This warehouse-turned-brewery-and-German-beer-hall in Downtown Denver is a great place to hang out with friends on the weekend or even add as a stop on your own RiNo Art District bar crawl!
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Where is Bierstadt Lagerhaus?
Bierstadt Lagerhaus is located in the RiNo District in Downtown Denver, Colorado, at 2875 Blake St, Denver, CO 80205. The RiNo District is Denver’s art district, made obvious by the tons of murals and graffiti all over the buildings that were once industrial warehouses. It’s a fantastic area for a pub crawl!
How to Get to Bierstadt Lagerhaus
The ‘A’ Line of the Denver RTD (Regional Transportation District) drops off at the 38th and Blake station, the nearest stop to Bierstadt Lagerhaus. From there, it’s a 15-20 minute walk southwest down Blake. Alternatively, you could walk from Denver Union Station, which is also 15-20 minutes. We opted to take public transportation up to RiNo Beer Garden for their amazing lunch special and then walked down to Bierstadt Lagerhaus. Although a quick search online says that this area has a high crime rate, we felt totally safe walking around during the day, so you don’t need to worry about that.
If you must drive, there is plenty of parking in the neighborhood, but we will always recommend public transportation when it’s available and reliable, which Denver’s is.
Reservations at Bierstadt Lagerhaus
No reservations are needed at Bierstadt Lagerhaus unless you’re hosting a big private event for 20+ people. They also frequently host public events, some that require an advanced ticket purchase. You can find a list of their upcoming events on their website, which could include everything from yoga to live music, a comedy show, BINGO, or their annual Oktoberfest festival. And a lot of their events are FREE!
Our Experience
Denver was our first real destination on our month-long train trip across America, starting and ending in Los Angeles, using Amtrak’s USA Rail Passes. We spent a few days in Denver to visit with friends (and their pups) and to take a break from the long-haul train ride that is the California Zephyr route from San Francisco to Chicago. Our friends told us that the RiNo Art District in downtown is a must because of all its breweries, bars, and murals, which, of course, is our vibe.
After stopping at the RiNo Beer Garden for their amazing lunch special and to sample a couple of local beers, we walked down to Bierstadt Lagerhaus through the RiNo art district, admiring the murals and old architecture that permeates the area. It’s a nice walk through the neighborhood and we saw a couple of other bars and restaurants that we marked down for next time, but we were eager to get to Bierstadt Lagerhaus, having read about it while planning our trip.
Upon arriving at the brewery, the enormity of the building was apparent. It’s a huge warehouse-like building and was most likely a previous foundry of some sort, as was common with the buildings in that area. Bierstadt Lagerhaus makes good use of the huge space too, as there’s a smallish entryway with huge pretzels (and I mean HUGE) rotating in a display case and a giant 87-year-old German brew kettle peeking out from behind a wall with a high up window above a portrait of The Dude and Walter.
The taproom is upstairs, an elevated space that looks out over the expansive beer hall (“Bierhalle”) below. Flags of all sorts hang from the ceiling, adding tons of color to the “warehouse” space, and there are plenty of tables, high and low, as well as seating at the bar itself. There are even a few comfy armchairs!
The Bierhalle below, however, is what takes up most of the space in this huge building. We saw a Union Jack couch perched on top of a shipping container, giant yard games like Jenga and Connect Four waiting to be played, and plenty of places to sit and drink beer. There are huge roll-up garage doors along one wall that let natural light in, and on good-weather days, they’ll be open to let the fresh air breeze come through too.
Although the Bierhalle is only open Thursday evening through Sunday night, the upstairs taproom is open 7 days a week. We visited on a random Wednesday afternoon and unfortunately didn’t have access to the Bierhalle, but it looks like a really fun place to hang out with a bunch of friends on the weekends.
The beer they serve is simple and traditional, but brewed to perfection. They only have four or five beers on tap, and they sell them by the half-liter (.5L = 17oz) or liter, as well as in 4-packs to-go. The recipes are tried and true German-style beers, including a light lager and a dark lager, and they run from $5 - $7. And to add in the authentic German beer hall feel, there is community seating at long tables and nothing extra or fancy in their beer. They also have a full bar for those that don’t drink beer, but we are firm believers that you should drink what a place is known for while you’re there.
Bierstadt Lagerhaus serves some food as well, mostly sausages and pretzels. We thought the giant pretzel (bigger than my head, which is pretty big) that we saw downstairs when we walked in was a ‘prop’ to show how good their pretzels are, but then we saw someone order one and realized that they are REAL, and they look magnificent.
An unexpected cool thing here is that they have an app that allows you to order through your phone from your table. Just scan the QR code, order your beer, and within a few minutes, your beer magically appears (brought by one of their friendly staff). We were impressed with the system, allowing us to avoid standing in line at the bar, waiting to order with a bunch of other people.
Our Verdict
When you’re in Denver, make sure to make this a stop on any bar crawl through the RiNo Art District, or make it your final destination. A Saturday afternoon spent drinking German-style beer and playing Giant Cornhole while staring out at Colorado vistas is a good day.
Quick Reference Guide
What | |
Where | In the RiNo Art District in downtown Denver, Colorado |
How to Get There | It’s halfway between Union Station and the 38th & Black Station, so expect a 15-20 minute walk. There is plenty of parking for those arriving by car. |
Taproom Hours | 2pm - 10pm, Monday - Thursday 12pm - 12am, Friday and Saturday 12pm - 9pm on Sunday |
Bierhalle Hours | 5pm-10pm on Thursday 12pm-12am, Friday and Saturday 1pm-9pm on Sunday |
Time Commitment | If you’re just visiting the taproom, plan to spend an hour here, (although you can stay longer if you want, of course). If you’re visiting the Bierhalle (weekends only), you could spend several hours here drinking beer and playing yard games! |
Cost | Beers are $5-7 for .3L - half-liter or $10-$13 for a liter |
Reservation Info | No reservations needed unless there’s a special event. |
Our Verdict | This quickly became one of our favorite breweries to visit, giving you authentic German Bierhalle vibes mixed with an American beer garden in the middle of Downtown Denver. Highly recommended! |
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