CRAFT BREWING & COMMUNITY:

The Case

of

W ynkoop Brewing Co.

Breanna Demont
ASEM: Thinking, Eating, and Writing: Food History
Professor Carol Helstosky

This piece was taken from the final essay I wrote spring quarter of my junior year for Carol

Helstoskys ASEM, Thinking, Eating, and Writing: Food History. The original paper, entitled
Various Ways Denver Craft Brewers Distinguish Themselves From Commercial, Macro-

brewing Giants in the Industry, was a case study of three Denver craft breweriesWynkoop

Brewing Company, Great Divide Brewing Company, and Denver Beer Companythat pro-

vided a series of historical snapshots of the first craft brewpub in Denver to one of the most
recent.

In learning about the anecdotes behind many of these breweries prized beers, as well as the
social and environmental efforts they consistently work to uphold, I was able to shed light on

the ways Denver craft brewers distinguish themselves, both intentionally and unintentionally,

from macro-brewing industry giants like MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch. The most significant way they distinguish themselves is through their devotion to connecting with the Denver

community on a personal level and contributing to its development at large. I conducted secondary research with historical texts and articles found both online and in newspapers like

the Denver Post; my primary research included participating in brewery tours and conducting

interviews with the head honchos of these facilities. Through this research, I hoped to gain
better insight into the process of craft brewers as they produce their beer and to get a feel for
all three establishments in person.

HISTORY OF BEER IN DENVER

Tom Noel, better known as Dr. Colorado,
once said that Colorado is a state whose territorial government was conceived and born in a tavern.1 Since Denvers founding in 1858, taverns,
pubs, bars, and similar establishments were of
utmost social importance to groups of Germans,
Italians and others,2 bringing these diverse
communities together in various ways. Not only
was alcohol likely safer than Denvers drinking
water,3 but until churches, schools, banks, theaters, and other institutions became well-established, saloons served as a multifunctional institution in the community.4
8

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In 1916, however, four years shy of the enactment of the nationwide prohibition on alcohol, Colorado voters chose to ban bars. And
[a]lthough Denver had voted 38,139 to 28,533
against the dry crusade, as Noel remarks, the
city was forced to go along with the statewide
decision.5 As a result, breweries disappeared at
an alarming rate. Denver had over twenty-five
breweries before 1916, but Prohibition put all but
four breweries in the whole state out of business:
Walters in Pueblo, Schneiders in Trinidad, the
Tivoli in Denver, and the Coors Brewery (now
MillerCoors) in Golden.6

 Breanna Demont

After several years, Colorado ended up sharing a national view that Prohibition had become
a failure. As Robert Athearn notes:
When a University of Denver graduate student interviewed local authorities in 1932,
most of them expressed the opinion that the
law had done more harm than good. The
county jail warden thought that the liquor
law stimulated organized crime, gangs, and
corruption, while making petty criminals out
of people who were not criminally inclined.7
In 1933, the Eighteenth Amendment put an end
to Prohibition. However, according to Noel, the
resurgence of saloon-going in Denver can be
more directly attributed to the demise of traditional values and institutions.8 As was the case
in many American cities, industrialization and
immigration, rapid population growth and suburbanization, and the rise of progressive movements shaped a new culture in Denver, one in
which alcohol played a big part.9
This culture took root in Lower Downtown,
otherwise known as LoDo. Though the city of
Denver features the largest collection of urban
historic buildings in the Rocky Mountain region,
nearly 20 percent of LoDos buildings were demolished in the 1980s in order to provide parking space for office workers, which gave the
area its reputation as the citys skid row. But
Federico Pea, who was elected mayor in 1983,
had great hope for the historic warehouses of
LoDo, believing that the area could be used to
jump-start the revitalization of the entire downtown.10 The City Council therefore passed the
Lower Downtown Historic District ordinance in

1988, which called for demolition controls and

implemented design guidelines for constructing
new buildings and rehabilitating old ones. This
ordinance led to a rise in private sector investment and development; renovations of historic
buildings gave younger residents a place to live
while also making room for businesses to set up
shop. Historic buildings are a scarce resource
in cities, and the certainty of their preservation
created value in LoDos real estate, especially for
entrepreneurs and small businesses. Edward McMahon explains:
Small businesses and investors were lured
to the area by its charm and unique characterand by the knowledge that those attributes would not change. Historic district
zoning gave investors assurance that if they
spent money rehabilitating a turn-of-thecentury building, their investment would
not be undermined by the property owner
next door tearing down a building to construct a parking lot, put up a billboard, or
pursue other insensitive development.11
The citys brewery revival occurred when one of
these small businesses, the Wynkoop Brewing
Company, opened in LoDo in 1988, sparking
the opening of many other small businesses and
paving the way for a community to flourish.

WYNKOOP BREWING COMPANY

Founded by John Hickenlooper, who later would
be elected state governor, the Wynkoop Brewing Company is Colorados very first brewpub.12
Hickenlooper had been laid off from his job as
a geologist in 1986.10 But his life changed with
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(left) Breanna Demont /

LP Picard
(right) image 1 /
Breanna Demont

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota,

Breanna is a senior journalism major

with an undying passion for the creative
arts. In addition to starting a freelance
photography

company

her

freshman

year of college, she has also been fortunate enough to gain experience working

for Snowboard Colorado magazine, and

she currently holds the titles of Production Manager and Social Media Director

for the University of Denvers student-run

newspaper, The Clarion. When she is not
snowboarding, journaling, writing poetry,

or partaking in countless photography ad-

ventures around this breathtaking state,

Breanna might be singing, traveling, ex-

ploring nature, and attending concerts

with friends. She plans to pursue a career in the photojournalistic sector of the
snowboarding industry after graduation.

a visit to one of Americas first brewpubs: the

Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley, California.
Dreaming of opening a brewpub of his own,
Hickenlooper banded together with five other
partners and made this dream of the Wynkoop
Brewing Company a reality. (See image 1.)
The partners wanted to house their new business in a historic building that highlighted the
traditional role of pubs as a center of the community. After looking at thirty-four options, the
Wynkoop Brewing Company was born in the
J.S. Brown Mercantile Building, built in 1899.
According to current Lead Brewer Greg Moore,
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WRIT LARGE: 2015

Hickenlooper bought the building for one dollar

per square footan unbeatable price, compared
to the roughly $450 per square foot price Moore
feels it could command today.13
Despite certain advantages, the partners also
faced significant obstacles: to commence operations required that existing laws be altered. For
example, as Ed Sealover observes, [a]fter Prohibition, state statutes allowed a business to manufacture, distribute or sell beer but not to do all
three.14 However, Hickenlooper and his partners successfully lobbied the state legislature to
change the rules to allow Wynkoop to make and
sell its beer in one location.15 This legislative
change set the precedent for other craft breweries and brewpubs soon to come. A domino
effect ensued after the brewerys opening, with
Rock Bottom Brewery opening about a year after Wynkoop.16 Though it took some time, Wynkoop is credited with helping LoDo shed its former skid row reputation. According to Moore,
People saw that you could put something in this
space that was basically nothing and turn this
whole thing around. Once people start spending
money in places, other people want to open up
nearby.17 Since the brewerys opening, hundreds
of brewpubs have been opening across the state,
with over five hundred places licensed to sell alcohol for consumption on the premises.18
According to Hickenlooper, brewpubs have
a wide appeal because they are a social equalizer, a place where suits and hardhats can connect
over a common denominatorthe beer in front
of them.19 With this in mind, Wynkoop has undergone several changes over the years. Within

image 2 /
Breanna Demont

a few years of its opening, Hickenlooper and

his partners built an upscale billiards hall on the
second floor and converted the buildings upper
floors into residential loftsonly the second
such housing in downtown.20 (See image 2.)
These architectural additions helped transform Wynkoop from a place for patrons simply
to gather and drink beer to a more community-oriented space, in which people stay for longer
periods of time.
While large breweries like MillerCoors and
Anheuser-Busch produce over 6,000,000 barrels
of beer per year, Wynkoop operates on a sixty
barrel system.21 According to current Front-ofthe-House Manager Jared Hofferber, the brewery only produces sixty barrels of beer at one
time for a total of 2,5003,000 barrels of beer
per year. Despite its deliberately small yield,
Wynkoop brews over forty different styles of
beer in vintage, copper-clad barrel brewing
systems.22 These systems, combined with the
brewerys use of the finest ingredients [it] can
find in Colorado and beyond, enable Wynkoop
to produce anything from embraceable ales and
lagers to jaw-dropping seasonal and experimental rule-breakers.23 This type of production
differs greatly from macro-brewers like MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, who focus on the
production of a few select beers in mass-quantity
to generate the exact same taste every time.24 (See
image 3.)
Wynkoop has been honored for setting the
precedent in innovative practices for other Colorado brewers. In fact, the Brewers Associations annual award for innovation is named for

Wynkoops original brewer, Russell Schehrer.

The company continues to carry on Schehrers
traditions, focusing on small-batch, handmade,
artisan beer crafted with patience, passion and
big ideas.25 The brewers thirst for unusual
beers has led them to hand-craft porters, meads,
cask-conditioned beer, and other current craft
beer fixtures that beer lovers ha[ve] never tasted
before.26 According to Moore, large breweries
are starting to notice the craft-brewing trend of
beer diversification with which Coloradans, and
especially Denverites, have fallen in love. As a
result, companies such as MillerCoors subsidiary AC Golden Brewing Company are coming
out with their own small batch styles of beer.27
Moore considers this to be a good thing, as it
shows companies like Wynkoop that the commercial giants are feeling the pressure from
craft brewers such as themselves, which companies like Wynkoop want them to feel. Accord-

image 3 /
Breanna Demont

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image 4 /
Breanna Demont

ing to Moore, in the last ten years, Wynkoop has

taken over five percent of business away from
these brewing giants, which has equated to billions of dollars in profit for the company.28
While Moore doesnt feel that the act of making beer is, in and of itself, a community service, he does believe that Wynkoop is doing its
fair share to improve the Denver community at
large.29 According to Moore, One of the first
things that most major cultures produce is some
kind of alcoholic beverage, and if [Wynkoop
doesnt] make beer then someone else is going
to.30 One of the biggest ways the brewery con-

The Wynkoop Brewing Company is a perfect example of

a Denver craft brewery that upholds these standards of
community and innovation today. It maintains a sound
presence in and devotion towards community affairs, while
operating its facility in ways that create a unique, intimate
environment.

tributes to the community of Denver is by making a significant number of donations each year
to various festivals and events held in the city.
Examples include donating beer, donating money, or volunteering time at charitable events such
as the Guerrilla Run or Coalition for the Blind.
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WRIT LARGE: 2015

I dont see companies like Coors at a lot of these

things, said Moore. Im sure they donate money to people and tons of stuff all the time, and
theyre probably great at itbut I think we do it
because we are a part of a community.31
Wynkoop also tries to help other small businesses around the Denver community whenever
it can, especially when it comes to integrating
new flavors into its beer. One example is the
brewerys Kurts Mile High Maltwhose recipe is attributed to Kurt Vonneguts father, a
home-brewer back in his day. (See image 4.)
According to Moore, Vonnegut and Hickenlooper became friends after the brewerys opening, and the two hit it off so well that Vonnegut gave Hickenlooper his fathers recipe. The
uniqueness of Kurts Mile High Malt also results
from the fact that it is a Vienna lager, which the
brewery makes with coffee from local Novo
Coffee shop. Were always looking for partnerships and anything we can do to help the people
around us, said Moore. Were a small company
who is in this community, and it only helps us if
we help other people.32
In addition to supporting local businesses
around Denver, Wynkoop reaches out to community members on a personal basis as much as
it can. Aside from building rapport with regulars, Moore says, Wynkoop is welcoming to any
and all patrons that walk through its doorsas
long as people have an open mind about trying
beer and trying new styles:
We like to change peoples minds. We get
tons of people who walk in here and are
like, Hey, can we have a Coors Light? and
were like, We dont have any Coors Light,
but here, try this, and this.Were not going to be like, Oh, you want a Coors Light,
get the heck out of here. 33
This perspective is significant, as many people
believe that the craft beer culture only welcomes
those beer connoisseurs who know everything
there is to know about the beer they drink. While
there are craft beer lovers that fit this description,
craft breweries like Wynkoop understand that it
is part of their job as brewers to show passion for
what they do. Having an understanding, inviting
presence that does not discriminate against those
new to the craft beer world is important in maintaining a good reputation in the community.

image 5 /
Breanna Demont

Wynkoop tries to welcome community members to its brewery in unique ways. One example
is the communal participation it encourages in
the production process that goes into the making
of Wynkoops Belgorado beer. (See image 5.)
According to Moore, Wynkoop purchases its
fresh hops during the hop harvest season from
local Colorado Voss Farms. As soon as the fresh
hops are delivered to Wynkoops doorstep, the
brewery sets everything up on its terrace and encourages customers and passers-by to help Wynkoop employees pick the hops off the vines, rewarding helpers with a free beer of their choice.
This type of behavior distinguishes Wynkoop
from large brewers, as the fresh batches of Belgorado made during hop harvest season taste
entirely different from the batches the brewery
produces during other times of the year; large
brewers try to steer as far away as possible from
this level of inconsistency.34
To further its efforts to improve LoDo, Wynkoop has made a conscious effort to remain environmentally friendly over the years. The brewery began recycling glass and cardboard almost
from the start, and today those measures are
joined by extensive composting, recycling and
water and energy conservation efforts.35 Wynkoop not only composts its biodegradable waste,
but it also feeds its spent brewing grains to local
livestocka common practice by craft brewers
that also sets them apart from their macro-brewing opponents.
In addition to caring for the environment,
Wynkoop has made an effort to adhere to the

highest standards of brewpub cuisine, its menus

providing updated brewpub classics to globally
inspired dishes.36 On its Website, the company
boasts that one will find the same contemporary sensibilities of fresh, local ingredients prepared in-house throughout both the restaurant
and banquet menus.37 What is more, Wynkoop
aims to keep those who come to tour the brewery
entertained. While its staff-led tours take visitors
through the meticulous process of brewing the
Wynkoops acclaimed beers,38 the companys
creative tour makes add-ons available for purchase, such as an all-natural lip balm made with
some of the same malts and hops found in the
brewerys beer.
Finally, Wynkoops attitude toward competition sets it apart. According to Hofferber, a
brewpubs culture is not so much about competition as it is about supporting others in the
industry.
The whole craft beer community is kind of a
culture, Hofferber remarks.39 Patrons do not go
into one craft brewery or brewpub and find employees putting down another craft brewery or
brewpub. Everybody really supports each other, Hofferber says. This cooperative mindset is
significant. According to Moore, while all brewers essentially fight for shelf space, craft brewers
have banded together with a shared view that the
big guys such as MillerCoors have been doing what they do for a long time. It is now craft
brewers time to shine, and most of the craft
brewers in Denver want to support each other
in the process.40
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image 6 /
BrewersAssociation.org

CONCLUSION
While beer has been consumed across the globe
for centuries, its history in Colorado is unique,
especially when it comes to the craft brewing industry. In a market dominated by commercial,
macro-brewing giants like MillerCoors and
Anheuser-Busch, whose focus is on producing
mass quantities of a limited variety of beer in
an efficient, consistent manner, Denvers craft
brewers show a unique sense of community and a
passion for innovation. Independent craft brewers like Wynkoop Brewing Company have made
a name for themselves by taking the process of
brewing and distributing beer to a new level.
According to New Belgium Brewing Company
spokesman Bryan Simpson, one of the greatest
assets of a craft brewery is its story and its ability
to connect with a community in which its beers
are made.41 Those assets are hard for the big
guys to compete with. The Wynkoop Brewing

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WRIT LARGE: 2015

Company is a perfect example of a Denver craft

brewery that upholds these standards of community and innovation today. It maintains a sound
presence in and devotion towards community
affairs, while operating its facility in ways that
create a unique, intimate environment.
In so doing, Wynkoop has paved the way
for an increasing number of craft breweries to
emerge in Colorado, and the numbers arent expected to decrease. The Brewers Association
estimates that, in 2013, 2,768 out of the 2,822
total breweries in the United States were craft
breweries.21 (See image 6.)
And according to an article recently published
in the Denver Post, Colorado craft breweries are
opening at a rapid pace. Colorado Brewers Guild
spokesman Steve Kurowski notes that, while over
forty breweries opened just last year alone, there
are now seventy in the planning stages.42

ENDNOTES
1. Thomas J. Noel, Colorado: A Liquid History & Tavern
Guide to the Highest State (Golden, CO: Fulcrum,
1999), xv.
2. John Peel, History Can Be Fun, Especially in
a Bar, The Durango Herald, February 2, 2014,
http://www.durangoherald.com/.
3. Thomas J. Noel, The City and the Saloon: Denver,

18. Sealover, Mountain Brew, 44.

19. Jared Hofferber, Interview with Wynkoop
Brewing Company Front-Of-House Manager,
Telephone Interview, May 15, 2014.
20. Brewery, Wynkoop Brewing Company, accessed May
18, 2014, http://www.wynkoop.com/brewery/.
21. Brewery Tour, Wynkoop Brewing Company, accessed

18581916 (Boulder: University Press of Colora-

May 18, 2014, http://www.wynkoop.com/brew-

do, 1996), 15.

ery/brewery-tour/.

4. Ibid., 12.

22. Ibid.

5. Ibid., 109.

23. Ibid.

6. Noel, Colorado: A Liquid History, xvii.

24. David Young, What Qualifies as Craft Beer?

7. Robert G. Athearn, The Coloradans (Albuquerque:

University of New Mexico Press, 1976).
8. Noel, The City and the Saloon, xii.

USA Today, ( Jan.14, 2013), accessed April 27,

2014, http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/
business/2013/01/13/1566338/.

9. Ibid., xii-xiii.

25. Brewery.

10. Edward T. McMahon, From Skid Row to LoDo:

26. Ibid.

Historic Preservations Role in Denvers Revi-

27. Alastair Bland, As Craft Beer Starts Gushing, Its

talization, UrbanLand, Urban Land Institute,

Essence Gets Watered Down, The Salt: Whats

October 11, 2012, http://urbanland.uli.org/devel-

On Your Plate, NPR (May 9, 2014), accessed

opment-business/from-skid-row-to-lodo-historic-

June 1, 2014, http://www.npr.org/blogs/the-

preservation-s-role-in-denver-s-revitalization/.
11. Ed Sealover, Mountain Brew: A Guide to Colorados
Breweries (Charleston: History Press, 2011), 4245.
12. According to the Brewers Association, a brewpub

salt/2014/05/09/310803011/.
28. Moore, Interview.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid

is a restaurant-brewery that sells 25% or more of

31. Ibid.

its beer on site. See Craft Beer Industry Market

32. Ibid.

Segments, Brewers Association: A Passionate Voice

33. Ibid.

for Craft Brewers, Brewers Association, accessed

34. Ibid.

April 18, 2014, http://www.brewersassociation.

35. Brewery.

org/statistics/market-segments/.

36. Ibid.

13. Greg Moore, Interview with Wynkoop Brewing

37. Ibid.

Company Lead Brewer, Personal Interview, June

38. Ibid.

1, 2014.

39. Hofferber, Interview.

14. Sealover, Mountain Brew, 43.

40. Ibid.

15. Ibid.

41. Bland, As Craft Beer Starts Gushing.

16. Noel, Colorado: A Liquid History, 80.

42. Jon Murray and Josie Klemaier, Some Tap Danc-

17. Moore, Interview.

ing, The Denver Post, April 24, 2014.

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