Mentoring Comes Full Circle for Englewood's Sunroom Brewing

After moving to Genesee in late 2020, Matthew and Melanie Miller became regulars at Over Yonder Brewing in nearby Golden. “We developed a good friendship with [the team] and always felt welcomed,” says Melanie.

One day, she was talking to Over Yonder’s co-owner and head brewer, Jason Bilodeaux, when she mentioned that her husband was a home brewer. Matthew’s software background and Bilodeaux’s previous work as a graphic designer further developed the relationship.

Bilodeaux began sampling Matthew’s home brews, and when the Millers told him that they planned to start a brewery, things evolved beyond a friendship. “[Over Yonder] helped us understand what we needed to start thinking about and gave us opinions, even on real estate space,” says Melanie.

The Millers went on to open Sunroom Brewing at 3242 South Acoma Street in Englewood last September. The friendly atmosphere that the couple experienced at Over Yonder was important to continue at their own venture, where Matthew handles the back of house and Melanie the front.
Music is also an important part of the brewery. “We really love that [Over Yonder] has regular live music,” notes Melanie. “That was definitely an influence, and we wanted to make sure that we offered that as well."

Now, the Millers are stepping up and providing mentorship themselves. John Flaherty and Sam Odom, who both have a software background, became frequent visitors to Sunroom after it debuted. “They started bringing in some of their home brew, and it was really good stuff,” recalls Matthew.

Flaherty and Odom are in the process of starting Wanderment Brewing; they are currently searching for a space in the metro area and recently purchased a two barrel system from Berkeley Alley. They plan to focus on local ingredients and mixed-culture beers.

In addition to sharing advice, the Millers also wanted to extend Wanderment the opportunity for a special experience they had with Over Yonder — collaborating on a beer. (Sunroom and Over Yonder teamed up on a lager with phantasm powder for 2023’s Collabfest.)
On Friday, July 14, Sunroom and Wanderment will launch the resulting beer together at Sunroom’s taproom during a party from 4 to 10 p.m. during which patrons can meet the brewers, buy the beer and check out the Rolling Stoves food truck.

The brew, dubbed Wandering Sun, is a double IPA made with Strata hops — a scaled-up version of a beer designed by Wanderment. “I’d never gotten to scale up one of my recipes before we opened, so I [suggested] using this as an opportunity for Wanderment to see the costs, where to source things from,” Matthew says.

He adds that he was really impressed by the home-brew version of the beer, which has notes of strawberries and cream. “It was one of the first ones that [Wanderment] brought to me, and I could not believe it was a single-hop,” he says. “The beer is incredible, what they put together with different dry-hopping regimens.”

As for the relationship with Over Yonder, the Millers say it’s as strong as ever; they stop in regularly and keep in touch with the team in Golden. Bilodeaux was recently out with COVID, and Matthew took a day off of work to help blanch over 1,000 peaches for Over Yonder’s Palisade peach beer. “It was very messy, but it was a lot of fun, just being able to support them and help them make the deadline,” says Matthew.

Sunroom Brewing is located at 3242 South Acoma Street in Englewood and is open from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, 3 to 8 p.m. Monday, 3 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit sunroombrewing.com. ​