After a Long Wait, Alpine Dog Brewing Company Is Back With a New Location in Uptown

Alpine Dog owner Gardiner Hammond closed down his brewery next to the Ogden Theatre in August 2021. He hoped to reopen at a new location by Christmas. A year and a half later, the doors of the new space, at 1308 East 17th Avenue, have finally opened.

"I definitely thought that it would be six months or less, not seventeen, eighteen months," says Hammond. Architects and engineers were a little busier than he expected, and the Denver plan review alone took over five months.

The location formerly held the Denver Bike Cafe, a bike shop with craft beers and coffee. In a roundabout way, Hammond plans to offer a similar lineup at Alpine Dog, with coffee service on the horizon. He's also an avid mountain biker — you can find him out in Golden hitting bike trails in his free time. Hammond is working on partnerships with local bike organizations, an extension of his work at the former location with groups like the Colorado Mountain Bike Association (COMBA).

The real focus of Alpine Dog, however, will be beer and community. "There's so many regulars coming back already," says Hammond. "Everyone's been waiting, they're stoked, and in this neighborhood, there are a lot more people walking by, so everybody has been watching me build [out the space] for months on end."
With neighborhood stalwarts such as Olive & Finch, the Crypt, Reverence Brewing, Watercourse and La Bouche, Hammond is in good company. He sees a thriving neighborhood, something he says was missing on Colfax. "We had been thinking that Colfax was gonna, like, come around," Hammond admits, even referencing the building that housed Smiley's Laundromat, which closed in 2013 and was demolished last year. "How long can we wait?"

The new space is inviting, and a great addition to the neighborhood. Hammond helped with much of the construction himself. Old drywall was torn down to reveal the brickwork underneath, and tile was added around the wood top bar which Hammond built himself. The tap room is perfect for hosting larger events, including some outdoor-focused options since the name Alpine Dog is a reference to people who go up in the high mountains for adventure and sport.

On the beer front, Hammond has been using longtime brewery Copper Kettle to get his brews ready to launch. He'll soon be brewing himself on a ten-barrel system from ABS out of Raleigh. Until then, he's supplementing the contract-brewed beers with some local beers from standouts like Bruz Beers and Call to Arms. He also has been making collaboration beers with the likes of Mountain Toad and Our Mutual Friend, among others.
Hammond plans to have a few core beers, including Thunder Puppy Juicy IPA, Chico Crujiente Mexican Lager and Hyper Jam Blackberry Sour, along with a rotating West-Coast IPA and another hazy. An array of lagers will round things out — it's a category he's grown passionate about and that sold well at the Colfax location.

He has lofty goals of doubling the production of the old space in just the first year. The prior location peaked at about 750 barrels, a third of which were wholesale. The current space is more focused on taproom sales, with over a hundred seats currently available in the taproom and on the patio. There is also a potential patio expansion in the future, if things go well, along with a possible food truck project.

For now, Hammond is just happy to be open, in a location that feels welcoming and happening compared to the previous spot. "Just having a friendly relationship with my neighbors [is great]," he says. "On Colfax, there was nobody. It was like being alone on an island out there."

Alpine Dog Brewing is located at 1308 East 17th Avenue and is open 4 to 9 p.m. Monday, 3 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 3 to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, visit alpinedogbrewery.com.