But it was the photo of Wit's End owner Scott Witsoe and his position in the lead of the story, written by Dan Frosch, that got the most attention: "Each time Scott Witsoe opens up his one-man brewery in a drab industrial park near downtown, he gets a rush of euphoria, a sensation quickly eclipsed by panic," the piece began.
"Not only are people frequenting Mr. Witsoe's establishment, they are flocking to the other breweries sprouting up around Denver, which are transforming forgotten neighborhoods into hip hangouts and luring largely young residents to try their hand at the brewing business," the story continued a few paragraphs later.
For Witsoe, the thrill hasn't gone away. "Saturday was absolutely bananas, just unbelievable," he says. "We had a lot of new faces in here. It was awesome. It was one of the best days I've had since opening the brewery...a day I'll never forget."
Witsoe says Frosch came in with a buddy a couple of months ago for a beer and asked a lot of questions. A few weeks later, he called and told Witsoe he'd like to feature him in a story. "We interviewed for maybe an hour on the phone," Witsoe says. "At that point, I was still excited, but then he comes in with a couple of cameras."
"Riding the crest of the craft beer craze, cities like Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Seattle have cast themselves as havens for brewery lovers, and smaller communities like Fort Collins and Boulder have been central to Colorado's prominence," the story continued. "But perhaps no place is this trend more evident than in Denver, where quirky state laws, a storied brewing culture and a patchwork of well-carved neighborhoods have created ideal conditions for start-up breweries."
In addition to Witsoe, Frosch quoted Tim Myers of Strange Brewing, Patrick Crawford of Denver Beer Co, Mountain Brew author Ed Sealover and Steve Kurowski of the Colorado Brewers Guild.