With breweries such as denver beer company and Renegade Brewing Company opening in Denver ’hoods, 2011 seemed like a big year for the city’s beer scene. Then, there was 2012: At least seven new breweries opened in the Mile High City, and, last we checked, another 16 Denver breweries were in the planning stages. “It’s hard to keep track; they’re just coming too fast,” says Steve Kurowski, marketing manager for the Colorado Brewers Guild. “I think it has a lot to do with the business model that these guys are discovering.” ¶ That model, says Kurowski, is similar to that of the local coffeeshop. Opening a small neighborhood brewery is more cost-effective than launching a larger operation and distributing bottles or cans to liquor stores. And the brewery-around-the-corner concept is popular from a social standpoint, too. “Locals are constantly telling us,” says Stephen Kirby, co-founder of West Highland’s Hogshead Brewery, “how much they enjoy having a neighborhood gathering place.”

5280 December 2012
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