The brewery has been rotating boozy libations in and out every few months for the past couple of years. The latest four are particularly special, though, because they were created by some of Denver’s best cocktail bars: Yacht Club, Death & Co., Gold Point and Dirty Laundry.
The brains behind the idea came from Bierstadt’s manager, Chuck Harris, who approached four of his favorite watering holes and asked each of them to design a cocktail recipe specifically for Bierstadt. “They all said yes,” notes Harris, who did have a few backups in mind in case somebody passed.
“Yacht Club is my watering hole,” Harris adds of the Cole neighborhood spot that landed on Esquire's list of the best bars in the country in 2023. “I’m there almost as much as I am at [Bierstadt]." That’s where the idea began. Harris met the folks behind each of the other cocktail bars at Yacht Club and has enjoyed plenty of drinks with them.
Yachty by Nature is a cocktail designed by Yacht Club, available at Bierstadt Lagerhaus.
Bierstadt Lagerhaus
The Yachty by Nature is Yacht Club's contribution to Bierstadt's cocktail lineup. “It’s essentially a Vesper Martini with soda water,” explains Harris, adding that it's made with Tito’s vodka and Family Jones gin as well as a lemon syrup and a touch of an acid solution. There’s also blanc vermouth, a calling card of sorts for Yacht Club. The drink has a wonderfully refreshing blueberry and grape character to it, and it comes topped with a gummy hot dog, another nod to Yacht Club. “[Hot dogs] are kind of their thing,” says Harris.
The Outlaw was created by Death & Co. and includes Ayuuk, a liquor from Empirical made with Pasilla Mixe, a chile pepper from Oaxaca. Harris says it has mole vibes and a firm structure from the addition of Bierstadt's house bourbon, Four Roses. Peach liqueur rounds out the cocktail, giving it a sort of “grilled peach Lynchburg lemonade” feel to it, Harris notes.
The third cocktail, Ivory Meadows, comes from Gold Point. It contains coconut milk, gin, lemon, lavender simple syrup, ginger beer and bitters. The umbrella garnish is a nod toward the inspiration for this libation — a summer beach cocktail. Citrus-forward with a coconut component that hits more subtle than in-your-face, this is the day drink of the bunch, ideal for long, hot afternoons. It tastes like a gingersnap cookie with a little extra magic and a touch of spice that really cuts the sweetness.
“We used Bittercube Jamaican No. 2 Bitters,” says Harris, and the extra spicy ginger beer from Rocky Mountain Sodas, which amplifies the spicy note in the cocktail.
Unlike the other cocktails, which are made at Bierstadt using a recipe, Central Park bar Dirty Laundry makes and delivers its contribution, The Boyz Are Buzzin. It’s a play on a Long Island iced tea made with Mezcal, honey and amaro. “Dirty Laundry loves amaro,” says Harris, explaining that the drink is like a journey. “It's mezcal up front, sweet in the middle from the honey, and then bitter from the Amaro in the end.” There’s a smooth transition in this drink, with the smoke pleasantly staying on the tongue throughout.
Bierstadt technically has a fifth cocktail available as well: Featherweight, a canned nitro coffee liqueur from the Block Distillery. Beyond that, the brewery generally sticks to beer. “People ask us to make a margarita, and it’s like, we don't do that,” says Harris.
While it will make simple off-menu mixed drinks, Harris says it's the rotating cocktails that have been a hit. “Unless it’s a certain holiday party. Suddenly a bunch of 24-year-olds will be drinking gin and tonics, and we’re like, where’d you learn this? Maybe Mad Men is making another run," he jokes.
The current cocktail lineup will likely stay on until October before rotating out for something new. As for another collaboration with local cocktail bars, Harris is cautiously optimistic. “If I do the same style, it’ll probably be four new ones,” he says. In the meantime, patrons have a difficult choice when deciding what to drink at Bierstadt Lagerhaus: some of the city’s best beers, or some of its best cocktails?
Bierstadt Lagerhaus is located at 2875 Blake Street and is open from 2 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to midnight Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit bierstadtlager.com.
