Refreshing cocktails without the punch
It’s patio, park and pool drinking season, a time when boozy winter warmers give way to session beers and oh-so-many spritzes in stem glasses. Around Denver, lower-alcohol options are here to stay. For breweries, they’re an alternative to those higher alcohol-by-volume (ABV) IPAS or big, barrel-aged stouts and porters.
On cocktail menus, they might get their own menu category, tucked between the high-octane mixed drinks and the no-alcohol virgin options.
And if beer or cocktails aren’t your style, there are also plenty of lower-abv ciders or pear ciders, also known as perries.
Here are eight options to order around town to make those summer drinking days last longer:
RADLER
Whether they call it a shandy (England), a clara (Spain) or a radler (Germany), Europeans — bless them — have figured out how to drink beer all day, every day without ever tiring. Sometimes their secret — aside from centuries of practice — is a splash of, or up to equal parts of, lem
onade. At Wibby Brewing in Longmont, the Light
shine Radler is a Helles lager mixed with Wibby’s own raspberry lemonade. And at just 4.5%, it’s a great, American all-day drinking option.
209 Emery St., Longmont, 303-776-4594; wibbybrewing.com
CIDER
A perry is a hard cider made from fermented pear rather than apple juice. At Denver’s original urban winery, Infinite Monkey Theorem, the dryhopped pear cider is a low-abv counterpart to the brand’s reds, whites, roses and peach Bellinis. It’s made with Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops for a light grapefruit note on top. And it comes in a can for portable summer drinking.
3200 Larimer St., 303-736-8376; theinfinitemonkeytheorem.com
SHERRY COCKTAIL
Isabel, the new bar at The Source Market Hall, is a tribute to Mexico, with a focus on Latin American spirits. For a lighter start to the day or night, try the Bambu, a sherry cocktail with two types of vermouth, demerara sugar, saline, expressed lemon and bitters.
3350 Brighton Blvd.; isabel.bar
HIGHBALL
For whiskey drinkers, Run for the Roses’ Akashi Ume Plum Whisky highball mixes 2 ounces of the spirit with Fever Tree soda and a dehydrated lemon wheel. This is a lower-abv alternative to the new Dairy Block bar’s more booze-forward options.
1801 Blake St.; rftrbar.com
SESSION BEER
Denver’s heavy metal-loving TRVE Brewing favors session beers and rarely brews them over 5.5% ABV. And while the brewery is experimenting this season with extra-low-abv batches (see if LOWER, a foeder-fermented saison at 2.8%, is available), it will always have the COLD Kellerpils on tap, a best-seller in the taproom, at 4.9% alcohol by volume.
227 Broadway, 303-351-1021; trvebrewing.com
SPRITZ
Ivy on 7th, in Capitol Hill, serves a big, bulbous St-germain spritz alongside its daily brunch offerings. The elderflower liqueur, together with sparkling wine, soda water and a squeezed lemon peel, is poured over plenty of ice and garnished with fragrant lavender or flower petals.
410 E. Seventh Ave., 720-828-8180; ivyon7th.com
SPRITZ TWIST
At Death & Co.’s Denver outpost in The Ramble
Hotel, the Velvet Buzzsaw is a refreshing spritz twist that starts with Beefeater gin, vermouth and Campari, adds in rhubarb liqueur, lemon juice and raspberry, and smooths everything over with some seltzer water.
1280 25th St., 720-330-2660; deathandcompany.com/location/death-and-company-denver
PIMM’S CUP
Denver’s darling, award-winning daytime spot, Call, makes its own version of this traditional British summer drink. Call’s Cup starts with a combination of Pimm’s No.1 and Combier Pamplemousse grapefruit liquor and finishes with soda water and fresh-squeezed lime juice. Cucumber, mint and fresh berries top it off.
2845 Larimer St., 303-954-0230; call-denver.com