Denver (River North - RiNo), Colorado:
Crooked Stave at the Source
Visited on: Saturday 16th June 2018
Bob Thompson
Crooked Stave was one of those breweries that we failed to reach on a crawl through the beer scene of Denver. However, there was an alternative in the form of their other Tap house. This is located in an upscale indoor market a couple of minutes away from the Great Divide Barrel House, so Linda and I called in. Just after Saturday lunchtime we should have expected it to be full, and it was!
Eventually we found a small upright table with one chair that Linda settled on.
On a well-known beer ratings site this bar is shown as the most popular in the city. I’m not a great lover of ratings sites, they can be manipulated so easily. Yet, with that amount of support it had to be investigated.
Then we looked at the beer menu and discovered that this brewery was right out on the cutting edge of experimentation.
Beers brewed with the usual ingredients comprised of just Pilsner, Citrus Double IPA and IPA. So IPA it was. It wasn’t too bad but had a very thin body for the style yet citrus was overpowering. Apart from that it was a choice of brettanomyces beers which employ natural yeasts in the atmosphere and are naturally sour. There were also some other sour beers made by more conventional methods.
There was also a choice of brews made with peaches, raspberries, cherries, blueberries, juniper berries, ginger, apricots and more. No doubt some of them would turn out to be very pleasant drinks but not my style, thanks! Apart from the menu there was a problem with service which was undertaken with a combination of waiter and self-service. As can be imagined it was chaotic and appeared to be very unprofessional.
So I quickly finished the IPA and left. Although Linda had a nice cake from one of the shops whilst I was waiting to be served. I have left this bar in BeerVisits because a) it is very popular and b) a lot of drinkers like these sorts of beer.
Important information:
Crooked Stave @ The Source, 3350 Brighton Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80216. Tel: 720 508 3292
Web: crookedstave.com
Hours: Sunday-Monday 12.00-20.00; Tuesday-Saturday 12.00-23.00
RTD Bus 48 is a useful service as it runs along Brighton Boulevard, the heart of this part of RiNo.
From the downtown district it uses Curtis Street on the way out of town and Champa Street on the way in.
On weekdays it is very 30 minutes until 19.00, thereafter every hour.
On Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays it is every thirty minutes till 18.00, thereafter it is hourly.
The stop to use is Brighton Boulevard/35th Street. From the stop walk back and you will find the pub.
