Two New Breweries Are on Tap for November

There have been a lot of headlines in craft beer recently about brewery closures and the stagnation of an industry that has been defined by rapid growth in recent decades. However, brewery openings are still outpacing closures — at least in Colorado. On the heels of October’s 4 Noses Park Hill expansion, as well as Burns Family Artisan Ales taking over the former Dos Luces location on Broadway, two more noteworthy breweries will open this month.

First up, Stephen Monahan will debut Monolith Brewing on Friday, November 10, in the former Black Project space at 1290 South Broadway. Monahan is a professional brewer, but it wouldn’t be inaccurate to call him a professional brewery starter, too. He helped open Kodiac Brewery in Centennial in January, and before that, he opened Little Brother Brewing in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Little City Brewing in Raleigh.

Unlike those breweries, at Monolith, Monahan has the opportunity to craft a space with complete control over all of the details. "Over the last eight or nine years in the industry, I've just been kind of cataloguing — 'If I had my own brewery, I'd do it this way,'" he says. "This space is a conglomeration of all those different ideas I've had swimming around in my head."

One big focus will be sustainability. Monolith is completely paperless, and is using primarily local ingredients in the brewhouse — grain from local maltsters Troubadour and Root Shoot, and yeast from Golden's Propagate Labs and Arvada's Inland Island. Even the shirts and hats are sustainable, created with upcycled and recycled materials.
The taproom received a complete makeover, a lot of which happened while Monahan was working at Kodiac during the day and building out Monolith on nights and weekends. He wants to transport patrons away from South Broadway when they walk into the taproom. "It's a lot of greens and blues," he says. "It gives the feeling like you're kind of in nature, the outdoors," he adds.

Monahan will be brewing on the same three-barrel system that Black Project used. He also took a selection of the Black Project barrels that remained on site and is blending a beer with them. The famed koelschip that created so many beers at Black Project will remain, and Monahan plans to make use of it this winter.

For opening day, a slew of beers will be on tap, from a jalapeño and serrano ale to a stout, a hefeweizen and a pale ale. A coffee blonde and an IPA are currently conditioning and will likely be ready, as well.

Monahan will also use the brewery as an opportunity to fund a passion project that he started: Brew Like a Girl. The organization provides scholarships for women in brewing. Since launching the project in North Carolina, it has provided six $1,000 scholarships to various female brewers breaking into the industry, and will be sending two of the recipients to the North Carolina Craft Brewers Conference. Monahan hopes to provide at least a half-dozen more scholarships in Colorado over the next year.
The second brewery debuting this month is Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales at 1425 South Airport Road in Longmont, which will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday, November 18.

Kirk Hearon has long intended to open a brewery in Colorado. “It was always in the cards to open up in Longmont,” he says. “We tried to open there in 2015, 2016, but it fell through.” When Hearon’s job brought him out to Omaha, he ended up opening Bearded Brewer's first location there in 2021.

At the upcoming Longmont outpost, Hearon has room for eighteen taps, and everything will be brewed on site. “We don’t do any distribution,” says Hearon, adding that the brewery will fill cans and growlers for customers.

Hearon brews the beers himself, and plans to shuttle between Omaha and Denver, brewing on site at each individual brewery. “I’ve got a really good team behind me,” he says. “I have two really good taproom managers, and I’m trying to be very organized.” In addition, Hearon has trained some members of the team to do routine beer management, like dry-hopping and keg-related duties.

Bearded Brewer is known for its big stouts, and customers can’t seem to get enough of them in Omaha. Limited barrel-aged releases routinely sell out, though that hasn't resulted in Hearon wanting to brew more of it. “I like to make it really special. I’m not someone who releases a barrel-aged stout every month,” he says. He plans to do roughly four very small releases of 250-350 bottles per year, similar to what he’s been doing in Omaha.

Given the small releases, don’t expect to see any of the Omaha barrel beers releasing in Longmont anytime soon. “I don’t want to take away from Omaha at all,” he says. “I want to develop our own program [in Longmont].” Hearon will start filling barrels later this year, and expects the first barrel-aged beer release to be in late 2024.

In the meantime, the brewery will have plenty of variety. It's also known for its big IPAs and creativity, while still brewing traditional lower ABV lagers, as well. “We try to have fun with everything we do,” says Hearon. What he really tries to focus on as a brewer is making sure that the beer tastes as advertised. “We like to experiment with different flavors, and if a beer says it’s going to be strawberry banana cheesecake, that’s what you’re drinking.”

Hearon has already hit it off with nearby Grossen Bart Brewery in Longmont, teaming up to brew a West Coast pilsner. “Their name stands for big beard, and they’re right down the street,” notes Hearon.

“There are so many great breweries in Colorado; a lot of the [collaboration] will come down the road,” he adds. “Right now, I want to open and show our brand and show what we’re about.”