Strange Brewing opens biergarten, talks about expansion

Strange Brewing, which opened during American Craft Beer Week two years ago this Saturday, will debut its new patio this weekend.

The outdoor biergarten consists of four long, beautifully made wooden tables on a thin strip of gravel between the brewery’s back door and a set of light-rail tracks (part of the twelve-mile West Line that will open in 2013). It will host games on Friday — cornhole, horseshoes and possibly life-sized Jenga — as well as bands.

“We wanted it to be along the lines of English or German beer gardens,” says Strange co-owner Tim Myers, who hopes the community tables will encourage customers to hang out together. “You make new friends that way.”

And when the light-rail line is finished, Myers wants to put up a giant, six-foot sign so that commuters’ mouths will water as they pass by, then walk the six minutes back to Strange Brewing from the planned train stop near Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

For the time being, the biergarten will only be open Friday through Sunday, since customers have to access it by walking through the brewhouse, which operates the other four days of the week. But that could change soon if Strange expands into the space next door, which would also allow the brewery to more than double the size of its tasting room, add a back door and create a barrel-aging room, Myers says.

It’s space the brewery could really use: “We’ve got another ten-barrel fermenter coming this week, which means we’ll have fifty barrels of capacity by June,” Myers says.

Strange has events going on all week to celebrate American Craft Beer Week, the brewery’s two-year anniversary and the opening of the biergarten. Check out our weekly Colorado Beer Calendar for details on the Strange celebration, as well as other beery events all over town.

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