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What's the deal with The Source? Crooked Stave's website is being updated, and The Source's website seems to suggest that a significant number of the listed businesses surrounding it are still under construction and/or are delayed in opening (New Belgium the Woods, Safta, Smok). If I go pay Crooked Stave a visit, which I assume is worth doing, is there going to be anywhere else in The Source to grab dinner, or any I going to have to go elsewhere first?
 
What's the deal with The Source? Crooked Stave's website is being updated, and The Source's website seems to suggest that a significant number of the listed businesses surrounding it are still under construction and/or are delayed in opening (New Belgium the Woods, Safta, Smok). If I go pay Crooked Stave a visit, which I assume is worth doing, is there going to be anywhere else in The Source to grab dinner, or any I going to have to go elsewhere first?

Source is cool, nothing great, but worth seeing. It’s not under construction, they’re just doing a add on, should be completed sometime this fall. Crooked Stave is Crooked Stave...but there are two decent restaurants in the Source. Comida is ok (good nachos and quesadillas) and Acorn is a high end spot.

The area is finally done with road construction, so you can walk across the street to Great Divide Barrel Room, grab food at the Zepplin or head over to Rino/Larimer street where there’s a ton of food.

Hop Alley, Barcelona, Populist, Cart Driver,or Work and Class are all great.
 
Alright, so since I'll be in the Denver area for a few days in early Denver, I have a few questions for the locals to help me finalize my itinerary. For all practical purposes, I'll only be in Denver, not Boulder or Fort Collins (I'll also be in Colorado Springs for a bit, but I don't get the impression there are any must hit spots even if my schedule allows; if I'm wrong please correct me). So:

1) Right now the spots that strike me as essential visits are Black Project, Cerebral, Crooked Stave, and Strange Craft for breweries, and Goed Zuur and The Crafty Fox for bars. I'll also be hitting Yak & Yeti (and probably New Image given proximity), and possibly Odell. Should I be skipping any of these? And which spots should I be adding? Right now the other spots on my radar are: 4 Noses, Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Black Shirt, Freshcraft, Great Divide Barrel Bar, Hogshead, Hops & Pies, Mockery, Our Mutual Friend, Ratio, River North, and Trve. Especially interested in places that serve flights/small pours or a strong bottle list, have compelling sours, and don't allow dogs inside.

2) I get the impression Casey is somewhat reasonably available within Denver these days. What I'm less clear on is the sort of pricing I ought to expect. The only prices I have for reference is the bottle list at Hops and Pies, which has prices like:
  • Cherry Family Preserves - $49
  • Nectarine Bank - $49
  • Nectarine Fruit Stand - $33
  • Saison - $25
  • The Cut: Nectarine - $56
Is that about the pricing I ought to expect in bars? And, assuming that to be the case, how do bottle shop prices compare?

3) Any bottle shop recommendations in the Highlands? Especially interested in having access to Casey and Weldwerks. Bonus points if they happen to sell styro shippers so I can buy more than I'll drink while in town.

SpentBrain, Work & Class is on the itinerary. Several others you mentioned were considered (Hop Alley, Populist, Cart Driver), but wound up getting passed over for certain higher priority stops like Biker Jim's and Euclid Hall.
 
Alright, so since I'll be in the Denver area for a few days in early Denver, I have a few questions for the locals to help me finalize my itinerary. For all practical purposes, I'll only be in Denver, not Boulder or Fort Collins (I'll also be in Colorado Springs for a bit, but I don't get the impression there are any must hit spots even if my schedule allows; if I'm wrong please correct me). So:

1) Right now the spots that strike me as essential visits are Black Project, Cerebral, Crooked Stave, and Strange Craft for breweries, and Goed Zuur and The Crafty Fox for bars. I'll also be hitting Yak & Yeti (and probably New Image given proximity), and possibly Odell. Should I be skipping any of these? And which spots should I be adding? Right now the other spots on my radar are: 4 Noses, Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Black Shirt, Freshcraft, Great Divide Barrel Bar, Hogshead, Hops & Pies, Mockery, Our Mutual Friend, Ratio, River North, and Trve. Especially interested in places that serve flights/small pours or a strong bottle list, have compelling sours, and don't allow dogs inside.

2) I get the impression Casey is somewhat reasonably available within Denver these days. What I'm less clear on is the sort of pricing I ought to expect. The only prices I have for reference is the bottle list at Hops and Pies, which has prices like:
  • Cherry Family Preserves - $49
  • Nectarine Bank - $49
  • Nectarine Fruit Stand - $33
  • Saison - $25
  • The Cut: Nectarine - $56
Is that about the pricing I ought to expect in bars? And, assuming that to be the case, how do bottle shop prices compare?

3) Any bottle shop recommendations in the Highlands? Especially interested in having access to Casey and Weldwerks. Bonus points if they happen to sell styro shippers so I can buy more than I'll drink while in town.

SpentBrain, Work & Class is on the itinerary. Several others you mentioned were considered (Hop Alley, Populist, Cart Driver), but wound up getting passed over for certain higher priority stops like Biker Jim's and Euclid Hall.
I'll take a stab at some of this. I would drop Strange Craft. Beers are decent but nothing really stands out the few times I've been. any of them on your secondary list I would easily stop at before Strange Craft. Brand new (not sure it's open yet but real soon if it's not) is a rooftop bar in the hotel next to The Source (Crooked Stave). It's New Belgium and sounds like it will be a good spot. Since you put 4 Noses on your list then in that area I would also consider Odd13.

Casey: Yeah it's been on shelves a bit more in stores around town. Don't really buy too many in bars but guessing that pricing is probably about right. Although I know Finn's Manor has bottles and they were only a couple dollars over retail. Bottle shop prices will be pretty close to each other and are usually a couple bucks over what Casey sells for. So a Saison will be something like $16-18, Cut maybe $32-34 and FS like $22-24.

Don't shop as much in that area but in that area I would go to Small Batch and/or Mr B's.
 
I'll take a stab at some of this. I would drop Strange Craft. Beers are decent but nothing really stands out the few times I've been. any of them on your secondary list I would easily stop at before Strange Craft. Brand new (not sure it's open yet but real soon if it's not) is a rooftop bar in the hotel next to The Source (Crooked Stave). It's New Belgium and sounds like it will be a good spot. Since you put 4 Noses on your list then in that area I would also consider Odd13.

Casey: Yeah it's been on shelves a bit more in stores around town. Don't really buy too many in bars but guessing that pricing is probably about right. Although I know Finn's Manor has bottles and they were only a couple dollars over retail. Bottle shop prices will be pretty close to each other and are usually a couple bucks over what Casey sells for. So a Saison will be something like $16-18, Cut maybe $32-34 and FS like $22-24.

Don't shop as much in that area but in that area I would go to Small Batch and/or Mr B's.

I appreciate the insight. Didn't realize 4 Noses was that far afield, so I guess that won't make the cut. And I hadn't heard of Finn's Manor, but that sounds promising and conveniently located. Maybe I'll check out those bottle shops on the way into town to pick up a bit of Casey and cut down the bar bills. Thanks for your input.
 
I appreciate the insight. Didn't realize 4 Noses was that far afield, so I guess that won't make the cut. And I hadn't heard of Finn's Manor, but that sounds promising and conveniently located. Maybe I'll check out those bottle shops on the way into town to pick up a bit of Casey and cut down the bar bills. Thanks for your input.
4 Noses isn't "far" but unless you're going that way anyways there are plenty on your list right in the Denver area. And you can get several 4 Noses and Odd13 cans in the stores if you want to try them

Colorado Springs, everyone talks about Cerebrus. I haven't gone but most people down that way say it's the one they would hit
 
4 Noses isn't "far" but unless you're going that way anyways there are plenty on your list right in the Denver area. And you can get several 4 Noses and Odd13 cans in the stores if you want to try them

Colorado Springs, everyone talks about Cerebrus. I haven't gone but most people down that way say it's the one they would hit

Yeah Cerberus is good but I wouldn’t go out of your way to try it. If you are working/staying downtown-ish it is very convenient. There is also Phantom Canyon downtown that doesn’t have anything mind blowing but always has a solid lineup.
 
1) Right now the spots that strike me as essential visits are Black Project, Cerebral, Crooked Stave, and Strange Craft for breweries, and Goed Zuur and The Crafty Fox for bars.

Second vote to drop Strange Craft. You have a lot of better options on your radar for breweries. Goed Zuur is a definite for what you want. Crafty Fox can be hit or miss for me. Sometimes it's very much interchangeable with any other craft beer bar and sometimes it has great options. Right now they have some good sours on tap but the rest of the list is nothing spectacular. If Goed Zuur is definitely on your list then I don't know that Crafty Fox is worth your time.

I'll also be hitting Yak & Yeti (and probably New Image given proximity), and possibly Odell. Should I be skipping any of these? And which spots should I be adding? Right now the other spots on my radar are: 4 Noses, Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Black Shirt, Freshcraft, Great Divide Barrel Bar, Hogshead, Hops & Pies, Mockery, Our Mutual Friend, Ratio, River North, and Trve. Especially interested in places that serve flights/small pours or a strong bottle list, have compelling sours, and don't allow dogs inside.

Yak & Yeti, New Image and Odell are all good choices. 4 Noses is a hike and easily found around Denver. Bierstadt is pretty popular for its lagers if you're after those. Great Divide Barrel Bar is worth hitting if you are already at Crooked Stave. I like Hogshead but it's small and mostly all British style beers. It's a little out of the way from most of your must hit locations and you'll find at least some of their beers on tap around town. The other breweries are fine but nothing I would drive out of the way to get. Many craft beer bars will carry beers from the other places. You'll probably get some suggestions to hit Trve. I'm not personally a huge fan though.

Freshcraft and Hops & Pie are both solid bar options. Freshcraft will give you access to lots of the breweries across your list. Hops & Pie has a great bottle list of sours and saisons and keeps a good tap list. They do a lot of takeover events there so check before going out that way.

Nowhere in Denver allows dogs inside anymore.

2) I get the impression Casey is somewhat reasonably available within Denver these days. What I'm less clear on is the sort of pricing I ought to expect. The only prices I have for reference is the bottle list at Hops and Pies, which has prices like:
  • Cherry Family Preserves - $49
  • Nectarine Bank - $49
  • Nectarine Fruit Stand - $33
  • Saison - $25
  • The Cut: Nectarine - $56
Is that about the pricing I ought to expect in bars? And, assuming that to be the case, how do bottle shop prices compare?

Hops & Pie is consistent about having bottles otherwise it's kind of hit or miss what you'll find. Bottle shop prices are not far behind. I bought Cherry Fruit Stand last week for $29 at a shop.

3) Any bottle shop recommendations in the Highlands? Especially interested in having access to Casey and Weldwerks. Bonus points if they happen to sell styro shippers so I can buy more than I'll drink while in town.

Weldwerks seems to drop a lot more on the west side so you might be in luck snagging a delivery. They come in intermittently and people scoop a lot of it up right away so call around. Mr. B's downtown is a good place to try to find Casey. Molly's Spirits is your most likely chance on the northwest side. It's a good shop overall even if it is across the border in Wheat Ridge.

Argonaut has a good selection but might not have Weldwerks or Casey. It's on Colfax not too far from Cerebral.


FWIW all of this might look close by map but Denver traffic crawls so you should expect a fifteen minute commute going basically anywhere to any other place.
 
I appreciate the insight. Didn't realize 4 Noses was that far afield, so I guess that won't make the cut. And I hadn't heard of Finn's Manor, but that sounds promising and conveniently located. Maybe I'll check out those bottle shops on the way into town to pick up a bit of Casey and cut down the bar bills. Thanks for your input.

Yeah, Finns is a must. Onsite bottles are reasonably priced, great tap list and food cocktails. Also two blocks from Bierstadt. Mr Bs is probably the best place in the area for Casey. Small Batch has a bit too, they’re close-ish to Highlands.
 
Second vote to drop Strange Craft. You have a lot of better options on your radar for breweries. Goed Zuur is a definite for what you want. Crafty Fox can be hit or miss for me. Sometimes it's very much interchangeable with any other craft beer bar and sometimes it has great options. Right now they have some good sours on tap but the rest of the list is nothing spectacular. If Goed Zuur is definitely on your list then I don't know that Crafty Fox is worth your time.



Yak & Yeti, New Image and Odell are all good choices. 4 Noses is a hike and easily found around Denver. Bierstadt is pretty popular for its lagers if you're after those. Great Divide Barrel Bar is worth hitting if you are already at Crooked Stave. I like Hogshead but it's small and mostly all British style beers. It's a little out of the way from most of your must hit locations and you'll find at least some of their beers on tap around town. The other breweries are fine but nothing I would drive out of the way to get. Many craft beer bars will carry beers from the other places. You'll probably get some suggestions to hit Trve. I'm not personally a huge fan though.

Freshcraft and Hops & Pie are both solid bar options. Freshcraft will give you access to lots of the breweries across your list. Hops & Pie has a great bottle list of sours and saisons and keeps a good tap list. They do a lot of takeover events there so check before going out that way.

Nowhere in Denver allows dogs inside anymore.



Hops & Pie is consistent about having bottles otherwise it's kind of hit or miss what you'll find. Bottle shop prices are not far behind. I bought Cherry Fruit Stand last week for $29 at a shop.



Weldwerks seems to drop a lot more on the west side so you might be in luck snagging a delivery. They come in intermittently and people scoop a lot of it up right away so call around. Mr. B's downtown is a good place to try to find Casey. Molly's Spirits is your most likely chance on the northwest side. It's a good shop overall even if it is across the border in Wheat Ridge.

Argonaut has a good selection but might not have Weldwerks or Casey. It's on Colfax not too far from Cerebral.


FWIW all of this might look close by map but Denver traffic crawls so you should expect a fifteen minute commute going basically anywhere to any other place.

This is some excellent info. I'll be taking all of into account as I finalize my plans. Thanks!
 
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