Alpine Dog Brewing will open in former Independent Records on Colfax and Ogden

Gardiner Hammond, a former brewer at the Old Mill in Littleton, plans to open his own brewery this spring in a space that once housed Independent Records, next to the Ogden Theater on East Colfax Avenue. Part of the space was taken over by Angelo's CDs in August, but the...

By Jonathan Shikes

January 17, 2014

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Gardiner Hammond, a former brewer at the Old Mill in Littleton, plans to open his own brewery this spring in a space that once housed Independent Records, next to the Ogden Theater on East Colfax Avenue. Part of the space was taken over by Angelo's CDs in August, but the rest, which faces Ogden Street, will become Alpine Dog Brewing.

Hammond, who couldn't be reached for comment, tried to raise $40,000 via Kickstarter in April 2012, but was unsuccessful. He didn't have a location at that time.

During that campaign, he described his goals with this:

Alpine Dog's character is built on the premise that Colorado is a land of adventurers and that I will make beers that reflect that independent spirit. Big, unique, and adventurous; I brew beers with a lot of character. I also love the styles of Belgian beers which I hope to produce several of as I find them to be some of the most complex and uniquely flavored beers. Whether it be from colossal amounts of hops or more unique ingredients like chili peppers, chamomile, cocoa, coffee, and other spices and fruits or even the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces; the artistry of brewing is in the endless possibilities of combinations of ingredients. My small brewery will stay true to those artistic roots as the small batches make flexibility, experimentation and diversity easy."

According to Alpine Dog's Facebook page, a wall is currently being constructed to separate the record store from the brewery. Hammond hopes to open in April.

At the end of 2013, there were twenty breweries that planned to open inside Denver's city limits in 2014; Alpine Dog brings that number to 21.

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