump’s “life is like a box of chocolates,” Russell Stover Candies had its humble beginnings in the basement of a bungalow house on Detroit Street. The house, in fact, became such a part of the company’s origins, they delivered their chocolates in a replica on wheels.

Mary Anderson is a freelance graphic designer and writer based in Denver. When she is not designing logos or writing stories, you’ll most likely find her in the mountains exploring the state.

Colorado Candy Co. Fort Collins | Brittle, hard candy and ribbon candy coloradocandycompany.com Animas Chocolates Durango | Chocolate bars and confections animaschocolatecompany.com Telluride Truffles Telluride | Chocolates and truffles telluridetruffles.com Piece, Love and Chocolate Boulder | Truffles and cakes pieceloveandchocolate.com Georgetown Valley Candy Co. Georgetown Valley | Homemade candies and popcorn shopgvcc.com Roberta’s Chocolates Denver | Chocolates, candies and popcorn robertaschocolates.com Taffy’s Pueblo Pueblo | Candy, popcorn and ice cream facebook.com/TaffysInc

THE STARTING PLACE

Thanks to those who shared information for this slice of sweet Colorado history.

Hammond’s Candies: “Hammond’s Candies: History Handmade in Denver,” by Mary “Corky” Treacy Thompson.

Enstrom Candies: Enstrom family’s fourth generation: Doug Simons, Jr., vice president of manufacturing, and Jim Simons, vice president of sales.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory: Fortune Magazine and rmcf.com.

Jolly Rancher: The Golden History Museum, The New York Times.

Russell Stover: russellstover.com, John Walsh Gibbons.

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DID YOU KNOW?

2002 Jolly Rancher production moves to Pennsylvania

The Stover’s original bungalow home at 960 Detroit Street is owned by Denver native John Walsh Gibbons. When the Stovers moved, Gibbon’s grandma convinced her husband to buy it. The house has been passed down for three generations. Gibbons preserves the history, welcoming visitors with photos from one of the original stores and, of course, chocolate candies.

2001 The Harmsens donate about 3,000 items, including 800 paintings, to the Denver Art Museum, more than doubling its Western art collection

1999 After going national, Hammond’s Candies is sold to the West Indies Candy Company. The factory doubles in size and opens to the public for tours

1990 Chet Enstrom’s grandson and wife open a retail store in Denver’s Cherry Creek North

1997 Hershey’s buys Jolly Rancher

1993 Jamee and Doug Simons purchase Enstroms

1986 Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory goes public

1983 Leaf Inc. buys Jolly Rancher

1982 Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory opens three stores and decides to franchise.

Crail buys out partners to become sole owner

1911 Russell Stover begins his career with chocolatecovered ice cream

Firesticks were Jolly Rancher’s first candy success story. They were packaged with clever art by Bob Cormack, a Denver native and Disney artist. Each box contained a small card with a quote.

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1913 Carl T. Hammond drops out of high school, taking up an apprenticeship in a candy factory

1981 Frank Crail and his family move to Durango.

Crail opens Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory with two friends

1979 Chet Enstrom’s granddaughter, Jamee, and her husband, Doug Simons, Jr., join Enstrom Candies

1948 Hammond’s Candies moves to Bryant Street and West 29th Avenue in Denver 1946 Russell Stover receives the first Candy Kettle Award, the industry’s highest accolade

1919 Chet Enstrom gets his first job at the ice cream shop at Barthel’s Confectionary in Colorado Springs.

Also helping at the candy factory next door, he begins to perfect his craft 1920 Hammond’s Candy Company opens on Platte River Street in Denver

1923 Clara and Russell Stover begin making candy in the kitchen of their Denver bungalow, using the name Mrs. Stover’s Bungalow Candies

During World War II, locals were saving their sugar rations to give to Chet Enstrom so he could make candy for the Lion’s Club. Benge’s Shoes, a local downtown store, also kept their shoe boxes to give to him. He would cut them down and make chocolate boxes to raffle during the Lion’s Carnival.

Today

2007 A group of candy lovers and current President/CEO Andrew Schuman purchase Hammond’s Candies

Hershey’s owns Jolly Rancher and produces the hard candy in Mexico.

Since 2014, Russell Stover Candies is owned by Lindt & Sprungli. After recently winning Product of the Year for their Pecan Delights, the company continues to flourish.

2004 Hammond Candies moves to its current location on Washington Street and West 58th Avenue

1966 Jolly Rancher is sold to Beatrice Foods and production grows to nearly 125,000 pounds of candy per day

1977 Bill Harmsen retires. His son takes over Jolly Rancher

1966 Carl Hammond Sr. dies, passing the business to his son

1965 Chet Enstrom serves in the Colorado State Senate, selling the business to his son and daughterin-law, Emil and Mary 1949 Bill Harmsen opens an ice cream shop in Golden - soon to produce early versions of Jolly Rancher candy

1960 Chet Enstrom turns his hobby into a business, founding Enstrom Candies

1943 Mrs. Stover’s Bungalow Candies is renamed Russell Stover Candies

1932 All company operations for Russell Stover move to Kansas City

1928 The Stovers open their first factory in Kansas City, Mo.

1924 The Stovers have five stores in Denver and expand into Kansas City, St. Louis and Lincoln and Omaha, Neb.

1929 Chet Enstrom and his wife Vernie move to Grand Junction to launch the Jones-Enstrom Ice Cream Company.

An ingredient salesman introduces a toffee inclusion.

Chet gains interest, making it his hobby

Hammond’s Candies employs 300 people, distributes locally, nationally and even globally. The famous candy canes can be found in England, Spain, Italy and more.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory still runs a shop on Main Street in Durango. The 53,000-square-foot factory resides just outside town.

The stores are considered a good franchise opportunity.

Enstrom Candies hopes to send out almost a million pounds of toffee in their mail order business this year, in addition to growing their wholesale business. They plan on expanding to build another factory in the next five years, and will soon offer customers the ability to print custom lids for their toffee boxes. Family members oversee the operations in Grand Junction and Denver.

The large portions of chocolate RMCF is known for, were actually a mistake. In the early days, founder Frank Crail and his partners didn’t know how to make chocolate.

Their proportions were off and the centers were too big. They kept dipping to get the right ratio.

Hammond’s could have been the distributor for Jelly Bellies. The co-founder of the jelly bean company asked if Tom Hammond wanted to buy the distributorship.

He declined, thinking of a similar situation in which his father declined such an offer. Tom later referred to the opportunity as a “fortune missed,” but he had no regrets. The family liked its small operation.

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ThirstColorado.com 35

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Prime Pairings Monk Bacon and Habanero Fig Jam Thirsty Monk operates a 12-barrel brewery in Denver’s Uptown, along “Restaurant Row,” which serves as a production brewery for their locations from coast to coast. Thirsty Monk’s head brewer Brian Grace is based in Denver and brews up their core, seasonal, specialty, and side-project beers here. You can join Grace and the Thirsty Monk crew at their intimate and comfortable taproom at 1604 E. 17th Ave., where you find them serving fresh-from-thetank pours of Belgian-rooted modern ales, along with expertly paired food flights. Try a few of their recipes at home.

Ingredients

Habanero Fig Jam

1 ½ cups molasses

5 lbs dried black mission figs (stems removed)

½ cup lime juice

4 habanero peppers (seeded and chopped)

1 ½ tbsp salt

Monk Bacon

1 ½ cups yellow onion (chopped)

2 ½ lbs center cut applewood smoked bacon

48 oz stout beer (Thirsty Monk Brother Noah Belgian stout)

1 ½ cups sugar 1 ½ tbsp kosher salt

1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar

Directions

Habanero Fig Jam Sweat the onions and habaneros in a medium sauce pan. Add in the figs and caramelize. Deglaze (dilute and lift pan mixture) with apple cider vinegar. Then add in the molasses and beer. Bring to a boil and simmer until liquid is reduced by roughly a third and the mixture has slightly thickened. Place in a food processor and blend the mix slightly, retaining some of the texture from the figs. Season as needed with lime juice and salt.

Monk Bacon Mix the salt and sugar together and place in a shallow pan. Press each slice of bacon into the mixture on both sides, being sure to coat evenly. Then place the bacon on sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Bake the coated bacon at 350 degrees until fully cooked. The bacon should have a deep brown color and all the fat should be rendered so the bacon can be fully crisp once cooled.

When the bacon is removed from the oven, immediately place each slice on a glazing rack so that the bacon can cool without sticking to the paper and any remaining fat can drip off. Let the bacon cool completely and then store at room temperature in a sealed container.

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November-December 2018

Pair with Thirsty Monk Trail Monk IPA Balanced, flavorful, with a beautiful hazy, burnt orange hue, this Belgian IPA is brewed with the addition of maple syrup, red wheat and roasted chestnuts, and dry hopped with cascade, centennial and East Kent golding hops. Trail Monk honors a favorite season ... the season of falling leaves, cool mist mornings, and fall-day hikes. Part of the Karma Series, this beer benefits organizations committed to protecting trails and national parks.

Baltimore native John Strauss is revamping Thirsty Monk’s food and beer pairings and will soon launch a menu of burger and beer pairings. Strauss attended the Western Culinary Institute, now the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, in Portland, Ore. He later interned under Chef Michael Mina in San Francisco. Strauss served as executive chef for seven years at Hobnob in Brevard, N.C., and also was the chef at the Yellowstone Club in Montana.

Tomatillo, Pineapple and Pork Tacos Even though everyone is in a hurry and can’t spend much time planning and cooking dinner, it’s still possible to create a healthy meal in less than an hour.

Ingredients 1 applewood smoked bacon marinated pork loin filet 2 tbsp of olive oil 1 fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into 1 inch thick slices 1 tsp of taco seasoning blend 12 white corn tortillas 1-2 radishes, chopped 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed and thinly sliced 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped 1 cup crumbled queso fresco

Pair with

2 cups tomatillo salsa (salsa verde)

4 Noses Pineapple Velvet

Directions

Hailing from Broomfield’s 4 Noses Brewing, this experimental IPA is the perfect tandem to your taco extravaganza. Fresh pineapple and vanilla beans are heavily featured in the brew, weighing in at 7 percent ABV. In addition, this hazy IPA is brewed with lactose sugar, creating a soft, fluffy mouthfeel, giving a milkshake-like experience for your taste buds.

Flavors of vanilla and pineapple complement the sweet and savory flavors of the pork tacos.

Cut pork loin filet into 1-inch cubes.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, slowly heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Sauté half of the pork cubes for 7-8 minutes until browned. Repeat with remaining oil and pork cubes.

Heat the grill to medium at about 400 degrees. Sprinkle pineapple slices with taco seasoning. Grill until char marks appear, turning once. Cut into 1-inch pieces.

Place tortillas on the grill until warm. Top tortillas with pork loin filet cubes, pineapple, radishes, jalapeño, cilantro and queso fresco.

Serve with tomatillo salsa.

Recipe and photo: Courtesy of Smithfield.com

Piquant BBQ Chicken Dip This zesty dip recipe is a perfect appetizer to whip up for your game-day shindig.

Ingredients

¼ cup cilantro

1 ½ cups shredded rotisserie chicken

2 tbsp olive oil

16 oz cream cheese 1 cup BBQ sauce of choice 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese ½ cup diced red onion 2 chopped jalapeño peppers ¼ cup mayo

½ tsp salt ½ tsp powdered garlic

Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add diced onions and chopped jalapeños. Sauté until onions are soft and starting to brown.

Meanwhile, microwave cream cheese for 30 seconds to soften.

Combine softened cream cheese, chicken, barbecue sauce, shredded cheese, mayo, garlic and salt in a medium mixing bowl and stir until well mixed.

Add the cilantro and the sautéed onions and jalapeños.

Add the mixture to a mediumsized baking dish and heat in preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove from heat, allow to cool and enjoy! Serve with your favorite tortilla or pita chips.

November-December 2018

ThirstColorado.com 39

A SMALL-TOWN PARADOX

Divide brewery makes classic beers with new technology

By R. Scott Rappold

D

ivide, with a population of just 127, is more of a stoplight than a town.

This rural outpost in the shadow of Pikes Peak west of Colorado Springs used to be known as the place your cell service kicked back in after a weekend of fun in the mountains.

But big things are happening in this mountain hamlet these days. And by that, we mean big beers, courtesy of Paradox Beer Co., once a regional niche brewery known

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November-December 2018

for experimental, exclusively barrel-aged sour and wild beers.

The niche hasn’t changed, but their reach has grown. You can find their beers in 18 states as well as their mountain taproom.

They produce beers that connoisseurs age in their basements for years to refine the strong and complex taste. And that’s not all. They will launch a line of canned beers this fall, bringing their unconventional approach to more conventional beers.

For brewers Brian Horton, Jeff Aragon and Jeff Airman, it’s the next logical step in a journey that began in 2012 in a tiny space in Woodland Park and led them to an 8,000-square-foot former ice factory in the middle of nowhere.

A paradox

The brewery’s name comes from their paradoxical approach to brewing.

2012 they launched Paradox and brought in Airman, a homebrewer. They soon outgrew their small space in Woodland Park, and when they learned of the building in Divide, nine miles to the west, they relocated in 2015.

“It was like, ‘Do we want to go be in a city and be a taproom that’s two blocks from another taproom, or do we want to create a destination and have a space where we can do our own thing and not be influenced by the brewery across the street?’” asks Airman. “I really think it’s been good for us as brewers and the company to be doing things our way and blazing our own path.”

New altitude, old ways

The Divide Brewery offers unique beer and tasty fare to complement any beer lover’s cravings.

Photos: Neill Pieper

“The concept from the start was old-style beers made with new technology, and kind of mashing those things together,” says Airman.

“Let’s go back to what beer used to be, because before they understood microbes and yeast, all beers were sour. The concept was, ‘How can we kind of revisit that idea with modern technology and modern thinking on beer and make something that is brand new and American, and not try to do what the Belgians have been doing for 300 years?’”

Aragon and Horton previously brewed for Woodland Park’s Bierwerks and before that the now-defunct Trinidad Brewing Co. In

Brewing at 9,165 feet above sea level is not without its challenges. The temperature at which water boils is different. There’s less oxygen in the air, which factors into aging.

But Airman says that just helps them make unique beers, which has always been priority number one at Paradox. From the outset, they didn’t make “batches.” They made “projects,” mixtures of several batches created to age in a certain kind of barrel, such as wine or scotch.

And everything went in the barrels for months or even a year, the way beer used to be made before the era of sterile stainless steel. The result was often unique and always strong, 7 percent ABV or above. They only made 1,200 bottles of each new beer, numbering each individually sold bottle.

Says Airman, “We stopped numbering the bottles because we were making so much.”

Indeed, the Divide location holds massive European barrels known as foeders for aging, a nod to the Old World style of brewing. Another old method of brewing they’ve incorporated is the coolship, an open-air vessel mostly used in Europe to allow local microbes to become a part of the fermentation process.

Airman believes theirs is the highest coolship in the world, though in a state like Colorado with 300-plus breweries, he can’t be sure. But he is certain that every beer is unique. Though they’ve made the Salted Watermelon Sour many times, each version is slightly different, due to differences in the salt, watermelons, barrels and unseen environmental factors. Hence their slogan: “Wayward beers, barrel bound.”

And, it turns out, there’s another benefit to being in the mountains: tourism. Being located on the main route between Colorado Springs and the central Rockies, they do a big chunk of their taproom business in summer, when hordes of travelers stop to enjoy a beer on a patio with great views of Pikes Peak or have a lunch of panini or flatbread pizza.

An uncanny resemblance

When Paradox begins canning, the beer will be the first not aged in barrels.

Airman says they will still “do things that are in the Paradox motif and ethos.” Expect sours, IPAs and other “funky” selections sold in four-packs of 16-ounce cans. They won’t necessarily be as strong as their typical concoctions.

“What the new line is really supposed to do is still ring true to those people who like our interesting, salty, multi-microbial beers but also want something they can maybe grab a four-pack of and go fishing with, something they can grab fresh ... more of a crushable beer than something you sit down and savor slowly in a bottle,” says Airman.

And don’t even think canning means Paradox is switching over to a lineup of steady, staple beers. Where would be the fun in that?

“Part of the plan early on, because this was the third project for Jeff and Brian, was to build fun into it, to build constantly changing beers, constantly challenging experimental concepts and things like that so we’re all engaged instead of going on autopilot, and that plan has worked,” Airman says.

“There’s no one on autopilot here and if they think they can do that usually they’re marched straight out of here.”

Visit Paradoxbeercompany.com or call 719-686-8081 to find out what’s on tap.

Tasting room hours vary seasonally so check before heading out.

R. Scott Rappold is the former outdoor recreation reporter for The Colorado Springs Gazette and a full-time ski and mountain bum who writes when he needs money for skiing or beer.

November-December 2018

ThirstColorado.com 41

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November-December 2018

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ThirstColorado.com 45

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November-December 2018

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November-December 2018

ThirstColorado.com 47

TRUE TALES FROM THE LYING LOG

48 ThirstColorado.com

Photo: © Phil / Adobe Stock

By Bufford T. Clapsaddle

November-December 2018

T

he morning sun had just initiated its daily routine of illuminating our fishing lake campsite high in the Flattops Wilderness.

Quiet of the day was pierced by one of the most distinctive sounds in nature.

Tent-mate Ted already had his Wranglers cinched, creeping toward the trumpeting.

Clapsaddle was not far behind.

Less than a quarter mile from camp, the terrain fell into a deep gorge with extreme steps on both sides. We crawled up to the ledge.

Bull Elk Poncho was on the right side of the valley, and Bull Elk Honcho was half way up the mountain on the left. In the middle were dozens of cow elk and calves.

We had a front row seat for this annual mating ritual of elk known as the rut. Honcho would bugle on the left and attempt to pull the female elk into his herd. Poncho reacted with louder vocalizations meant to establish dominance. Back and forth the herd responded, eventually trailing Honcho to a higher meadow. Poncho disappeared to the east into the rising sun, ready to try again another day.

This mating extravaganza registered but one of dozens of fascinating encounters with this majestic herding animal during more than five decades of horse packing and camping in wilderness locations. Several packing partners, usually hiking in groups of four or less, have witnessed bugling duals, normally from a high plateau or secluded inside a tree-encircled meadow. (The evening campfire topic for sure).

Several trips during the summer or fall, we have guests who can “smell the elk” and go scouting with their nose. Some are hunters and most are not. Importantly, there is plenty of camp conviviality provided for always present skeptics. “Smellers” have science on their side. A male elk’s urine flows at a right angle to the penis and soaks into his belly hair. As well, bull elks dig holes in the ground called wallows in which they pee, then roll their bodies, producing an acrid odor utilized to attract cows.

For sure, “smellers” and cooperative wind direction have allowed us to sneak up close, and view herds of elk of varying sizes.

Riding west to east across Half Moon Pass in the Lagarita Wilderness Area in the late afternoon one summer, the voluminous piles of poop indicated a prodigious herd of elk grazing ahead. When our 10-horse group reached the

Creekside Trail we were awestruck. Dozens of cows and calves and several bulls were bedded down in the willows along the creek and further back in the Colorado spruce on both sides. Clapsaddle turned in the saddle, gave the quiet sign. The trail took us directly through the middle of the herd. No horse left the line.

A handful of cows got to their feet to shelter curious calves as at times we were within 20 feet of the wild animals for a quarter mile. No photos were taken, but pictures will remain in minds for many decades. Back at camp, one of our chatty companions mused about how long the elk would remember this sublime hookup.

(Perhaps evermore, because we did not see a Wapiti with a camera).

It was 11 at night and Roy left the campfire in the Rawah Wilderness to check on the horses. They were tethered in a “U” shape so the equine could all turn and face one another.

Flashlight in hand, he targeted the security of the lead rope knots. His direction suddenly altered when a movement occurred in the middle of the “U.” Two bright eyes of Elmer the Elk twinkled back at him. (Newspaper staff on horseback retreat quickly named him Elmer, and Clapsaddle was in accord because that was the name of one of his favorite uncles.) In small groups, flashlights in hand, staffers worked their way up the mountain to learn whether or not Roy had consumed too much Jim Beam.

Elmer stayed put. He had become friends with the horses … or vice versa. By breakfast the next morning, Elmer had disappeared, but that night after dark, he had returned. We checked on him again at bedtime and he was in the same location. The next morning, he was spotted a quarter mile up the mountain watching every move made by the horses and people.

Mid morning a forest ranger came into camp and we questioned her about any reports of pet elk in the area. She spoke by radio with a seasoned ranger in Fort Collins, who confirmed our suspicions: Elmer likely was 14-18 years old and pushed out of a herd by younger bulls. He needed companionship provided by the horses.

We had never considered senior citizen life for wild animals. Elmer certainly changed that.

Bufford T. Clapsaddle (aka Wilbur Flachman) is a retired newspaper and magazine publisher who has guided hundreds of horse pack trips into the Rocky Mountains for family, friends and business associates during the past 45 years. Majority of his tales are revealed only at timberline.

WAPITI

Elk are native to North America and Eastern Asia and were present in the United States when settled.

Certain elk species have been introduced in Argentina and New Zealand and have adapted well.

We had just tied up at Elk around the Surprise Lake after packing world are often friends in for a week of bow referred to as “Wapiti,” hunting, and one of the the Shawnee tribe archers asked: “You sure word meaning “white this is good elk country?” rump.”

Another glanced to the sky Among the largest to spot “Gus,” a handsome wild animals in the bull elk welcoming U.S., Rocky Mountain committee less than a bulls will weigh from quarter mile up the rise.

730 to 1,150 pounds “Gus” periodically checked and cows 650 to 750 us out for a couple hours pounds. while we helped the Elk in Colorado hunters set up camp. and the Rocky Mountain west are the most prized wild game animals to be hunted by participants from throughout America. Elk meat is higher in protein and lower in fat and cholesterol than beef, pork and chicken.

Male elk grow a new set of antlers every year, reaching three-and-a-half to four feet long and weighing about 40 pounds. Each of two antlers have eight or more tines and each of those “points” are testosterone driven, rather than factored by age. In springtime, antlers grow at an amazing rate of about one inch per day.

While actively developing, antlers are protected by a soft layer of vascularized skin known as “velvet,” which is shed in the summer when the antlers are fully developed. Following breeding season, testosterone levels drop leading to the shedding of antlers.

Velvet is collected annually from animals raised in captivity on farms in the continental U.S, Canada and Alaska and sold to markets in East Asia, where it is used in medicine.

Elk hides, both wild and domestic are utilized for blankets, footwear, gloves (a Clapsaddle favorite!) and belts. Native Americans have used the hides for years as tepee coverings.

Note: Clapsaddle has never hunted elk or big game and certainly appreciates their sharing the backcountry with him and friends and family.

November-December 2018

ThirstColorado.com 49

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November-December 2018

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Live Colorado • Work Colorado • Play Colorado November-December 2018

ThirstColorado.com 51

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Phantom Canyon ● ● phantomcanyon.com 719.635.2800 2 E Pikes Peak Ave Colorado Springs

Red Leg Brewing Rock Bottom Colorado Springs ● Rocky Mountain Brewery Smiling Toad Brewery Storybook Brewing Trinity Brewing ● Ute Pass Brewing Co ● Whistle Pig Brewing Co

DENVER BAKER/SOUTH BROADWAY Alternation Brewing Baere Brewing Co Banded Oak Brewing Co Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales Declaration Brewing Co ● ● Dos Luces Grandma’s House Lowdown Brewery + Kitchen ● Novel Strand Brewing Co Platt Park Brewing Co ● TRVE Brewing Co CAPITOL HILL/E COLFAX/ PARK HILL Alpine Dog Brewery Cerebral Brewing ● ● CO-Brew Fiction Beer Co ● Long Table Brewhouse Pints Pub ● Station 26 Brewing Co ●

Thirsty Monk ● ● monkpub.com 828.254.5450 1604 E 17th Ave Denver

Vine Street Pub & Brewery ●

DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Tom’s Urban Diner and Tivoli Brewing ● FIVE POINTS Liberati Osteria and Oenobeers ● Spangalang Brewery Woods Boss Brewing LODO Denver Chophouse ● Great Divide Brewing Co ● ● Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery ● Rock Bottom Denver ● Sandlot Brewery

Fermaentra ● Jade Mountain Brewing ●

Wynkoop Brewing Co ● wynkoop.com 303.297.2700

SOUTHWEST DENVER Black Sky Brewery ● ● Chain Reaction Brewing Co ● Crazy Mountain Brewing Co ● ● The Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project ● Renegade Brewing Co

1634 18th St Denver

MILE HI/AURARIA Briar Common Brewery + Eatery ● Burns Family Artisan Ales Cervecería Colorado ● ● Denver Beer Co ● ● Little Machine Beer ● Seedstock Brewery ● ● Strange Craft Beer Co ● ● Tivoli Brewing ● Wit’s End Brewing Co Zuni St. Brewing Co ●

WHEAT RIDGE/EDGEWATER/ LAKEWOOD Brewery Rickoli ● Colorado Plus Brew Pub ● ● Great Frontier Brewing Co Green Mountain Beer Co Ironworks Brewery & Pub ● Joyride Brewing Co ● Landlocked Ales Westfax Brewing Co

NORTHEAST DENVER Blue Tile Brewing Brewability Lab J. Moe’s Brew Pub ●

DURANGO AREA Animas Brewing Co ● Bottom Shelf Brewery ● BREW Pub & Kitchen ● Carver Brewing Co ● Dolores River Brewery ● ● J. Fargo’s Family Dining & Micro Brewery ● Main Street Brewery & Restaurant ● Mancos Brewing Co ● Ska Brewing ● ● Steamworks Brewing Co ● WildEdge Brewing Collective

NORTHWEST DENVER Aero Craft Brewing Amalgam Brewing

Bruz Beers ● bruzbeers.com 303.650.2337 1675 W 67th Ave Denver

Call to Arms Brewing Co ● De Steeg Brewing Diebolt Brewing Co ● ● The Empourium Brewing Co Factotum Brewhouse Goldspot Brewing Co ● ● Grateful Gnome Sandwich Shoppe + Brewery ● Hogshead Brewery ● Lady Justice Brewing Oasis Brewing Co Prost Brewing Co ●

EAGLE COUNTY 7 Hermits Brewing Co ● Bonfire Brewing ● Gore Range Brewery ● Vail Brewing Co ● ●

RINO 10 Barrel Brewing Co ● ● 14er Brewing Beryl’s Beer Co Bierstadt Lagerhaus ● Black Shirt Brewing Co ● ● Blue Moon Brewing Co ● ● Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project Epic Brewing Co ● Great Divide Brewing Co ● ● Mockery Brewing ● New Belgium - The Woods at the Source Odell Brewing Co Our Mutual Friend Ratio Beerworks ● ● River North Brewery SOUTHEAST DENVER Bull and Bush Brewery ● ●

Comrade Brewing ● comradebrewing.com 720.748.0700 7677 E Iliff Ave Denver

Copper Kettle Brewing Co ●

®

ENGLEWOOD AREA The Brew on Broadway ● ● C.B. & Potts Denver Tech ● Dead Hippie Brewing Peak View Brewing Co ESTES PARK Estes Park Brewery ● Lumpy Ridge Brewing Co Rock Cut Brewing Co FAIRPLAY South Park Brewing Co ● FORT COLLINS AREA Anheuser-Busch BJ’s ● Black Bottle Brewery ● Coopersmith’s Pub & Brewing ● DC Oakes Brewhouse & Eatery ● Envy Brewing Equinox Brewing ● Freedonia Brewing Funkwerks Gilded Goat Brewing Co Horse & Dragon Brewing Co Intersect Brewing Jessup Farm Barrel House ● Mash Lab Brewing Maxline Brewing McClellan’s Brewing Co ● ●

TILLERY & CIDERY LINEUP New Belgium Brewing Co ● ● Odell Brewing Co ● ● Old Colorado Brewing Co Pitchers Brewery ● Prost Brewing Purpose Brewing Rally King Brewing Ramskeller Brewery ● Red Truck Beer Snowbank Brewing Soul Squared Brewing Co Timnath Beerwerks Zwei Brewing Co ● ●

FRUITA Copper Club Brewing Co ● Suds Brothers Brewery ● ● GLENWOOD SPRINGS/ CARBONDALE/ASPEN Aspen Brewing Co ● Capitol Creek Brewery ● Carbondale Beer Works ● Casey Brewing and Blending Glenwood Canyon Brew Pub ● Roaring Fork Beer Co ● GOLDEN Barrels and Bottles Brewery ● Cannonball Creek Brewing Co ● Coda Brewing Coors Brewing Co Golden City Brewery ●

Holidaily Brewing Co Holidailybrewing.com 303.278.BEER 801 Brickyard Cir., Golden

Mountain Toad Brewing ● New Terrain Brewing

GRAND JUNCTION AREA 4 B’s Brewery ● ● Dented Face Brewing Co Edgewater Brewery ● Kannah Creek Brewing Co ● Palisade Brewing Co ● ● The Rockslide Restaurant and Brewery ● GREELEY AREA Brix Taphouse and Brewery ● ● Broken Plow Brewery ● Crabtree Brewing ● ● G5 Brew Pub ● Grand Lake’s 16th Street Tavern ● ● Green Earth Brewing High Hops Brewery ● ● Mighty River Brewing Co Rocky Mountain Taphouse ● WeldWerks Brewing Co Wiley Roots Brewing Co ● IDAHO SPRINGS/EVERGREEN/ CENTRAL CITY/GEORGETOWN Dostal Alley Saloon & Gambling Emporium ● El Rancho Brewing Co ● Evergreen Taphouse & Brewery ● Guanella Pass Brewing Co Lariat Lodge Brewing Co ● ● Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub ●

Westbound & Down Brewing Co ●

KREMMLING

Grand Adventure Brewing Co ● grandadventure.us 970.724.9219 207 Central Ave Kremmling

LAKE CITY Lake City Brewing LITTLETON AREA 38 State Brewing ● ● Blue Spruce Brewing Co Boggy Draw Brewery Breckenridge Brewery ● Coal Mine Ave. Brewing Co Jackass Hill Brewery ● Living the Dream Brewing Co Locavore Beer Works Saint Patricks Brewing Co LONGMONT 300 Suns Brewing ● Bootstrap Brewing Brewmented Collision Brewing Grossen Bart Brewery ● ● Highland Lake Brewing Co Left Hand Brewing Co ● Oskar Blues Brewing ● Outworld Brewing Primitive Beer Pumphouse Brewery ● Shoes and Brews Wibby Brewing ● ● LOVELAND/BERTHOUD Berthoud Brewing Co Big Beaver Brewing Co ● Big Thompson Brewery Buckhorn Brewers City Star Brewing ● Crow Hop Brewing Drätz Brewing Co Grimm Brothers Brewhouse Loveland Aleworks Rock Bottom ● Rock Coast Brewery Tilted Barrel Brewpub Verboten Brewing Co Veteran Brothers Brewing Co ● MONUMENT Pikes Peak Brewing Co ● ● NORTHEAST COLORADO Parts & Labor Brewing Co Tumbleweed Brewing Co NORTHGLENN/THORNTON Mother Tucker Brewery Periodic Brewing ● Satire Brewing Co PAGOSA SPRINGS/ DEL NORTE/ALAMOSA The Colorado Farm Brewery Pagosa Brewing Co ● Riff Raff Brewing ● ● San Luis Valley Brewing ●

Square Peg Brewerks Three Barrel Brewing Co ●

PAONIA Chrysalis Barrel Aged Beer Paonia United Brewing Co PARKER Barnett and Son Brewing Co ● ● Downhill Brewing Co ● Los Dos Potrillos Mexican Restaurant y Cerveceria ● Welcome Home Brewing PUEBLO AREA Brues Alehouse Brewing Co ● ● PDub Brewing Co Shamrock Brewing ● Walter’s Brewery & Taproom SALIDA/BUENA VISTA/ CRESTONE/LEADVILLE Crestone Brewing Co ● Eddyline Restaurant and Brewing Co ● Elevation Beer Co ● Moonlight Pizza and Brewpub ● Periodic Brewing Soulcraft Brewing GUNNISON/CRESTED BUTTE Elk Ave Brewing Co ● ● High Alpine Brewing Co ● Irwin Brewing Co SOUTHWEST COLORADO Avalanche Brewing Co ● Colorado Boy Pizzeria & Brewery● Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery ● Golden Block Brewery ● Horsefly Brewing Co ● ● Ouray Brewery ● Ourayle House Brewery Red Mountain Brewing ● Smuggler’s Brewpub ● Telluride Brewing Co Two Rascals Brewing Co STEAMBOAT SPRINGS Butcherknife Brewing Co Mahogany Ridge Brewery & Grill ● Mountain Tap Brewery ● Storm Peak Brewing Co Yampa Valley Brewing Co SUMMIT COUNTY Angry James Brewing Co The Baker’s Brewery ● Breckenridge Brewery & Pub ● Broken Compass Brewing Dillon Dam Brewery ● ● HighSide Brewing ● ● Outer Range Brewing Co ● Pug Ryan’s Brewery ● Syndicate Brewing Co TRINIDAD/WALSENBURG Crafty Canary Brewery Dodgeton Creek Brewing Co WINTER PARK AREA Hideaway Park Brewery Never Summer Brewing Co The Peak Bistro & Brewery ●

DISTRIBUTION ONLY AC Golden Brewing Co Acidulous Brewing Co Amalgam Brewing Atom Brewing Co Black Sheep Brewery Burgundian Brewing Centennial Beer Co Divebar Brewing Co Donovan Brewing Co Gemini Beer Co Good River Beer Idylwilde Brewing New Planet Beer Sleeping Giant Brewing Uhl’s Brewing Co

SPIRITS DENVER/BOULDER 12 Point Distillery - Lafayette Altitude Spirits, Inc. - Boulder Anders’ Vodka - Parker

Archetype Distillery archetypedistillery.com 303.999.0105 119 S Broadway Denver

Arta Tequila - Englewood Bear Creek Distillery - Denver The Block Distilling Co - Denver Broken Arrow Spirits - Centennial Colorado Sun ‘Shine - Englewood Denver Distillery - Denver Deviant Spirits - Boulder Deviation Distilling - Denver Devil’s Head Distillery - Englewood Downslope Distilling - Englewood Elwood Distilling - Boulder The Family Jones Spirit House Denver ● Geek Spirits - Boulder

Golden Moon Distillery goldenmoondistillery.com 303.993.7174 412 Violet St. Golden

Golden Moon Speakeasy goldenmoonspeak.com 720.638.1155 1111 Miner’s Alley Golden

Hogback Distillery - Wheat Ridge J & L Distilling Co - Boulder Ironton Distillery - Denver Laws Whiskey House - Denver Leopold Bros - Northeast Denver Local Distilling - Golden Mad Rabbit Distillery - Westminster Mile High Spirits - Lodo Mythology Distillery - Denver ● Rising Sun Distillery - Denver Rocker Spirits - Littleton Santa Fe Spirits - Littleton Ski Bum Rum Distillery - Golden

Spirit Hound Distillers spirithounds.com 303.823.5696 4196 Ute Hwy Lyons

Squeal Rum - Aurora State 38 Distilling - Golden Stranahan’s - South Denver Strongwater Spirits & Botanicals - Denver Talnua Distillery - Arvada Tighe Brothers Distillery - Denver Vapor Distillery - Boulder Weaver’s Spirits - Parker Whistling Hare - Westminster ●

NORTHERN COLORADO Anvil Distillery - Longmont Art of the Spirits Colorado Whiskey Idaho Springs Big Fat Pastor - Loveland Black Canyon Distillery - Longmont Bouck Brothers Whiskey - Idaho Springs Coyote Gold Margaritas - Fort Collins Coppermuse Distillery - Fort Collins Dancing Pines Distillery - Loveland Dry Land Distillers - Longmont Elevation 5003 Distillery - Fort Collins Elkins Distilling Co - Estes Park Feisty Spirits - Fort Collins The Heart Distillery - Windsor Longtucky Spirits - Longmont Mobb Mountain Distillers - Fort Collins NOCO Distillery - Fort Collins Old Elk Distillery - Fort Collins Old Town Distilling - Fort Collins Still Cellars - Longmont Spring 44 Distilling - Loveland

Steamboat Whiskey Co ● steamboatwhiskeyco.com 970.846.3534 55 11th St, Steamboat Springs

Syntax Spirits - Greeley Tower 56 Distillery - Greeley

SOUTHERN COLORADO 3 Hundred Days of Shine - Monument 1350 Distilling - Colo. Springs

Axe and the Oak axeandtheoak.com 719.660.1624 1604 S Cascade Ave Colorado Springs

Black Bear Distillery - Green Mountain Falls

Blue Fish Distillery bluefishdistillery.com 719.574.2038 5745 Industrial Place Ste A Colorado Springs

Boathouse Distillery - Salida Cockpit Craft Distillery - Colo.

Springs Deerhammer Distilling Co - Buena Vista Distillery 291 - Colo. Springs Lee Spirits - Colo. Springs

November-December 2018

ThirstColorado.com 53

DRINK FOR A CAUSE A portion of the proceeds from the sale of our

AWARD WINNING WARRIOR WHISKEY AND SKI TOWN VODKA

are donated to Veteran and Environmental aid organizations in order to support our Vets and help keep our winters white.

Thank you for your support!

Steamboat Whiskey Company is the first and only craft distillery in Steamboat. We make high quality spirits by hand in our American made pot still.

Stop in for a craft cocktail or dessert the next time you’re in the Boat!

steamboatwhiskeyco.com 970-846-3534 steamboatwhiskey@gmail.com 55 11th St., Steamboat Springs, CO

Find our products at your local liquor store.

Meridian Spirits - Elizabeth Mystic Mountain Distillery - Larkspur Sand Creek Distillery - Hugo Sangre Distilleries - Westcliffe Spirits of the Rockies - Pueblo Wood’s High Mountain Distillery - Salida

WESTERN SLOPE 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Co - Vail 39 North Spirits - Eagle 808 Distillery - Eagle

Breckenridge Distillery ● breckenridgedistillery.com 970.547.9759 1925 Airport Rd Breckenridge

Coal Creek Distillery - Crested Butte Colorado Gold - Cedaredge Durango Craft Spirits - Durango Highlands Distillery - Grand Junction Honey House Distillery - Durango Idlewild Spirits - Winter Park KJ Wood Distillers - Ouray Marble Distilling Co - Carbondale ● Montanya Distillers - Crested Butte Peach Street Distillers - Palisade Peak Spirits - Hotchkiss Stoneyard Distillery - Dotsero Storm King Distilling - Montrose Telluride Distilling Co - Mountain Village Woodshed Distilling - Pagosa Springs Woody Creek Distillers - Basalt

CIDER Apple Valley Cider Co applevalleycider.com

LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO HAVE YOUR HOLIDAY PARTY?

103 Broadway #13 Penrose

Artisan Craft Cellars - Westminster Big B’s Juices and Hard Cider - Hotchkiss Branch Out Cider - Fort Collins C Squared Ciders - Denver ● Clear Fork Cider - Denver Climb Hard Cider Co - Loveland Colorado Cider Co - Denver Colorado Common Cider - Colo. Springs Colorado Plus Cidery - Golden Compass Cider - Fort Collins Golden City Winery - Golden Haykin Family Cider - Aurora The Ice Cave Cider House - Monument Old Mine Cidery & Brewpub - Erie Red Fox Cellars - Palisade Scrumpy’s Hard Cider - Fort Collins Snow Capped Cider - Cedaredge St. Vrain Cidery - Longmont Stem Ciders - Denver ● ● Stem Ciders Acreage- Lafayette ● ● Summit Hard Cider - Fort Collins Talbott’s Cider Co - Palisade Talisman Farm Cidery - Hygiene Waldschänke Ciders - Denver Wild Cider - Firestone

A-Lodge’s new lobby and event space is just five minutes up Boulder Canyon.

91 Fourmile Canyon Dr, Boulder, CO 80302

(303) 444-0882

54 ThirstColorado.com

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a-lodge.com

November-December 2018

Book before Thanksgiving and get 20% off!!!