Denver has built one of the three best craft beer scenes in the United States, and it has done it faster than any other city. In 2010 Denver had 15 breweries. Today it has over 100, and the craft beer bars that have grown up around them are some of the best in the country. We spent four days crossing RiNo, the Highland, Platt Park, and Capitol Hill to find the 10 craft beer bars in Denver that are actually worth your time.
The Best Craft Beer Bars in Denver: RiNo and Five Points
RiNo, the River North Art District, is the centre of Denver's craft beer scene. It has the highest concentration of brewery tap rooms in the city, and the surrounding streets have filled with independent multi-tap bars that offer the curation that production facilities cannot always manage. Start here.
01
Gallop Street Tap Room
RiNo$$Industrial / High-Ceiling
A former auto-body shop with 40 taps, concrete floors, and a 4,000 square foot patio that runs from April to October under market lights. Gallop Street Tap Room focuses on Colorado producers, with 34 of its 40 handles dedicated to in-state craft. The IPA section runs eight handles with a bias toward the hazy New England style that Denver brewers have adopted with genuine skill. The patio is one of the best outdoor beer spaces in the Rocky Mountain West.
Order: Hazy IPA from any of the Colorado guest breweries. Patio. Afternoon.
02
Five Points Fermentory
Five Points$$Small Batch / Community
A neighbourhood fermentory in one of Denver's oldest districts, Five Points Fermentory operates a small brewing system and sells its own beers alongside 14 rotating guest taps. The house speciality is American sour ales, and the resident brewer has a genuine gift for fruit-forward gose and berliner weisse. The bar has been a community anchor in Five Points since 2018 and the regulars treat it accordingly.
Order: House gose or berliner weisse. The fruit versions change seasonally.
03
Larimer Malt House
RiNo / Larimer Street$$$Serious / Curated
The most focused craft beer bar in Denver. Larimer Malt House runs 20 handles with a global perspective unusual for a Colorado bar: alongside the expected local IPAs, you will find German lagers imported by a local specialist, Belgian trappist ales, and a rotating handle of something genuinely obscure. The staff have passed formal beer certification exams and it shows. This is the bar to visit if you want to drink something you have never had before.
Order: Ask what the import handle is running this week. It changes every ten days.
The full Denver bar guide
Every category, every neighbourhood. Our Denver guide covers 100+ bar listings from Capitol Hill to the Highlands.
North of downtown, the Highland is where Denver's craft beer scene meets its cocktail bar scene, and the hybrid bars that have resulted are some of the most interesting drinking spaces in the city. Platt Park, further south, is quieter and better value.
04
Highland Beer Garden
Highland$$Outdoor / Year-Round
An outdoor-first beer garden with 28 taps housed in a converted courtyard between two repurposed brick buildings. Highland Beer Garden operates year-round with fire pits and overhead heating from October onward, and the tap list shifts accordingly: lighter, hoppy beers in summer; dark ales, porters, and stouts from September. The food trucks parked outside change weekly and pair intentionally with the seasonal tap list.
Order: Dark ale in autumn and winter. Check the food truck schedule before you arrive.
05
Platt Park Alehouse
Platt Park$Neighbourhood Classic
The most neighbourhood-feeling bar on this list. Platt Park Alehouse has been open since 2012 and has built the kind of regulars base that takes years to develop: the same faces at the same stools, a bar staff that greets people by name, and a tap list of 18 Colorado beers at prices that have barely moved since opening. No frills, no posturing, and one of the best pints of house lager in Denver.
Order: House lager. Twice. You are staying for a while.
06
Tennyson Tap and Bottle
Berkeley, NW Denver$$Curated / Collector-Friendly
A 24-tap bar with a bottle shop attached, run by two former homebrewers who take the selection seriously. Tennyson Tap and Bottle is the best place in Denver to buy rare bottles to take home, and the tap list is equally strong: a rotating mix of Colorado craft, national releases, and carefully selected imports. The shop runs a monthly cellar programme for members who want access to allocated and limited releases.
Order: Something from the rare bottle list. Ask what is open for tasting at the bar.
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More Craft Beer in Denver Worth Seeking Out
Four more bars that expand the map beyond RiNo and the Highland, each worth a specific visit.
07
Capitol Hill Ferment Room
Capitol Hill$$Mixed Fermentation / Specialist
Denver's best sour beer bar operates out of a 1,200 square foot space on the edge of Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill Ferment Room stocks 16 handles of exclusively mixed-fermentation and wild ales from Colorado and Belgium, plus a cellar of approximately 300 bottles. The atmosphere is quiet and slightly reverent, which suits the beer perfectly. Not for everyone, but the right people know it well.
Order: Colorado wild ale on draft or a bottle from the Belgian cellar section.
08
South Broadway Tap
South Broadway$$Rock and Roll / Unpretentious
A dive bar that takes its craft beer selection seriously and does not apologize for the volume of the music. South Broadway Tap has 20 taps, pool tables, and a crowd that mixes longtime neighbourhood residents with craft beer drinkers who appreciate the prices. The tap list favours session-strength IPAs and pale ales designed to be drunk across a full evening rather than sipped in appreciation. Correct for this room.
Order: Session IPA. Then another. This is not a contemplative experience.
09
Globeville Grain Hall
Globeville$$Large Format / Events
A large tap room in an industrial building in Globeville, north of RiNo, that most Denver visitors never reach. Globeville Grain Hall has 35 taps, a stage for live music on weekends, and a 200-person capacity that rarely fills on weekday evenings. The tap list covers the full range of Colorado craft, and the house-brewed amber ale is the best interpretation of that style in Denver.
Order: House amber ale. Stay for the live music on Friday evenings.
10
Wash Park Bierhaus
Washington Park$$Neighbourhood / Family-Friendly Days
A proper neighbourhood beer hall two blocks from Washington Park. Wash Park Bierhaus converts from a family-friendly afternoon space to a proper adult bar after 8pm, which means the tap list runs equally well in both modes: approachable lagers and wheat beers in the afternoon, rotating IPAs and stouts in the evening. The 30-tap selection is the most democratic on this list in the best possible way.
Order: Hefeweizen in summer, oatmeal stout in winter. No wrong answer.
Denver craft beer: all tap rooms and bars by neighbourhood
Our full Denver craft beer guide covers 40+ venues across RiNo, the Highland, Platt Park, and beyond.
Denver is in the top three US craft beer cities and rising. The volume of production in Colorado means that even the bars without a brewing operation have access to an exceptional range of local product, and the best bars here have built tap lists that reflect that access thoughtfully. The altitude has no measurable effect on how good the beer tastes, whatever the locals will tell you.
Start in RiNo with Gallop Street and Larimer Malt House. Add Five Points Fermentory for the sour ale programme, and Platt Park Alehouse for the neighbourhood experience. If you have a full week, Capitol Hill Ferment Room is worth the detour for anyone who drinks wild and mixed-fermentation ales. Denver rewards patience and walking.
Portland's craft beer scene: the US benchmark
Denver's nearest rival for craft beer dominance. Our Portland guide covers 50+ venues from the Pearl District to Sellwood.
