Long Table Brewhouse Opens in Park Hill With Neighborly Intentions

There isn't a long table inside Long Table Brewhouse — the space is just too small. But the thought is there.

On Saturday, April 28, Long Table will open at 2895 Fairfax Street. Surrounded by homes, it is tucked into the corner of a small retail strip that will get some big company next year when the planned $25 million Park Hill Commons project brings a four-story row of condos, offices and restaurants. A park is also in the works.

"Our idea was that we've had many treasured, shared experiences around long tables, and we feel like that idea resonates with the way the community here feels as well," says brewery co-owner Chris Cunningham, a chemical engineer who moved to Denver in 2006 with his wife, Tauna Rignall.

"We hope that this becomes a place where, if people disagree about something, they can come here to talk about it," adds Ryan Chrisman, who, with his wife, Laura, makes up the other half of the ownership group.

The brewery features a seven-barrel brewhouse, a wraparound patio and a sunlight-filled interior, thanks to two garage doors and a skylight. There is also a small space on the other side of the custom-built bar that the owners had planned to rent out — but are now going to keep as an event room.

Cunningham, who has been a home-brewer for 25 years, is starting off with a German-style helles lager, a blonde ale dry-hopped with Mosaic and El Dorado, an IPA and a hybrid English bitter. Several other beers are almost ready to serve, including a saison, a porter and a New England-style IPA.

The neighborhood around the brewery has seen changes over the past few years, and residents are wary of any new business, but Cunningham says he's tried to work really closely with them. "We want to be good neighbors, respectful," he says. "Which is why we won't have a lot of live music or anything."

Parking will be an issue, since patrons are likely t park on side streets, but Cunningham says he wants to hear from residents if it becomes a problem. He hopes that most people will ride their bikes or walk to the brewery.

The 3,000-square-foot building itself was most recently a gelato shop and small store. Before that, it had many uses going back to the 1930s, including as a grocery store. Because space is tight, custom-sized fermenters had to be squeezed into the basement.

Long Table is the fourth brewery to open in Denver so far this year — behind the Thirsty Monk, Oasis Brewing and the Grateful Gnome — and one of thirty of so breweries that have opened statewide in 2018.

The brewery will be open Saturday from 2 to 7 p.m., with a food truck on hand to feed customers.