Wyoming’s Melvin Brewing looks to open Denver locale
Fresh from big wins at the Great American Beer Festival, Melvin Brewing is looking to open a new brewpub in Denver.
The Jackson, Wyo., brewer is negotiating the purchase of a warehouse in the Golden Triangle neighborhood at 1235 Delaware St.
Eric Henderson, a Melvin Brewing spokesman, said the deal for the property remains tentative. But co-founder Jeremy Tofte confirmed the company is looking to open its third brewpub in Denver in spring 2018.
Melvin started with a small brewing system at the Thai Me Up Restaurant in downtown Jackson and soon won rave reviews for its beer, particularly the West Coast-style hoppy and bitter India pale ales.
It opened a larger production brewery in Alpine, Wyo., in December 2015 and added a popular brewpub in Bellingham, Wash., in June.
This year, the brewery took home a top GABF prize for Brewery Group Brewer of the Year and won gold medals for Hupert MPA, a strong pale ale; and Wet Hop Melvin, a fresh hop ale. In 2015, it won small-brew pub brewer of the year. Head production brewer Dave Chichura is the former top brewer at Oskar Blues in Longmont.
Colorado is one of Melvin’s top markets, and Denver is part of the company’s broader expansion plan in coming years. Other out-of-town breweries, including New Belgium, Odell and Oskar Blues, also have targeted the craft beer-fanatic Denver market for expansions.
Melvin rented the 18,000-square-foot warehouse for a huge party during the festival, which is the nation’s largest. It is located about a mile from a couple of small breweries, including Lowdown to the east and Renegade to the west. When it opens, Melvin is expected to start with food and beer made at its other facilities as it builds out a brewery operation on-site.
The property is currently owned by Janet Rivas, who is the president of Mac-Bestos Inc., an environmental hazardous waste removal firm. She was not immediately available Wednesday for an interview.