As the craft beer industry has matured over the past few years, the local scene has lost some old friends and some rising stars. But, as with restaurants, when one closes, another typically opens, and that is what is happening in Denver and its surrounding suburbs.
Last year, about a dozen breweries opened in the metro area (although five of those were additional locations for existing breweries). Now, there are already at least 8 that are under construction — or much closer — and looking to begin pouring pints in 2024. The first of these is the last on this list, Zymos Brewing, which is looking to open on Feb. 2.
BrewDog
BrewDog, the huge Scottish beer-making phenomenon known for its Punk IPA, its brash founders and the occasional controversy, figures to make a splash when it opens a taproom, restaurant and small brewing facility inside a 10,000-square-foot space located between the 38th and Blake light rail station and the Mission Ballroom in the River North Art District. Founded in 2007, BrewDog has more than 100 locations around the world, and this location will actually be a franchise run by a family group.
3950 Wynkoop St. Denver
Degree Brewpub
Metropolitan State University of Denver will open Degree Brewpub as part of the brewery operations program within its hospitality school. The brewery will supply beer to the existing restaurant that is already on-site and act primarily as a real-world lab for students. Though it has been delayed by a few months, the school believes it will open at some point in the first quarter of the year. Once it is ready to go, the taproom will have 18 taps, including house-made beers.
1190 Auraria Parkway, Denver
Littleton Brew Co.
A complete remodel will make this former express lube shop into a brewery and taproom when it opens sometime in late spring or early summer. Littleton Brew Co. is owned by the father-son team of Ray and Troy Beer (yes, really). The focus will be on lagers and IPAs. It will join the latest outpost of Denver Beer Co. (which opened late last year) and Zymos Brewing (see below) as a wave of new breweries hits Denver’s southern suburb.
1201 W. Littleton Blvd., Littleton
Live Slow Brewing
It remains to be seen if Live Slow Brewing will open its doors. The project, an 11,000-square-foot combination brewery and bowling alley, has dealt with some adversity recently as one of its owners is in the midst of of legal dispute with another brewery that he also co-founded. If it does open, Live Slow is expected to be a powerful draw at the newish Gold’s Marketplace.
2625 Kipling St., Wheat Ridge
Milieu Fermentation
Rob Bessett — the award-winning former head brewer at both Ursula Brewery and Verboten Brewing — and Andrew Bergeron will open Milieu Fermentation in the former Ursula space at the Anschutz medical campus in Aurora. Milieu will specialize in lagers, hoppy beers and saisons. Bessett and Bergeron are redesigning the space and hope to open in late spring.
2101 N. Ursula St., Aurora
TRVE Brewing (RiNo)
TRVE will open a 3,500-square-foot taproom next to Denver’s Mission Ballroom, on the ground floor of the 11-story Mica RiNo apartment complex at some point this year. The building is part of the larger North Wynkoop development at Brighton Boulevard and 43rd Street. The 11-year-old heavy metal-themed brewery will be able to feature a large patio at the new space, something it doesn’t have at its original location on Broadway, and food from Full Metal Burgers.
Brighton Boulevard and 43rd Street, Denver
Wanderment Brewing
Homebrewer John Flaherty, his wife Melanie, and business partner Sam Odom, plan to open Wanderment Brewing in a heavily industrial neighborhood in north Denver. The group, which raised $10,000 on Kickstarter, will specialize in brewing “rustic ales” made with herbs and unusual ingredients. The 2,400-square-foot taproom, which isn’t too far from River North Brewery’s production facility, is on 64th Avenue, just east of Washington Street.
800 E. 64th Ave., Denver
Zymos Brewing
Zymos Brewing owners Alex Tift, Tyler Tift and James Coulter originally planned to open in Westminster in 2021, but after that location fell through, they secured a new spot in Littleton, where the doors will open at long last at 1 p.m. on Feb. 2. Zymos (a play on the Greek word for fermentation) will have room for about 100 people and serve a variety of beer styles. (The brewery is revealing its lineup slowly on social media.)
5180 S. Lowell Blvd., Littleton
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