The beer was the most real thing in the place.
Chris Black, the affable co-owner of Falling Rock Tap House, recently sent out an urgent plea for “extras” to be part of a television pilot to be shot at his LoDo saloon. It involved drinking beer. I was eager to sign up.
The problem was, the shooting was to take place at 11 a.m. on a Sunday. Nevertheless, dozens of volunteers showed up to happily sit and sip while Dave Elger, spiky-haired host of a projected new TV reality series called “Happy Hour,” interviewed Black over the bar.
There aren’t many 11 a.m. Sunday happy hours (except at church) so the producers needed what appeared to be a crowded bar. We were happy to help, especially because it required multiple takes. They topped off our glasses often. There was a rehearsal for owner/beer pourer Black, who never shies from the spotlight. Elger pretended he just walked in and needed an education in local beers. It took several tries to get it right.
The truth is, Elger is no Falling Rock rookie. “It was hard for me to act like I hadn’t been there before,” said the Denver-based mixologist, who visited the place often when he worked on Blake Street. Dave and his twin brother, Will, run the website , a “tour de booze” all about cocktails — how to make ’em, how to drink ’em. The brothers also market a high-end Mexican tequila called Muchote.
He chose Falling Rock, he said, not because it has drinks with fancy ingredients and fancier names but because the place says Colorado. And beer. The L.A.-based “Happy Hour” crew also filmed at Nine75 and RockBar for the show, which Elger hopes to hear this month will be picked up by one of the food or travel cable channels.
No Blues for Oskar
The rise of microbreweries slowed in 2008, according to figures released recently by the Boulder-based Brewers Association. Craft beer’s share of the U.S. market hit its highest ever, 4 percent in 2008, but only a 0.2 percent increase over 2007.
One Colorado brewer, however, enjoyed a spectacular year. Oskar Blues, which started as a small pub in Lyons in 1997, saw its sales jump a whopping 64 percent last year, thanks mainly to a new 35,000-square-foot brewery and canning facility in Longmont and to distribution expansion, including, most recently, into Alaska, Oregon and the San Francisco Bay area. The brewery’s production rose to 19,500 barrels in 2008, up from 12,409 barrels the previous year.
Oskar Blues, whose products include Old Chub Scottish Style Ale and Dale’s Pale Ale, was the first U.S. craft brewer to brew and can its own beers, in 2002.
Beer notes
Beer me, I’m Irish: Those clever folks at Anheuser- Busch already prepped for St. Patrick’s Day. They’ve re-released Michelob Irish Red Ale. Now that they’re pals with the other brewing giant, InBev, they’re recommending Guinness to top off Bass Ale to make the traditional Black & Tan. The red ale is in stores through March 17. . . . Add SKA Brewing in Durango to the growing list of craft brewers packaging their beers in cans. . . . The Sierra Club tabs Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Caledonia (Scotland) Scot Pale Ale as the three “greenest” beers made. They overlooked New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, one of the greenest companies in America. . . . Quotable: “Champagnes of the north.” — Napoleon on wheat beers.
Dick Kreck’s e-mail: rakreck@ . Send mail to him c/o The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202.
