Wynkoop Brewing Company

slander

New York

4.25/5  rDev +10.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5

The end of our non GABF play day, a long damn day of brewpubs, breweries and beer bars, brings us at last to Wynkoop. What a great idea. It's not like the place was going to be ridiculously packed or anything...
You enter off the side street into the lobby area. Bar to the right of you, party rooms, seating, I'll get back to it later. A mere hour and a half wait for a table sends us upstairs to fend for ourselves (upstairs is a "grab one where you can" kind of deal). The place is packed but we somehow manage to easily snag a table. We order up some food and drink and I'm off to scout out the room. It's like a large woodbeam erector set decorated with English pub signs. To the rear is a large space with with upwards of 20 pool tables, a few bowling games and Phil's golf game. The room was filled with kids. And nestled behind the dozen and a half seat bar in the corner lies this... this... I don't know what the hell I'd call it. I'm sure it's got a name, I've just never seen one before. It's a... uh... pool table that cuts a 90 degree turn. I guess you'd call it "L" shaped. Sully hit it on the nose when he said, "You'd have to be a geometry wizard to play". I believe it was hand crafted in Crazytown.
They've got a dozen beers available upstairs (Light, Pils, Ale, ESB, Porter, Schwartz, Impy IPA, Framboise, Pale Ale, Stout, a Chili beer and a cider). I drank the Framboise and it was just okay. Food showed up, and it was just okay. Wasn't too impressed.
...but we showed up again the next night. It was considerably less crowded and we parked ourselves barside downstairs. A much better deal than upstairs. They've got a 7 sided bar that seats 3 dozen. Pressed tin ceilings with olive trim, red walls, exposed duct work, arched wood framed windows, and some great large framed artwork, including a wonderful signed Kurt Vonnegut print. Fermenters visible behind a glass walled room. Off the bar area is a dining area, with a separate dining room beyond that. To the rear lies a large back banquet room and a smaller party room. And to the far side of the bar is an exitway to an exterior deck that runs the length of the building with about a dozen tables. They do something called the "Impulse Theatre" in the basement. Some sort of performance art.
Whoop di do!!! They've got 15 taps down here. Many of the same as upstairs (they're missing the Pale Ale and the Framboise) plus an English Brown Ale, Special Old Bitter, Kriek, Gruit and a Root Beer. Oh yeah, they've got 3 casks (IPA, Porter & ESB). Very nice. Just a wonderful damn selection. Glad we circled back the second night.

11-09-2004 05:27:26 | More by slander

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.41/5  rDev +14.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

As a rail fan, this place was perfectly located at the corner of 18th and Wynkoop Streets, almost directly across from Union Station. The entry was on 18th Street, through the front door, up a flight of steps, and through another set of doors. The bar area was directly to the right, with high, round tables ringing the windows overlooking the street. The bar was an oddly shaped, zigzagging affair, topped with what seemed to be polished stone. The back bar used brushed copper or brushed anodized aluminum for an industrial look. The whole place had a very old-time feel, with its pressed-tin ceiling, hanging ceiling lamps, spinning roulette wheel-like ceiling fans, and exposed ventilation ducting that ran the length of the place. Visitors should definitely take note of the “Barrel-O-Meter”, which was up to 1,550 when I visited in early July 2006. Upstairs was a huge Billiards Room and downstairs, they had a live theatre, as well as the washrooms and the Serving Tanks.

The beer sampler ran an impressive eleven. I cannot cop to being a fan of Chili Beer, but at least it was not palate numbing. The Schwartzbier was quite pleasant. The Railyard Ale is their flagship, a coppery amber that was just too sweet for my taste. The Tripel Sixes was too … too. Three kinds of sugar, three kinds of hops, two kinds of malt, two yeast strains. Yow!

10-15-2006 21:51:06 | More by woodychandler

Dogbrick

Ohio

4.1/5  rDev +6.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Got a ride to Wynkoop during a 5 hour layover at the Denver airport. It is located downtown right near Union Station on 18th & Wazee. There is some street and garage parking nearby.

The inside is multi level with the bar to the right of the entrance and the restaurant seating on the left. Upstairs is a pool hall, and the basement level has restrooms and an improv comedy club of all things. The main floor features ornate ceilings, big windows facing the street, and the brewing equipment viewable behind glass. Lots of maroon colors and wood.

The beer selection is pretty impressive. Wynkoop has around 13 taps of their own beers plus a cider and rootbeer. The beers range from Pilsner, Pale, Amber to Smoked Porter and Stout. All the beers are average to above average.

Service was good on a Friday early afternoon. Our server was very helpful with getting us samples above and beyond the normal set, and was fairly knowledgeable about the beers about which we asked.

Wynkoop's food is above average pub grub. I tried the fish & chips based on a recommendation from our server and found it to be very good.

Overall, Wynkoop might not be the city's best brewpub but it is worth checking out from a historical perspective if nothing else. I would definitely visit again.

11-04-2008 19:30:44 | More by Dogbrick

Gavage

New Jersey

3.56/5  rDev -7.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4

I visited Wynkoop on two seperate occasions during my long weekend trip to Denver. The first was disrupted by the huge crowd that flooded the place after the Rockies game. I just completed my first beer with a handful of other patrons and then mayhem took over, thus I left. My second visit was during game time so to avoid the crowd. The location is great (LoDo section), the building is nice and the bar is large. Outside seating was also available. There were about 12 beers on tap, but the handpumps for the ESB and IPA were only on the first floor. The pool room upstairs is great and included 2 shuffleboard tables. Overall the beers were OK, and the wait staff varied with knowledge of the offerings. I did tend to wait after my glass was empty before being offered a refill. Definitely worth a stop if you are in town.

08-12-2003 02:21:46 | More by Gavage

SaCkErZ9

Florida

2.73/5  rDev -29.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 2.5 | $$

Overall, I wasnt very impressed with this place. As the home base for beer drinker of the year, this was a big disappointment. It was a Tuesday afternoon near rush hour when I visited.

They only had about 7 or 8 beers on draft which is extremely subpar, especially for downtown Denver, IMO. I can get 8 drafts at the local pub in NC, and it is average.

I tasted the Swarzbier, the IPA, and had a pint of the Stout and the cask ESB. The ESB was pretty good but the rest were average at best.

The service wasnt very attentive. When I did get his/her attention, they served well, but there wasnt much checking up or maintenence of my drinks.

I wasnt impressed here. Maybe I came on a bad day but I wouldnt come back for the beers they had on draft at the time of my visit (which was the reason for my visit).

08-15-2007 01:51:16 | More by SaCkErZ9

morebeergood

Massachusetts

3.68/5  rDev -4.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Third stop on our Denver pub crawl. Very large place. There is tons of indoor seating, but we managed to snag one of the tables on the outside patio overlooking the street. Upstairs, where the bathrooms are, there a bunch of pool tables. Service was good and prompt, our waiter did a great job. Selection of beers was good. Lots of different styles on tap. I went with the Silver Back Smoked Porter. Not many brewpubs offer that style, and it was very tasty. Food was definitely better than what I expected (or heard). The onion rings app with different dipping sauces was perfect. I had the bbq brisket sandwich, and my wife had the buffalo meat taco salad, which we both enjoyed. This is surely a place that I can see having a devout following of customers.

07-15-2008 00:11:43 | More by morebeergood

UncleJimbo

Massachusetts

4.05/5  rDev +5.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5

I visited this brewpub/restaurant a few times during the 2004 GABF weekend.

This is a very large brewpub/restaurant with two floors and a basement. Upstairs is more of a pub, with a bar, tables, and many pool tables and some other games. Downstairs is more of a pub/restaurant. The overall decor is US Western with a lot of hardwood.

The number of beers on tap was very good (at least a dozen), and the selection of beer styles was good (even included a Chile Beer). The beers were good overall.

The service was average to good, though when very busy you really had to work your way up to the bar. The service in the restaurant was OK.

The food in the restaurant was very good. They offered some typical steaks and meat and potato dishes but also some more interesting offerings such as wild game or buffalo.

This is definitely a place to see if you are in Denver.

12-18-2004 21:29:58 | More by UncleJimbo

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev +0.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Very cool place in Denver. Spacey, and not too intimate, with more of a "you can take your kids here" or a "let's do lunch after work" feel to it, but still enjoyable to the micro-searcher such as I. Ample seating at a dimly lit bar with a simple post-prohibition-esque vibe. Clean and well-kept with good, fast service, and bartenders who know not only about the beers sold on the premises, but also about good local recommendations, and just good beer in general. About 10 home-brewed beers on tap (9 when I visited actually, including 2 casks), displaying a diverse range of styles, and all crafted very well. They also had Breckenridge's Agave Wheat on tap, so I assume they rotate at least one local visitor tap. Not a beer Mecca by any means, but definitely worth seeking out if you're looking for brews that you won't find too far from their source. Food was very good, with mainly comfort foods on the menu, and a few out of the ordinary selections. Reasonable prices. Great place overall, and a good intro to the Denver beer scene.

08-13-2011 16:19:06 | More by Rifugium

blackie

Virginia

3.73/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Hopped over to Wynkoop aver a visit to the nearby Falling Rock to check out a local brewpub. Located in a huge, older brick building downtown, the brewpub is fairly accessible and walkable to multiple beer destinations.

The pub itself is quite large inside, with plenty of seating, bar and otherwise. The vibe is fairly traditional - wood and brick, a couple tv's, pool tables...

The draft list was around a dozen deep at the time of my visit, with a nice style variance. I made a rash decision, in search of something different, to try the ESB. It was just about average, a bit lacking in character and too sweet without balance. The rest of the party enjoyed their beers.

As this was a dinner stop, the table shared a hummus plate and I went with the shepherd's pie. It was better than expected, flavorful with a nicely crisped surface. Tasty.

Service was friendly and attentive - not worth extra comment, but certainly good.

04-14-2011 01:56:42 | More by blackie

MilwaukeeCrusher

Wisconsin

3.78/5  rDev -1.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

I visited this place with a fellow BA and his wife. A very good location in downtown, and the place was very clean and had the vibe of a classy brewpub. The beers were good, but I really didn't see anything that would challenge my pallate. That would be the same rationale for the selection as well, as I wished there were more beers that really said something to me. Don't get me wrong, this is a good place but not a great place. Food was good as well. Maybe a good place to take a lady friend and mingle and was definitely worth a first visit.

01-08-2011 22:01:35 | More by MilwaukeeCrusher