After Jill reviewed it last week at its open, I wanted to check out First Draft myself, and see how it was doing after its first full week. The beer was flowing and judging by the crowds, this new addition to Denver’s bar scene looks to be a success.
For the non-beer drinkers, a few taps of wine and cider are available, and for the beer enthusiast several taps of quality beer in many styles line the wall in an orderly fashion.
The food offerings available to compliment the beer were very nice and presentation was above-average for bar food. There is table service after you put in an order in a dedicated spot, and you can pay for it with the extremely convenient RFID bracelet (shown in the photo) that serves as your pour controller and wallet for the evening.
All of the dishes we tried were at least a ‘good’ rating with particularly high ‘awesome’ ratings being given by the guys for the chicken and rib dishes. The deviled eggs weren’t the more traditional strong vinegar style so depending on palette the table either judged those awesome or ok. I was in the awesome camp, but veggies be warned they do come with bacon on top unless you ask for them to leave it off.
My larger group of friends judged First Draft to be a great place to bring someone you wanted to teach more about beer. I particularly liked it for the variety of offerings. Early on I poured a few ounces of a porter I liked but didn’t love, moved on to a yummy Maui Coconut Porter, and then tried a few ‘new-to-me’ beers until settling on an extremely refreshing and delicious local Cider offering, the Colorado Cider Company Grasshop-ah.
I also appreciated the level of help available throughout the evening if you had questions or had any pour/payment issues. Being a techie, I geeked out on the taps that showed who I was and exactly how many ounces I had poured and had remaining if desired. At one point I noticed a small beer icon in the upper-right of the screen that had variable shading across the taps. I suspected, and validated with the helpful employee, this was how they monitor how much is left in the keg.
First Draft does get crowded, as does any Denver bar that’s popular. I suspect after being open for a bit, they’ll have to readjust the spacing near the taps, as it got more and more crowded it became much more difficult to walk down the thin tap aisle filled with a mix of spill-over standing bar patrons, people trying to read about the beers, and those trying to pour. As I left for the evening, the line to get a smart bracelet was long. First Draft opens early, so I would suggest checking it out your first time on a weekend afternoon, a weekday evening, or earlier on Friday/Saturday evening.