Station 26 Brewing Co.
Park Hill’s first brewery opens this November at 38th and Pontiac
By Erin Vanderberg, Editor
It was finding a big hole on the Denver brewery map – a veritable beer desert in the Park Hill and Stapleton neighborhoods – that inspired Justin Baccary to set up shop in the former Fire Station No. 26 at the corner of East 38th Avenue and Pontiac Street. The actual Station 26 department moved to Stapleton in the early 2000s and, up until 2012, the facility operated as a live/work art space called The Collaboratory.
“I love the neighborhood. It has great character. I talked to a lot of folks, and people who live here are excited to finally get their own brewery,” said Justin.
A New Jersey native, Justin started his career in finance on the East Coast, before moving west and taking a job in Denver. A few college summers working outside of Glacier National Park in Montana had convinced him that the Rocky Mountains were where he belonged.
When he moved to Denver, he started homebrewing. First, it was plastic buckets and bottles in the kitchen, but it quickly evolved to brewing larger quantities of beer outside and kegging it.
When he decided to quit the finance business, he landed a job at Dad and Dudes Breweria. There, he was able to brew a keg at a time, twice a day, four times a week.
“I could go to work, brew a new beer on the spot, then two weeks later, get feedback across the bar. I got to experiment, relatively risk-free,” said Justin. “It’s just one keg, so you can be creative.”
Over his two years and 600-plus batches of beer at Dad and Dudes, he estimates he got about 20 years of homebrewing experience with the benefit of having creative freedom and constant feedback.
Justin hired 20-year veteran and award-winning brewer Wayne Waananen, one of the original brewmasters at the SandLot Brewery in Coors Field, to brew with him at Station 26.
“[Wayne’s] the technical ‘big brewery’ brewer, and I’m the creative guy,” said Justin. “Our goal is to brew some of the best beer in Denver and we are well-positioned to do that right out of the gate.”
He’ll also be hiring a few people for the front of the house. He wants friendly people who are both passionate and knowledgeable about beer.
Building a brewery inside the bones of an old fire station presents many advantages: wide open spaces, built-in floor drainage and natural light coming in through large garage doors. Most of all, fire stations are built to house a lot of people and a lot of large equipment – exactly what a brewery needs.
When Justin and Wayne start brewing in November, they will brew on a 15 barrel system that was custom-built by Craftwerk Brewing Systems in Detroit. There will be seven serving tanks in the cooler and 14 taps behind the bar, all of which will serve the Station 26 brand beer – made on site.
“There’s no real theme for us,” said Justin. “We want to be not only the neighborhood brewery, but also one of the best breweries in Denver. We will brew interesting but approachable beers. We’re not going to have 10 taps full of extreme beers – we will have something for everybody.” The brewery’s slogan is, “For you for all.”
Justin and Wayne love IPAs and plan to have two on tap at all times. There is ample storage in the basement for whiskey and wine barrels, so expect to see some wood-aged and sour beers in 2014.
Station 26 will distribute kegs to beer bars around town, such as Falling Rock, Hops & Pie, Rackhouse Pub and the soon-to-open Park Hill neighborhood joint The Table Top.
There will be no kitchen in Station 26, but food trucks will park adjacent to the patio to feed its hungry patrons. Dog lovers can rejoice about Justin’s plan to welcome man’s best friend to the brewery’s outdoor spaces, as well.
Station 26’s renovation, currently underway with Foothills Commercial Builders as the general contractor, has the brewery and bar coexisting in open air. The brewery will take up the western bay, about 1,300 square feet. A standing bar area, where folks can marvel at the stainless steel operation, will act as the brewery’s perimeter – along with a few fire poles. The rest of the ample space will be dedicated to the bar and seating area, which is being built around a floor-to-ceiling cooler in the northeast section of the building.
For his bar top and indoor tables, Justin bought a large quantity of reclaimed boxcar flooring, which he’s commissioned Fin Art to design. As for the old garage doors, he’s replacing them with all-glass doors, which will create a south-facing wall of windows that will open to a large patio.
With the reclaimed wood, glass garage doors, 1960 fire station bones and stainless steel equipment, Station 26’s aesthetic is best classified as modern industrial.
“The brewery will have fire station flair without being too kitschy,” said Justin. “Ultimately our main focus is the beer.”
Station 26 Brewery expects to open its doors in late November at 7045 E. 38th Avenue. Follow its progress on Facebook at facebook.com/S26BC and Twitter at twitter.com/S26BC.