In addition to 25 taps of Epic beer and two beer engines for cask-style beer, the large taproom includes floor-to-ceiling windows that offer views of the River North neighborhood and parts of Denver and the mountains, along with light fixtures that look like the bottom sections of fermenting tanks. Beer lovers can also watch the brewers in action on the twenty-barrel brewhouse behind the taps.
See also: Epic Brewing will kick-start a new sour beer program with foeders from New Belgium
A cooler stocks many of Epic's wide selection of beers that customers can buy in bottles; they can also take home growlers.Epic opened up the taproom for a welcome party on Thursday that included many people involved in the beer industry, as well as neighbors and politicians.
Brewery co-owner David Cole was excited by the turnout and says he hopes that Coloradans will welcome the brewery as one of their own. Epic decided to expand to Colorado because restrictive liquor laws in Utah made it difficult there.
To help foster the local relationship, Epic has made three beers just for Colorado -- Escape to Colorado IPA, RiNo Pale Ale and Blue Ski Lager -- as well as a version of its highly-sought-after Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout with a Colorado coffee roaster.Epic plans to make all of its styles in Denver and, earlier, this month, revealed that it would also begin a wild and sour ale program using three 60-hectoliter wooden barrels -- called foeders -- that it bought from New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins.
The brewery and taproom are the largest in RiNo, a neighborhood that is quickly becoming Denver's most beer-centric. Black Shirt, Our Mutual Friend and the River North breweries are already open. Crooked Stave will open its doors in The Source in October, while Mockery Brewing plans a 2,500-square-foot facility next year.
In addition, Great Divide has also submitted plans to the city to open a large new brewery in the neighborhood. Two other would-be breweries have signed leases nearby as well.
Epic's grand opening party begins Saturday, September 28, at noon; Bubba Dukes BBQ will be dishing up barbecue and portabella sandwiches (and Tender Belly will be at the tap room on Sunday).
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