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Prost Brewing Co. is bringing ancient German beer-making techniques to Northglenn—but there’s nothing ancient about its equipment. At the company’s new 60,000 square-foot headquarters, the production plant blends traditional German processes with some of the most advanced brewing technology in the state.
“The design intent [of the brewing system] was to keep one eye on the past, and one eye on the future. We wanted to pay respect to tradition, but also continue to push the envelope of what we think authentic, modern German beer is,” says Christopher O’Connor, vice president of brewery operations.
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In January, Prost opened the Biergarten portion of its Northglenn headquarters, which offers its full line of award-winning brews and a curated menu of German bites. The brewhouse did not officially start production until March, though, and only the brewers have been inside the facility—until now.
5280 toured the new brewhouse (and tried some of Prost’s latest concoctions). Here are five cool things we learned about the local beermaker and, well, beer making.
1. Prost uses imported German equipment from the world’s oldest brewhouse manufacturer
At the heart of Prost’s Northglenn headquarters is its custom, 50-barrel system from Kasper Schulz, the world’s oldest brewhouse manufacturer. Using Kaspar’s 350-year-old technology, Prost’s fully automated system includes a number of nifty features for creating tasty German suds. For example, its open fermenters utilize unsealed vessels to collect CO2 and allow brewers to monitor yeast health and remove unwanted materials from the surface—a centuries old German fermentation method. It also uses horizontal lagering tanks that allow sediment to settle for clearer beer and natural carbonation.
2. Prost’s custom beer-making technology is some of the most advanced in Colorado
Prost is one of the few breweries in the world with an automatic mill that separates the husk (skin) from the kernel of barley, only leaving behind the sweet kernels. This allows for a process called endosperm mashing, which minimizes bitterness and enhances the beer’s pure malt flavor. Other features include time-release hoppers, which are programmed to distribute hops into the beer mixture at specific times for optimal flavor, and an energy-optimized boiling system that preserves delicate aromas.
“We’re not trying to be a German brewery that existed 500 years ago, we’re trying to compete with German breweries of today. It’s state of the art technology,” says David Deline, president of Prost Brewing Co.
3. The Northglenn facility is already producing more than 50,000 barrels per year
The Northglenn facility is currently operating at about 50,000 to 60,000 barrels per year— around 80 percent of which is contract work for other brands—and is expected to reach 75,000 by this time next year, O’Connor says. Notably, Northglenn has the capacity to produce as many as 120,000 barrels annually. To put that into perspective, Colorado’s 468 craft breweries collectively produced approximately 790,000 barrels in 2023. By those numbers, Prost’s 120,000 barrels would account for about one-sixth of the state’s total craft beer production.
“We designed this with a huge overcapacity so we could reserve volume for contracts,” Deline explains. “The success of this facility has been off to the races so far. We’re producing about 50,000 barrels annually in a short amount of time, and we’re already about to exceed that.”
4. All of Prost’s taprooms have pilot systems to test and develop new beers
In addition to its new Northglenn location, Prost currently has taprooms in LoHi, Highlands Ranch, and Fort Collins—all of which have pilot systems for research and development of new products. The brewery also distributes its products in nine states.
“All of our Biergartens have pilot systems which we use for recipe development and test batches. You can find our R&D (research and development) recipes on tap at their specific Biergartens,” Deline says.
5. Prost will open a new Biergarten in Wheat Ridge next summer
The company also has plans to open additional biergartens in the coming years, including one in Wheat Ridge’s new Clear Creek development slated to open in summer 2025. The 6,800-square-foot location will overlook the Coor’s pond and have 40 taps and a full kitchen.
“From a design standpoint for the biergartens, we didn’t want to go old-world. We wanted to try and match up the position of the beer with the biergartens, so it’s a bit more upscale. We spend more money on it, but we think at the end of the day, the economic model has turned out to be quite good,” says Boyd Hoback, Prost’s director of biergartens.
Prost invites guests to experience the brewing process for themselves through a self-guided tour at the Northglenn facility (351 W. 104th Ave., Northglenn); Monday–Thursday, 2–10 p.m., Friday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–11 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
