American Craft Beer Week

Here's to American Craft Beer Week (which began Monday), the annual salute to small independent brewers that the Boulder-based Brewers Association (with help from Congress!) created seven years ago to increase awareness of craft beer. Of course, in Colorado, as some people say, every week is craft beer week, but that hasn't stopped dozens and dozens of breweries, restaurants and bars from hosting tap takeovers, beer dinners, special tappings and others events feting our favorite sudsy beverage.

For many of these events, along with other beery happenings on the next page.

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Denver Comic Con

Did you know that Italy has a thriving craft-beer scene? Neither did I. But Brian Jansing and Paul Vismara, two longtime suds slingers at the Falling Rock Taphouse, did, and they've traveled all over Italy, researching the movement as it grew from fewer than twenty craft breweries in 1996 to nearly 500 today. The pair are now seeking $7,000 via Kickstarter to finish their research and produce a book and video documenting the scene. They are close to their goal, but the campaign ends on Friday.

For more on this week's local craft-beer events, turn the page.

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Epic Brewing Facebook page

Salt Lake City-based Epic Brewing, which announced in January that it will build a 20,000-square-foot brewery and taphouse in Denver, updated its followers on social media this week with a couple of pictures and some potential opening dates. The Facebook pictures (like the one above) show the brewery's tanks and equipment arriving at the brewery, at 3001 Walnut Street in River North. In the meantime, Epic said on Twitter that it would like to be brewing by the end of May and open at taproom sometime in August.

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Odell Brewing Facebook page

Odell Brewing in Fort Collins recently began opening its taproom on Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., which means more beer (including taproom-only specials like Wee Willy Winkie, Easy Elephant and Monarch Saison) and more brewery tours. In fact, Odell now offers tours seven days a week at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. Reservations aren't taken, so sign up when you get there; tours are capped at 25 people.

Turn the page for all this week's craft beer events.

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River North Brewery

River North Brewery, which has been working on getting approval for a patio for quite a while, finally got the go-ahead just before the Colorado Rockies home opener. And although it's a little chilly out there today, the new space should be a great place to hang out all spring and summer with four, four-top tables and one large communal table going in.

For all this week's craft beer events, turn the page.

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The massive Craft Brewers Conference, an annual industry-only meeting, wrapped up in Washington, D.C. last week, but a beer-themed art exhibit and auction, Amber Waves, sponsored by the Dogfish Head and Victory breweries continues through Friday. And it features a cool sculpture piece by Denver bottlecap artist Amanda Willshire of Awd aRT. "Big Hoss," named for the Great Divide beer, is made up of pattern-rusted steel with sculptured bottle caps layered on top. It's selling for $375 on the Amber Waves auction website. Proceeds from the auction will benefit The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

Turn the page to find all of this week's craft beer happenings.

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Mountain Sun Facebook page

The Mountain Sun group of pubs in Boulder and Denver have always been quirky (they don't take credit cards, for instance), but the clear, oversized mason jars they use instead of growlers have long frustrated fans who want to take their beer to go. Mountain Sun's delicious beer goes flat fast in these jars, which leak easily and aren't well-protected from light. Finally this week, Mountain Sun, Southern Sun and Vine Street Pub introduced an alternative: double-walled stainless steel containers finished in matte black and laser-etched with the Mountain Sun logo. But you need to hurry to grab yours, because each location is only selling 48 of them (for now) at $35 each (empty) or $50 with beer.

For this week's craft-beer events, turn the page.

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Can craft beer and yoga co-exist? "You bet your flexible-ass they can," says Adrienne Rinaldi, who runs BrewAsanas, a one-hour yoga class that rotates between different breweries in the metro area and is always followed by a beer.

Billed as a an introduction to both Vinyasa yoga and good beer, BrewAsanas cost $20 per session (purchased by card or cash at the door) and is taught by Rinaldi, an instructor at Elevate Yoga and a beer blogger herself, who goes by BeerSnobChick.

There is a class tonight at Black Shirt Brewing in Denver at 6 p.m. That will be followed on Monday, March 11 at Strange Brewing and Wednesday, March 13 at Gravity Brewing in Louisville. Go to brewasanas.com for more information.

For all of this week's craft beer events, go to the next page.

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Boulder History Museum

As the birthplace of Colorado's craft beer revolution, Boulder has had a love affair with bubbly brews since the late 1970s that continues today: The city is home to the Brewers Association, a national trade group; the American Homebrewers Association; the second-oldest brewery to have formed after World War II; and, of course, a bustling beer scene that includes everything from Coors-loving college students to at least twenty tap rooms and brewpubs -- with plans for new ones being announced nearly every month. You can explore that history in Beer! Boulder's History on Tap, which opens March 1 at the Boulder History Museum and runs through October 27.

See all of this week's craft beer events on the next page.

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The local booze blog Denver Off the Wagon will celebrate its second birthday this weekend with a three-day extravaganza that celebrates the drinking culture around town. The festivities kick off Thursday with a six-course booze-paring dinner (involving beer, wine and spirts) at Joney's Eatbar (tickets are $40), followed on Friday by the tapping of a Belgian dubbel (see the video above) that the Wagon crew brewed at Denver Beer Co. And finally, there will be a massive bar crawl through a couple of neighborhoods on Saturday that ends up at Star Bar.

For more details of the latter two events -- along with all of this week's craft beer fun -- check out our calendar on the next page.

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