The city showed its enthusiasm for startup beer makers on Saturday when more than 100 people lined up along the sidewalk on the west side of Broadway to be the first to check out TRVE Brewing and pay $50 to buy into a growler club. All told, nearly 300 people turned out to hang out and try free samples of one of TRVE's beers.
Oh, and TRVE doesn't even officially open until 4 p.m. on June 27.
"I met a tons of new people, which gets me so fired up," says brewery owner Nick Nunns, who has been working for six months on the Baker neighborhood spot, which features a gorgeous thirty-foot-long wooden table, a shiny three-barrel brewing system and a black-metal music theme. "I have been beaming all weekend...I can't thank everyone enough for the overwhelming show of support."Nunns sold 175 of the 266 32-ounce growlers he had on hand; he plans to sell the rest after he opens in three weeks. The $50 admission to the Growler CVLT gives club members five free refills of their growler and $7 refills for a year thereafter. Each jar is numbered and signed by Nunns and Snowblinded, who did the head-banging artwork.
Since Strange Brewing ushered in a dynamic new wave of neighborhood breweries when it opened just two years ago, in May 2010, six breweries and a cidery have opened in Denver, along with the brewery portion of the Vine Street Pub.At least five more breweries are slated open this summer or fall within the city limits, while two existing breweries, Crooked Stave in Fort Collins and Black Fox in Colorado Springs, plan to move their operations to Denver in 2012 or 2013.
The suburbs of Arvada, Lone Tree, Niwot, Frederick and Broomfield have each welcomed a new brewery as well.
Follow Westword's Beer Man on Twitter at @ColoBeerMan and on Facebook at Colo BeerMan
