World City Guide

Further Distractions

Beer Brewing
Denver’s breweries large and small are a beer lover’s delight at any time of year, although the LoDo Brewfest in June is when the beer and festivities spill out onto the street and almost every person (over the age of 21 years old) can be seen enjoying Denver’s favourite tipple. Denver also hosts the Great American Beer Festival in October, during which visitors get to sample the best beverages from more than 300 breweries from around the country.

Coors Brewery, located in Golden, is the largest single brewery in the world. Guided 90-minute tours are available, following the entire brewing process, from roasting barley to bottling. There are free beer samples for those over the age of 21 years old.

At the opposite extreme, there are microbreweries and brewpubs. These serve and brew in-house distinctive beer that will not be found elsewhere. The city’s best brewpubs are all within walking distance in LoDo. Each brewpub offers tours and tiny samples of their ales, porters, stouts and lagers. The best include Wynkoop Brewing Company, Rock Bottom Brewery and Breckenridge Brewery.

Coors Brewery
13th & Ford Street, Golden
Tel: (303) 277 2337.
Website: www.coors.com
Transport: Bus 16 from Market Street Bus Station to Golden; free shuttle bus to Coors.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 1000-1600.
Admission: Free.

Wynkoop Brewing Company
18th Street and Wynkoop Street
Tel: (303) 297 2700.
Website: www.wynkoop.com
Transport: RTD Light Rail to Union Station.
Opening hours: Lunch until 1600; dinner from 1600-0200.
Admission: Free.

Rock Bottom Brewery
1001 16th Street
Tel: (303) 534 7616.
Website: www.rockbottom.com
Transport: 16th Street Mall shuttle.
Opening hours: Until 0200.
Admission: Free.

Breckenridge Brewery
2220 Blake Street
Tel: (303) 297 3644.
Website: www.breckenridgebrewery.com
Transport: 16th Street Mall shuttle.
Opening hours: Until 0200.
Admission: Free.

Denver Botanic Gardens
Regarded as one of the top five botanic gardens in the nation, Denver Botanic Gardens is a 9-hectare (23-acre) oasis in the heart of the city. Among 30 different gardens are the Rock Alpine Garden, which recreates high altitude gardens from the Himalayas to the Rockies, the tranquil Japanese Garden with a teahouse, Water Gardens and a Monet Garden, reminiscent of the artist’s inspirational garden in Giverny, France. The conservatory houses one of the country’s largest palm collections.

1005 York Street
Tel: (720) 865 3500.
Website: www.botanicgardens.org
Transport: Bus 15 from Downtown with a transfer to bus 24.
Opening hours: Sat-Tues 0900-2000, Wed-Fri 0900-1700 (May-Sep); daily 0900-1700 (Oct-Apr).
Admission: US$6.50 (summer); US$5.50 (winter).

Buckhorn Exchange
Colorado’s most historic eating place is a cross between a 19th-century museum, crammed with exhibits, and a Wild West saloon. Founded by Henry Zeis, one of Buffalo Bill’s scouts, in 1893, Buckhorn Exchange provided a comfortable watering hole for the businessmen, gamblers, Indian chiefs, railroad builders and miners who had flocked to boom-town Denver. The famous bean soup, popular with the first customers, is still on the menu, along with buffalo steak and fried alligator tail.

Zeis, dubbed ‘Shorty’ by the legendary Chief Sitting Bull, amassed an amazing collection of animals, weapons and memorabilia from the days of the Wild West, including the sword used by General Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Moose, buffalo and mountain sheep heads hang side by side a huge collection of guns on the walls of the Buckhorn Exchange. There may be Winchesters, Derringers, repeaters, the fabled Colt 45 and even a rare palm pistol on the walls but customers wanting a beer at the huge, carved white-oak bar, brought from Essen in Germany in 1857, are still required to check their guns at the door.

1000 Osage Street
Tel: (303) 534 9505.
E-mail: info@buckhorn.com
Website: www.buckhorn.com
Transport: Light rail to Tenth and Osage.
Opening hours: Mon-Thurs 1100-1400, 1600-2100, Fri 1100-1400, 1600-2200, Sat 1700-2200, Sun 1700-2100.
Admission: Free.