Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

This brewery has grown like mad from its small-town location in Lyons, just outside Boulder, with four more venues plus food carts. The original Lyons location is a convenient stop on the way back to Boulder from the popular Rocky Mountain national park, an hour from the city. The taproom offers unique limited releases, providing an excuse for even the most knowledgeable beer lover to stop by. The live music, typically bluegrass, and food are draws as well.
• 303 Main Street, Lyons, +1 303 823 6685, oskarblues.com. Open daily, kitchen open 11am-10pm, bar open 11am-close

Mountain Sun

Boulder has at least 25 breweries within the county limits, and for many 20-year-old Mountain Sun is still the hippy king of hops, with a stunning range of brews that aren't available anywhere but the four Sun locations in the area (there's one in Denver, too). The Mountain Sun is a favourite of locals returning from hiking, biking or just perusing the Pearl Street Mall, Boulder's central shopping district. Its small patio is perfect for people-watching, and the atmosphere is lively and informal. Mountain Sun is especially popular in February, which is stout month, and offers flavours from mint to cherry chocolate to chai.
• 1535 Pearl Street, +1 303 546 0886, mountainsunpub.com. Open daily 11am-1am

The Bitter Bar

The dreadlocked and sandal-clad share a bar, and sometimes a table, with the jacket-and-tie, night-on-the-town crowds in one of the best examples of Boulder's friendly, non-judgmental spirit. The atmosphere in this narrow bar is sophisticated and always busy. Locals come for the craft cocktails, creative in both ingredients and presentation – ice cubes might be flavoured with ginger beer, almond milk or cider. Its happy hour, later than most at 5pm-7pm, is one of the city's most popular.
• 835 Walnut Street, +1 303 442 3050, thebitterbar.com. Open Mon-Thu 5pm-12am, Fri-Sat 5pm-1am, closed Sun

Cafe Aion

Simplicity is a theme for many Boulder bars, but it's a basic rule at Cafe Aion, a low-profile tapas bar among the college bars on University Hill. Aion covers beer, wine, spirits and original cocktails including a jalapeño margarita, but the highlight here, given the restaurant's Spanish influences, is the sangria. As well as the house sangria – "red wine, fresh fruit and secrets" – there's a daily special, which can include unexpected varieties such as watermelon and cucumber.
• 1235 Pennsylvania Avenue, +1 303 993 8131, cafeaion.com. Open Tue-Fri 11am-10pm, Sat 9am-10pm, Sun 9am-3pm, closed Mon

The Sink

No Boulder bar carries its history as gracefully as the Sink, a 90-year-old icon in the University Hill neighbourhood, and a reminder for thousands of their time as students at the University of Colorado. It also might hold memories for Barack Obama and Robert Redford: the president visited the bar in 2012 and ordered a pizza, now designated the Potus pie; the actor pushed a mop as a Sink janitor in his early years. A low ceiling covered with intricate illustrations contributes to the restaurant's intimate, eccentric atmosphere.
• 1165 13th Street, +1 303 444 7465, thesink.com. Open daily 11am-2am

Avery Brewing Company

Avery's interior, styled a bit like a European beer hall, is a fine place for a beer; even better are the red tables on the front patio, if the locals haven't filled them already. Avery has built its reputation on several well-liked bottled beers and a whole lot more taproom-only brews, usually among Boulder's most adventurous and varied. Triple IPAs, chocolate stouts and Belgians aged in wine barrels share the menu. The bar is near a whole slew of new breweries in the eastern part of the city.
• 5763 Arapahoe Avenue, +1 303 440 4324, averybrewing.com. Open daily 11am-11pm

World Famous Dark Horse Bar & Grill

The finest furniture is fixed to the ceiling in one of Boulder's oddest bars. Atmosphere is everything at the Dark Horse, where the decor approaches kitsch, then veers smoothly into oddball creativity. Wagon wheels, skis, bicycles and bison heads populate the ceiling; its floor is occupied by two bars, pool tables and a live music stage. Once a week, space is cleared for tricycle races, good for a laugh either as participant or spectator. Sip a Colorado craft beer while taking in the scene.
• 2922 Baseline Road, +1 303 442 8162, darkhorsebar.com. Open daily 11am-2am

Salt

Amateur bartenders and cocktail lovers alike flock to Salt, where you can pick a spirit, a flavouring and a style – sangria, Collins or sour, say – and the bartender will mix your custom drink. Equally tempting are the house cocktails – Salt won the Boulder's best mixologist competition in 2012 and 2013 – which use unexpected ingredients such as cilantro (coriander), fig and Serrano peppers. The sophisticated atmosphere is typical of Boulder's West End, and the emphasis on local drinks – including gin, whiskey, vodka and tequila made by Colorado companies – is typical of the city as a whole.
• 1047 Pearl Street, +1 303 444 7258, saltthebistro.com. Open Mon-Fri 11am-close, Sat-Sun 10am-close

Centro Latin Kitchen

Boulder doesn't carry the clout of Santa Fe or even nearby Denver, but Centro Latin Kitchen serves unique interpretations of Mexican food and drink. Parrillada (mixed grill) and pollo asado (roast chicken) are matched with an extensive drinks menu focused on rum and tequila. The uninitiated can stick to the traditional margarita; the adventurous can try unusual flavours such as black cardamom, grapefruit and pistachio extract. Centro even borrows from Brazil, serving the cachaça-based caipirinha.
• 950 Pearl Street, +1 303 442 7771, centrolatinkitchen.com. Open Mon-Thurs 11.30-10pm, Fri 11.30-12am, Sat 9.30-12am and Sun 9.30-10pm

West End Tavern

The North American mainland's two native spirits could hardly be more different, and bars that specialise in each are within just a few hundred feet of each other on West Pearl Street. A few doors down from tequila-heavy Centro is the bourbon bastion that is the West End Tavern. The restaurant's long beer list – and much-heralded barbecue – cannot be ignored, but the pride is the long list of bourbons, including Colorado brands and the sought-after Pappy Van Winkle, a Kentucky variety so rare a Wall Street Journal article referred to it as "unobtanium". And one of Boulder's largest rooftop patios is a fine place to sip North America's smoother spirit.
• 926 Pearl Street, +1 303 444 3535, thewestendtavern.com. Open 11.30am-1am daily

Steve Weishampel is the online editor of Boulder Weekly and manages the paper's food and drink section, writing a weekly column on Boulder County's breweries

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