First Draft Pour House

 

 

 

Hit this place up during GABF week which I am sure influenced the taplist, which was full of gems.

This was an idea that was bound to happen in Denver sooner or later, and it will be successful. 40 taps, about 35 of which have beer (others have cider, wine, or a miscellaneous drink). You get an ID card that scans on the display of the beer you want, then when it lights up green you pour as much or as little as you want. You pay by the ounce at the end, and your card has a 32 oz. limit, which is probably a good idea. Food's pretty tasty, though the menu is kind of small at this stage. Maybe as they develop and possibly expand (looks like there is room to do that), they'll add some more food options. I docked them some points because they were fanatical about clearing empties the second you finished, and sometimes you want to linger. But that's easy to fix. With so many beer choices, you'll find a bunch you want to try, and you can do that with as little or as much as you want with their self-serve system. Cool concept, though probably will get overcrowded shortly as people discover it.

 

V-First Draft is located in the heart of the now-booming RiNo/Ballpark area just north of downtown. The space is austere and industrial chic like you would expect for the area. The patio is great and the open feel of the place is nice. The crowd when I visited after work was mostly younger, and it appeared to be a mix of hard-core beer nerds and after-work people just hanging out with friends. Good people watching.

Q-The beers on offer were all craft of various shapes and sizes. There were a few harder-to-find options on the tap list, as well as some more normal options from larger craft breweries like Great Divide and Fremont.

Ser-The concept of serving yourself by the ounce means that you, the consumer, do most of the work, but the staff was super friendly and helpful. They carefully explained how to use the system and they would even give tips on how to pour properly into the many different shapes of glasses on offer. Food is served by a wait staff.

Sel-It is a comment on amazing number of huge tap lists available at bars and restaurants when I can say that the tap wall here, which has 40 taps, isn't big enough to get a four-star rating. Still, the selection is large enough to please most people and the spread of styles from light to sour to hoppy to dark was pretty good

F-We just tried a few of the small plates, and they were tasty, but nothing to write home about. This is a good place to grab a bite while trying beers, not a place to go for fine dining.

Atmosphere - cool little tap house in the RINO district; a pour your own, by the ounce; which is cool in the sense that you can sample many of their offerings.
Quality - had three 4.5-5 oz samples of offerings from Cal, Illinois and Oregon that I don't typically see!
Service - serve yourself, though they do have food, and our waitress was helpful!
Selection - roughly 25 beers on tap that included a variety of styles, breweries and regions!
Food - appetizers and cheese plates mostly; tasty, but I wouldn't plan on having lunch or dinner here.
Overall - cool concept, good beers, but a bit pricey.