Good River and Renegade Breweries Partner on New Taproom

Good River Beer Company is familiar to many in the metro area for its canned brews, like the award-winning Daily Float Pale Ale and Fu Fighter Belgian Golden. But the brewery has never had a taproom of its own.

That will change in October, when the four-year-old company opens its own spot inside Renegade Brewing’s 15,000-square-foot production space at the Yard on Santa Fe development at 900 West First Avenue.

“We’ve been looking for a long time,” says Adam Odoski, who owns Good River with three partners — Preston Hartman, Eric Zarkovich and Matt Knippenberg. The four thought they had a deal for a space back in 2017 at 1790 South Bannock Street, but those plans later fell through.

To make and package its beer, Good River has worked with other nearby breweries over the years, including contract specialist Sleeping Giant Brewing. In January, however, Good River signed on with Renegade, which opened its thirty-barrel production facility back in 2015 to complement its Ninth Avenue taproom.

Renegade had been trying to sell the production space for the past year, though, after its owners decided to downsize in the face of increasing competition — but hadn’t found any takers. So the deal makes sense, as it allows Good River to finally open its own taproom and takes some of the pressure of Renegade, which will continue to brew and package beer for both breweries there.

The 75-seat taproom will have “a blend of an urban feel and a mountain feel,” including mountains scenes and a full-sized kayak as part of the decor, Odoski says. The look will feed into Good River’s ethos: The owners met on a trip down the Green River, and they donate 2 percent of their profits to river-conservation groups.

There will be fifteen beers on tap, including some smaller-batch styles that won’t be canned.