L-R: Derek Waner, Bo Bontrager and Evan Chamberlain outside of their brewery. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)
Alidade Brewing wants to chart its own course.
“(An alidade) was used back in the earlier navigational days to help determine distances, direction, to find out where you’re going,” co-owner and brewer Derek Waner said. “And so the idea became Alidade Brewing: a new direction in crafting connections.”
A new direction is also what Waner and fellow co-founders Bo Bontrager and Evan Chamberlain are trying to bring to their space at 680 Atchison Way in Castle Rock. The space was formerly home to Burley Brewing Co., which closed last year following an investor lawsuit that put the business into receivership. The brewery’s majority owner referred to her detractors as “the Castle Rock mob and local terrorists.”
The closure left equipment, materials and the like for Alidade to find when it signed a seven-year lease in March. The three owners have spent the last several months literally and figuratively scrubbing the space clean.
“We want people to walk in and soon forget what was here and think about what is here. It was really important for us to change the aesthetic, the way it looks, the way it feels, the culture,” said Bontrager, who will manage the front of house staff.
Alidade will feature a diverse lineup of beers in its debut, including a kolsch, shandy, sour and several IPAs. The brewery, which has a 10-barrel system, will also have ciders and pre-batched cocktails like a Paloma flowing from several of its 24 taps.
Alidade’s dog-friendly patio, which the owners said can hold around 30 people. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)
Once the trio gets in a groove with operations, they will start making cider on site. They’ll also serve wine, non-alcoholic drinks and a seltzer, which customers can enjoy inside or on Alidade’s firepit-laden, dog-friendly patio.
“Drinkability is the key, right? So just all sorts of styles for all,” said Chamberlain, who will serve as the glue between brewing and serving staff.
The brewery will also have chips, popcorn, cookies and sodas for sale, alongside food trucks. The three hope to have more of a culinary arm by at least next summer, but don’t know yet what it will look like. A 1,000-square-foot back room is slated to be a private events space, but could also host a kitchen.
“If we go full-blown kitchen with a hood, that menu’s probably going to look a lot different than if we’re not doing a hood. Maybe we’re just doing small bites, we’re doing charcuteries, we’re doing maybe even just quick oven type food,” Bontrager said. “We’ve really looked across that whole spectrum, even at just having our own food truck that’s permanently parked out here.
“We’ve talked to a handful of different restaurant operators already that are looking to expand or do a second location or something like that,” Chamberlain added. “So we’ve got some irons on fire, kind of seeing what is out there, because that’s not our background.”
Waner and Chamberlain met while brewing together in San Diego at the former Green Flash Brewing Co., which was bought by Atlanta-based New Realm in 2018. After the sale, Waner went off to Pennsylvania and was the head brewer at Hitchhiker Brewing in Pittsburgh. Chamberlain stayed on until 2021, when he moved to Colorado and worked at Barnett & Son Brewing, which Lone Tree Brewing acquired in early 2024.
Waner made his way to the Centennial State in 2023, working for Stranahan’s Whiskey before founding Alidade.
Bontrager had a windier path to the industry. After three decades in the oil and gas industry, the former homebrewer was ready to open his own spot. But without any formal training, he needed to hit the beer circuit. In 2023, he started working as a beertender and for Barnett & Son, where he met Chamberlain, and then worked as a statewide sales rep for a year when Lone Tree took over.
“It hasn’t even sunk in that we’re going to put our roots down here into this community,” Bontrager said. “And that’s just been a dream.”
L-R: Derek Waner, Bo Bontrager and Evan Chamberlain outside of their brewery. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)
Alidade Brewing wants to chart its own course.
“(An alidade) was used back in the earlier navigational days to help determine distances, direction, to find out where you’re going,” co-owner and brewer Derek Waner said. “And so the idea became Alidade Brewing: a new direction in crafting connections.”
A new direction is also what Waner and fellow co-founders Bo Bontrager and Evan Chamberlain are trying to bring to their space at 680 Atchison Way in Castle Rock. The space was formerly home to Burley Brewing Co., which closed last year following an investor lawsuit that put the business into receivership. The brewery’s majority owner referred to her detractors as “the Castle Rock mob and local terrorists.”
The closure left equipment, materials and the like for Alidade to find when it signed a seven-year lease in March. The three owners have spent the last several months literally and figuratively scrubbing the space clean.
“We want people to walk in and soon forget what was here and think about what is here. It was really important for us to change the aesthetic, the way it looks, the way it feels, the culture,” said Bontrager, who will manage the front of house staff.
Alidade will feature a diverse lineup of beers in its debut, including a kolsch, shandy, sour and several IPAs. The brewery, which has a 10-barrel system, will also have ciders and pre-batched cocktails like a Paloma flowing from several of its 24 taps.
Alidade’s dog-friendly patio, which the owners said can hold around 30 people. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)
Once the trio gets in a groove with operations, they will start making cider on site. They’ll also serve wine, non-alcoholic drinks and a seltzer, which customers can enjoy inside or on Alidade’s firepit-laden, dog-friendly patio.
“Drinkability is the key, right? So just all sorts of styles for all,” said Chamberlain, who will serve as the glue between brewing and serving staff.
The brewery will also have chips, popcorn, cookies and sodas for sale, alongside food trucks. The three hope to have more of a culinary arm by at least next summer, but don’t know yet what it will look like. A 1,000-square-foot back room is slated to be a private events space, but could also host a kitchen.
“If we go full-blown kitchen with a hood, that menu’s probably going to look a lot different than if we’re not doing a hood. Maybe we’re just doing small bites, we’re doing charcuteries, we’re doing maybe even just quick oven type food,” Bontrager said. “We’ve really looked across that whole spectrum, even at just having our own food truck that’s permanently parked out here.
“We’ve talked to a handful of different restaurant operators already that are looking to expand or do a second location or something like that,” Chamberlain added. “So we’ve got some irons on fire, kind of seeing what is out there, because that’s not our background.”
Waner and Chamberlain met while brewing together in San Diego at the former Green Flash Brewing Co., which was bought by Atlanta-based New Realm in 2018. After the sale, Waner went off to Pennsylvania and was the head brewer at Hitchhiker Brewing in Pittsburgh. Chamberlain stayed on until 2021, when he moved to Colorado and worked at Barnett & Son Brewing, which Lone Tree Brewing acquired in early 2024.
Waner made his way to the Centennial State in 2023, working for Stranahan’s Whiskey before founding Alidade.
Bontrager had a windier path to the industry. After three decades in the oil and gas industry, the former homebrewer was ready to open his own spot. But without any formal training, he needed to hit the beer circuit. In 2023, he started working as a beertender and for Barnett & Son, where he met Chamberlain, and then worked as a statewide sales rep for a year when Lone Tree took over.
“It hasn’t even sunk in that we’re going to put our roots down here into this community,” Bontrager said. “And that’s just been a dream.”
