Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post

Tim Myers (left) said he’d rather stay out of court

Is a peaceful resolution possible to a dispute that seemed headed for court as Strange vs. Strange?

The owner of a Massachusetts-based homebrew supply business called Strange Brew said Friday he is open to a compromise that would result in Denver’s popular Strange Brewing Co. retaining its name.

That represents a change from the harsh tone taken last fall by the store’s lawyer, who originally demanded that Strange either stop using the name as soon as possible or face a lawsuit.

Both sides say much work remains to resolve a dispute that has riled passions, led to a Facebook campaign and inspired a sold-out event at the Rackhouse Pub in Denver this weekend featuring 30 local breweries raising money for a legal defense fund Strange Brewing hopes it will never have to use.

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provided by Three Barrel Brewing

All Three Barrel's labels are hand-drawn

Word has it that in a sleepy little cattle town tucked in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, a man who lives a dual life as an insurance broker and a mad-scientist brewer has developed a knack for creating sour beers.

All right, it’s not exactly a secret among the state’s beer geeks that Three Barrel Brewing Co. in Del Norte is worth checking out if you happen to be in the area.

But what you might not know is that the tiny brewery has ramped up production in the past six months, is adding a bottling line shortly, and those sours soon will be available in Denver.

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Provided by Magic Hat

Magic Hat’s flagship No. 9, an apricot ale

If there’s a case study to be done on corporate consolidation in craft brewing, Magic Hat Brewing is a strong candidate.

What began in 1994 on a seven-barrel system in a tiny brick warehouse in Burlington, Vermont, is now part of Costa Rica-based international conglomerate that also trades in resort hotels and canned beans.

You may or may not have noticed (it was around GABF, after all), but Magic Hat entered the Colorado market in October, introducing locals to its flagship No. 9 apricot ale.

Magic Hat is in the middle of a debate about what constitutes craft beer, the most recent round of which was touched off by a statement last month from the Boulder-based Brewers Association.

The BA put Magic Hat on a list of “domestic non-craft breweries” published along with the Craft vs. Crafty statement. (The list didn’t go over well with everyone. Brewer Troy Casey of AC Golden, part of SABMiller, likened it to a blacklist.)

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Eric Gorski, The Denver Post

Cannonball Creek’s owners like their location on the north side of town.

The lines outside the grand opening of Cannonball Creek Brewing on Saturday stretched out the door and around the building. Friends were pressed into bartending duty. Glasses had to be washed on the spot to keep up with demand. The IPA is teetering on the edge of being kicked.

Apparently, Golden was thirsty for another craft brewery.

“It was a lot bigger than we expected,” co-owner Brian Hutchinson said of the big opening weekend. “We thought we were going be busy. But we got crushed. It was insane.”

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The ballsy label (courtesy Wynkoop)

Update (1:45 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 22): Wynkoop reported the following on Facebook today: “It looks like we have found a shipping service for you non-Denver folks seeking our nutty stout and our other canned goods. We hope to have full details inked in a few days, stay tuned.”

They seemed like the perfect pair – a Colorado brewpub with a sought-after beer that made a national media splash and an upstart company that promised to get it in the hands of drinkers across the country.

Wynkoop Brewing Co.’s Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout was an April Fool’s fiction turned into fact, a rich Colorado-malted foreign-style stout whose signature ingredient – bull testicles – were sliced by hand and roasted before being added to the beer’s mash.

The stout debuted just prior to October’s Great American Beer Festival – about the same time a Pennsylvania company called Beerjobber made a marketing push of its own trying to convince breweries its beer shipping concept could work for them.

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Eric Gorski, The Denver Post

Dry Dock's new canning line revved up this week.

On the first day cans of his award-winning beer are to roll off the line, Kevin Delange is fast asleep on the office couch.

It’s just after lunch, and pizza boxes are strewn about the offices at Dry Dock Brewing’s $4.5 million new production facility – a huge undertaking that positions the eight-year-old Aurora business to grow first in Colorado and then nationally.

When Delange says this latest evolution of the business is far less stressful and scary than others, he means it.

In an era of huge growth in the industry, Dry Dock stands out as one of Colorado brewing’s biggest success stories. From its humble origins connected to a homebrew shop, Dry Dock has gained a reputation for brewing top-notch beers, creating a welcoming space and finding allies in the civic leaders and residents of Colorado’s third largest city.

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RJ Sangosti

Kim Jordan is not letting go of the handles at New Belgium

With a couple of key business moves, Colorado’s largest craft brewery just improved the odds it will remain independent in an industry ripe for more consolidation.

First, Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing Co. announced Tuesday it is now 100 percent employee-owned after brewery CEO and co-founder Kim Jordan and her family sold their controlling stake to the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Program, or ESOP. The program began in 1990, and most recently held a 41 percent stake in the company.

At least one other U.S. craft brewery is fully employee owned: Full Sail Brewing of Hood River, Ore.

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Eric Gorski, The Denver Post

The new barrel room annex will serve as an events space

Denver Beer Co.’s new barrel room annex is a warm space with antler-horn chandeliers, stacks of chardonnay barrels, the requisite row of tap handles and seating for 55 inside and another 35 on an outdoor patio. The place says “rehearsal dinner” (and two are booked already).

But take a quick tour with co-owner Charlie Berger, and he lingers at the more industrial, behind-the-scenes space that is central to the brewery’s latest expansion – a room with six fermenters stacked closely together.

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The building that became Ghost Plate and Tap in Denver after it was acquired by Wynkoop-Breckenridge (Denver Post file)

The folks at Breckenridge-Wynkoop are finalizing a deal on a 10,000-square-foot building in the heart of Fort Collins’ Old Town and hope to open their 13th restaurant there by early summer.

Ed Cerkovnik, president of B W Holdings LLC, the joint venture between the Breckenridge and Wynkoop breweries, said the company is under contract and scheduled to close in the next three weeks on the building at 125 S. College Avenue. The location – which includes two stories and a basement – was previously home to the Beach House Grill and before that, Stonehouse Grille.

“We have always loved that market,” Cerkovnik said. “Not only are the demographics quite compelling on the one hand, but we think it’s a cool town and a cool place to be. We’re really quite excited about the opportunity to be part of the Fort Collins scene.”

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Breckenridge will be able to make more of these (Denver Post file)

After a lengthy and sometimes frustrating process, Breckenridge Brewery is under contract on property for a new brewery site that will allow it to remain in Colorado and initially triple its existing capacity.

Ed Cerkovnik, president of BW Holdings LLC, the joint venture between the Breckenridge and Wynkoop breweries, confirmed the imminent deal today. He declined to identify the location or discuss specifics, saying an announcement will come in the next week or two.

“We’re really kind of bursting at the seams at our current location,” Cerkovnik said. “It’s been great, but we’ve been growing at a rapid rate. This will allow us to brew and package and sell a lot more beer. It is an important event in the history of Breckenridge Brewery – or will be an important event.”

The project will allow Breckenridge to initially brew 150,000 barrels of beer per year, with room to grow, Cerkovnik said. Breckenridge is the largest brewery in Denver and last year ranked No. 41 nationally in beer sales among craft brewing companies according to the Brewers Association.

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