Tidbites | Specials for American Craft Beer Week

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SPECIALS FOR AMERICAN CRAFT BEER WEEK

American Craft Beer Week, which started May 13 and runs until May 19, will include special tappings and events at various breweries around the county. Among the notable events and specials:

• Twenty-two-ounce bombers of Backfire Chili at Bootstrap Brewing, as well as a double dry-hopped IPA, Blueberry Gold and Red Beerd on tap

• A craft malt liquor, Boulde English 840, at Mountain Sun and Southern Sun

• A tap takeover by Gravity Brewing at LuLu’s BBQ in Louisville May 16

• A tapping of Left Hand’s Twin Sisters Double IPA aged in casks May 16 and an installment of the Summer Jam concert series May 18

• Loveland’s Front Range Rally May 18, featuring beers from 34 breweries in Boulder County and beyond

• Eleven new and revisited collaborations between FATE Brewing and local breweries, from the 13 percent ABV lager with Echo Brewing to the 5 percent English Mild with Boulder Beer and the 5 percent schwarzbier with Lone Tree.

The two headlining events in Boulder County are the Coast to Coast Toast, a May 16 event held at the Boulder History Museum that will include 13 craft breweries in Boulder County, and the Craft Brew Crawl, which will hit six taprooms the afternoon of May 18, starting at Avery. The crawl is free; the museum tasting is $25 at the door and includes rarely-seen-outside-bottles brews from BRU, Crystal Springs and New Planet.

SHINE HOLDS BENEFIT FOR HAITIAN MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT

Downtown Boulder’s Shine Restaurant will host a benefit event for a nonprofit dedicated to helping Haiti May 19. The St. Luke Foundation for Haiti, a Haitian-run organization that runs three hospitals, 30 schools and a job training center, will hold the event. The group’s assistant national director, Wynn Walent, will appear to speak, present a video and play music. Walent lives in Lafayette when he isn’t in Port-au-Prince, according to a press release. The organization serves 100,000 patients and 10,000 students in a year. The event is 5-7:30 p.m. May 19 at Shine. Call 303-440-0120 for more information.

OREGON WINE TASTING

Colorado’s standing in the wine world may be steadily rising, but restaurants are still more inclined to feature wines from elsewhere in the U.S. This week, Q’s Restaurant is featuring the wines of Oregon as it hosts a “Spring Fever in Oregon” event May 18. Micah Nushawg, the wine director at Q’s, will be presenting wines throughout a five-coursedinner at the restaurant, focusing on “elegant, earthy varietals” including pinot noir, a Q’s press release says. The dinner, prepared using seasonal spring ingredients, is $65 and will start at 6:30 p.m. May 18. Call 303-442-4880 or visit www.qsboulder.com/events.

ANOTHER ENTRY IN BOULDER’S BURGER BATTLE

Already a food hotspot, Boulder received another contestant for its best burger. Snarfburger, a new iteration of the Snarf’s sandwich chain, attempts to continue the diversification of Boulder’s food scene. Formerly Daddy Bruce’s BBQ, the 680-square-foot shack (located at the intersection of 20th Street and Arapahoe Avenue) seats just eight but serves a wide range of foods, including frozen custard and fried bologna sandwiches. Snarf’s CEO Jim Seidel says in a press release that he had been “considering the idea for some time, but it wasn’t until another Boulder ‘shack’ became available” that he chose to open the restaurant. Snarfburger joins Oskar Blues’ new restaurant, CHUBurger in Longmont, as another option for burgers.

CELEBRATING A STRANGE BREW’S BIRTHDAY

Denver’s Strange Brewing Company turns three years old on Thursday, May 16, and is celebrating by having a four-course meal, paired with various beers from the mile-high brewery. Working with Chef-n-Brew Events, the menu will include beef reuben sliders with Bock kraut, cinnamon rolls and roasted pork loin. Featured beers include Strange Brewing’s Maibock, ZORA Pale Ale and Dr. Strangelove Barleywine, a bronze medal winner in the 2012 Great American Beer Festival, according to a press release. The dinner is at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 16, and will be held at Strange Brewing Company’s taproom at 1330 Zuni St. in Denver.