Danny Williams lived in a hole in the ground. Not all the time, just while visiting his beers.

Williams, who died of cancer on Jan. 23 at age 52, had perhaps the world’s most unusual beer cooler — a 100-year-old defunct gold mine in the hills west of Boulder. He was no hermit; he had a stream of visitors who were invited to step into the mine and share his, well, gold mine of beers. As many as 2,500 of them, all for drinking.

An overflowing auction/party for Williams’ estate at Back Country Pizza and Tap House in Boulder on Feb. 11 raised $35,000 through admissions and an auction of rare and specialty beers. Some of the rarities, including Boston Beer Utopias, went for $1,000.

Danny and his mine were featured in articles nationwide, including a 2008 spread in The New York Times. The mine was the ideal storage facility, staying at 50 degrees year-round. In an interview I did with him in September 2008, he said he didn’t buy the historic United Empire Gold Mine, which closed down in the 1930s, with the idea of storing brews. “That wasn’t why I bought it, but it was one of the first things I thought of.”

The mine wasn’t exactly cozy. I being a confirmed claustrophobe, drinking beer in a hole in the ground wasn’t on the top of my list of fun things to do. But once one was in the mine, the mind dazzled with rows and rows of barley wines, Belgians, strong ales and one shelf marked “Ancient Mysteries.” As he often said, “It’s one of the things I enjoy, having interesting beers to drink with people. It would be silly to hoard beer and drink it by yourself.”

Williams, whose day job was as a contractor on historic homes, was the official beer manager for the annual Great American Beer Festival, the man who organized and took care of the thousands of beers brought in from around the country for the event.

Paul Gatza, director of the Beer Association, which puts on the festival every year, was a close friend of Williams. “I lived near Danny in Sunshine for 19 years. I’ve been in that mine hundreds of times. He touched a lot of people in his life. I haven’t heard anyone say Danny isn’t a great guy. Everyone has warm feelings for Danny.”

Can-happy craft beers

Canning is the new craze in the craft-beer industry.

Upslope Brewing in Boulder and Renegade Brewing and Wynkoop Brewing join the rush to cans this month. Upslope is putting its Foreign Stout, a limited-edition ale, in cans; Renegade will do the same (with 16-ounce cans) for its flagship Ryeteous, and Wynkoop just released its BK3 black lager in cans.

Oskar Blues and New Belgium reportedly are to begin churning out 16-ounce cans later this year.

Beer notes

Join the crowd: River North Brewery opened Saturday at 2401 Blake St. It is open every day at 3 p.m. Look for another 60 breweries to open statewide in the coming months. … Growth spurt: Denver Beer Co., which opened its doors down on Platte Street in August, already is expanding with the addition of two seven-barrel fermenters, raising their capacity to 1,750 barrels a year. It is hoping to begin deliveries of beers to area bars and restaurants when the fermenters are up and running. And Breckenridge Brewery has installed two 300-barrel fermenters, and plans to add four more next month. … Finalists in the Beerdrinker of the Year competition will be grilled by a panel of experts and the public at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Wynkoop Brewery, 18th and Wynkoop streets. The three hopefuls are Warren Monteiro of New York, Greg Nowatzki of Las Vegas and J. Wilson of Prescott, Iowa. … Quotable: “Apu, I need a keg and a six-pack to hold me until I tap the keg.” — Homer Simpson.

Dick Kreck’s e-mail: rakreck@yahoo.com. Send mail to him c/o The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202.