The video- poker machines bong nonstop and players belly up to the bar — also studded with machines — but the main attraction is beer.
Dostal Alley Brewpub & Casino on Central City’s main street is part casino and all about beer, thanks to brewer/owner Buddy Schmalz, who fell in love with brewing and turned it into a business.
No one will mistake Dostal Alley for Anheuser-Busch. The pub’s tiny brew house occupies a space generously estimated at 10 by 14 feet and turns out a mere 300 barrels a year, a blink in the eye of A-B.
The state’s new gambling rules have given Dostal and the rest of Central City a boost. “We’re open 24 hours,” said Schmalz, like his father, Bruce, a former mayor of the town. “We have to stop serving at 2 a.m. (but) people stick around, gamble. We’ve seen an increase in gambling, more people about in town.”
Schmalz’s beer styles range, depending on his mood, from British bitters to Belgian-style summer ales, and he sells out of them faster than he can brew. His Shaft House Stout, an Irish-style dry stout, won a silver medal at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival.
Unlike most brewpub owners, Schmalz didn’t start as a home brewer. “I didn’t know what was in beer when we started. One of our bartenders was a home brewer. He became our brewer. I started learning. It was a crash course. I thought, ‘This is the greatest! I don’t want to give this up!’ ”
Another boon to Dostal was the arrival of former Coors brewer Dave Thomas, who lends a creative hand and technical assistance. “He’s been unbelievable!” Schmalz enthused. “I knew him a long time ago but I didn’t know what he did for a living. We went to a brewers meeting one time. At that time, he was still active in Coors. When he retired, I said, ‘What are you to do now, Dave?’ ” What he did was join Schmalz’s operation. “He hangs out. He’s here all the time. He washes kegs, too. He’s just fun to be around.”
Dostal Alley opened as a casino in 1991 but the brewery didn’t come along until somewhere around 1998. Schmalz isn’t sure when; he’s too busy. “We’re still trying to figure out exactly when.”
All grown up
Finally, craft beers get the respect they deserve in the new, bestselling “Colorado Classique” cookbook.
For the first time, the fifth in a series of cookbooks from the Junior League of Denver includes beer pairings to go with some of the book’s 200 recipes, joining the expected wine pairings.
Boulder Beer Co., Colorado’s first microbrewery which just marked its 30th anniversary, put together the pairings. Among them: A hearty oak-aged stout with baked oysters on the half shell; a porter with sauteed chicken and black bean enchiladas, and a light witbier with summer berry lemon tarts.
Beer Notes
Oskar Blues Brewery is looking for sponsors and players for its fourth annual Beer With Balls golf tournament, taking place Aug. 28 in Longmont. The tournament is a fundraiser for the Love, Hope, Strength Foundation, which provides cancer-fighting equipment to groups around the world. More info from Wendy Weathers, 303-776-1914, or at wendy@ . . . . Fun with beer: Old South Pearl Street and Swallow Hill join forces for the BrewGrass Festival from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday on the 1200 block of South Pearl St. in Denver. Nine bluegrass bands and beers from 11 Colorado brewers. … The seventh annual Craft Lager Festival (motto: “America’s first solar-powered beer festival”) brings together 30 brewers from 20 states from 1 to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday in Manitou Springs. Among the beers are four new, still unreleased, lagers from the fertile minds at Michelob. Tickets ($35) at the door. . . . A good deal: Two-for-one Guinness drafts 3-7 p.m. daily at the Irish Rover, 54 S. Broadway. Bonus: A relaxing patio out back.
Quotable: ” I won’t patronize a restaurant that doesn’t offer a real choice of beer character.” — Charlie Papazian.
Join Dick Kreck at a raucous book signing for his newest tome, “Smaldone: The Untold Story of an American Crime Family” at 7 p.m., Aug 20, at The Bookery Nook, 4280 Tennyson St. Meet Dick and quaff wines from The Wine Jester wine shop.
Dick Kreck’s e-mail: rakreck@yahoo.com. Send mail to him c/o The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202.
