Dunn at Great Divide’s home for 20 years, at 22nd and Arapahoe (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)
As 2014 comes to a close, we’re once again asking leading figures on the Colorado beer scene to reflect on the past year and look ahead to next. This next installment in our 4th annual Beer In Review features Brian Dunn of Denver’s celebrated Great Divide Brewing, which this year marked 20 years of brewing big, bold, flavorful beers in what is now the Ballpark neighborhood. One of three major brewery expansions Brian mentions below is his – , phase one of which is well underway. Brian’s answers …
Favorite beer of the year: I had a couple of Firestone Walker beers in California that I’ve never had before and really liked a lot: Opal and Stickee Monkee.
Colorado brewery of the year: I think Funkwerks is brewing great beers – consistently great beers. When I see it on tap, it is one I am drawn to order. It’s nice when you know what to expect. I think quite a bit of the saison – and there is another beer called Deceit I like quite a bit too.
New Colorado brewery of the year: LowDown Brewery. I thought the beers were good, I like the room, and the food was good, too. Part of the reason their beers are good is the guys in the brewery have some nice experience.
Colorado brewery to watch in 2015: Avery Brewing and Breckenridge Brewery, because both will be opening up incredible new breweries. These are substantial expansions.
Most notable craft beer news or trend of 2014: The sheer number of new tap rooms and brewpubs, and three good sized expansions on the Front Range.
Craft beer trend to watch for in 2015: I think we’ll see quite a few new beers in the market that are approachable and a bit lower ABV, under 5.5%.
Previous installments in this year’s series:
