"All the better to see you with, my dear."
"Grandma, what a big mouth you have!"
All the better to drink beer with, my dear. That's what Matthew Fuerst, the owner of Grandma's House, at 1710 South Broadway, will be saying when he opens the doors to Denver's newest brewery today at 2 p.m. -- right in the middle of one of the busiest weeks of the year for beer makers in Colorado.
See also: Grandma's House, a planned brewery, will knit crafting and craft beer together
Two other Denver breweries, Fiction Beer and Lost Highway, opened their doors last week, getting in just before the Great American Beer Festival as well."I did not want it to be this week. I wanted to iron out the kinks beforehand, but sometimes you don't have a choice," says Fuerst. "Part of me wishes we weren't opening during the Great American Beer Festival, when there are events all over the place, because I don't want to get lost in the shuffle. But I'm also happy to be opening now so that we don't miss out."
Backed by one of the most unusual themes among Colorado's 250 or so breweries, Grandma's House plans to knit together the crafting and craft-beer community with décor and a theme that reminds people of their grandmother's house. It is filled with rocking chairs, knickknacks and old furniture.
But Grandma's House will also be different from every brewery in town in another way: It will allow aspiring brewers and breweries to make beers there that they can serve. getting feedback from customers. (Another "collective brewery," Factotum Brewhouse, plans to open this year as well.)
Fuerst will tap only two of his own beers today, a session IPA and an oatmeal stout, along with a version of the IPA infused with peaches. But the first guest brewers -- the owners of Broken Spine Brewing, which hopes to open in the Denver area next year -- will serve some of their creations later in the week. After that, other guest-made beers will be tapped.Located in a former antique store on South Broadway, Grandma's House has a seven-barrel brewing system and room for about 45 people.
Fuerst had originally planned to fill the entire 9,000-square-foot space, but had to scale things back for financial reasons. If things go well, though, he'd like to expand into the additional space in the future.
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