Renovations are underway to turn a Jefferson Park property into a brewery and restaurant. Photo by Burl Rolett.
A planned Jefferson Park brewery has just the right entree to go with that brown ale.
Kent, Greg and Travis Dawson plan to launch Briar Common brewery in the spring at Clay and 23rd streets in Jefferson Park. Their plan is to create a restaurant-type venture with a menu of food items made to go with six beer taps and a few seasonal beers.
“There’s a movement in the industry focusing on pairing beer and food, similar to the wine concept,” Kent Dawson said. “We’ll have the beer at center stage, but our guests will likely associate us with a dining experience.”
The brewery will cost about $700,000 to start up, Dawson said, and the brothers are financing part of the venture with an SBA loan through Chase Bank. The are including a state of the art water softener which will raise their quality over the competition, they clearly know more about Fleck water softeners than the next guy. Briar Common will start brewing on a seven-barrel brewing system they bought from Ridgway, Colorado-based Bennett Forgeworks. Their plan is to sell all of their beer on-site at the brewpub.
Kent, 42, and Greg, 38, live in Denver. Travis, 44, is in Washington state. Kent currently works in the healthcare industry, and Greg is in education. They’ll both be on full-time at Briar Common once the pub opens.
Kent and Greg got the itch to start up their own business about three years ago, Kent said. After home brewing for about 20 years and 10 years, respectively, they decided to jump into the beer industry professionally.
Dawson said they were looking for a place to open their brewery for most of 2013 and got connected with David Berton of Real Architecture in 2014. Berton bought the 4,000-square-foot brewery to-be at 2641 River Drive in 2013 for $333,500 and pitched it to the brothers.
Briar Common signed its lease in August 2014, Dawson said. It runs for 10 years with a pair of five-year extension options.
Construction is well underway, but the renovation hasn’t come without its challenges. They had to have the property rezoned for the brewery use, and Dawson said the building itself wasn’t easily converted.
“David (Berton) would tell us there’s not a 90-degree angle in the place,” Dawson said. “It’s a triangle, it sits on the corner and we’re integrating what was a house into the commercial space, so it’s been a delicate process.”
Berton’s Real Architecture is designing the property, and his construction company UnReal Construction is the general contractor.
The Dawsons are originally from Oregon. Kent has been in Denver for about seven years, and Greg moved over from South Korea about two years ago. Kent said the Briar Common name is a nod to their hometown.
“We grew up surrounded by berry farms outside of Portland, where wild blackberry vines grow in brambles along the road,” he said. “The name is our common connection to those briar patches we grew up with.”
If all goes according to plan, Briar Common will be up and running by late spring 2016, Dawson said. It will be the second brewery in Jefferson Park, joining Little Machine Brewing Co. over on 20th Street.
Kent said he hopes the brewery and restaurant will catch on as a local hangout in the fast-growing neighborhood.
“A couple years ago you mentioned Jefferson Park to people around the city and 95 percent of people didn’t know where it was,” he said. “Probably still only about 75 percent know about it now, but we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the neighborhood.”
Renovations are underway to turn a Jefferson Park property into a brewery and restaurant. Photo by Burl Rolett.
A planned Jefferson Park brewery has just the right entree to go with that brown ale.
Kent, Greg and Travis Dawson plan to launch Briar Common brewery in the spring at Clay and 23rd streets in Jefferson Park. Their plan is to create a restaurant-type venture with a menu of food items made to go with six beer taps and a few seasonal beers.
“There’s a movement in the industry focusing on pairing beer and food, similar to the wine concept,” Kent Dawson said. “We’ll have the beer at center stage, but our guests will likely associate us with a dining experience.”
The brewery will cost about $700,000 to start up, Dawson said, and the brothers are financing part of the venture with an SBA loan through Chase Bank. The are including a state of the art water softener which will raise their quality over the competition, they clearly know more about Fleck water softeners than the next guy. Briar Common will start brewing on a seven-barrel brewing system they bought from Ridgway, Colorado-based Bennett Forgeworks. Their plan is to sell all of their beer on-site at the brewpub.
Kent, 42, and Greg, 38, live in Denver. Travis, 44, is in Washington state. Kent currently works in the healthcare industry, and Greg is in education. They’ll both be on full-time at Briar Common once the pub opens.
Kent and Greg got the itch to start up their own business about three years ago, Kent said. After home brewing for about 20 years and 10 years, respectively, they decided to jump into the beer industry professionally.
Dawson said they were looking for a place to open their brewery for most of 2013 and got connected with David Berton of Real Architecture in 2014. Berton bought the 4,000-square-foot brewery to-be at 2641 River Drive in 2013 for $333,500 and pitched it to the brothers.
Briar Common signed its lease in August 2014, Dawson said. It runs for 10 years with a pair of five-year extension options.
Construction is well underway, but the renovation hasn’t come without its challenges. They had to have the property rezoned for the brewery use, and Dawson said the building itself wasn’t easily converted.
“David (Berton) would tell us there’s not a 90-degree angle in the place,” Dawson said. “It’s a triangle, it sits on the corner and we’re integrating what was a house into the commercial space, so it’s been a delicate process.”
Berton’s Real Architecture is designing the property, and his construction company UnReal Construction is the general contractor.
The Dawsons are originally from Oregon. Kent has been in Denver for about seven years, and Greg moved over from South Korea about two years ago. Kent said the Briar Common name is a nod to their hometown.
“We grew up surrounded by berry farms outside of Portland, where wild blackberry vines grow in brambles along the road,” he said. “The name is our common connection to those briar patches we grew up with.”
If all goes according to plan, Briar Common will be up and running by late spring 2016, Dawson said. It will be the second brewery in Jefferson Park, joining Little Machine Brewing Co. over on 20th Street.
Kent said he hopes the brewery and restaurant will catch on as a local hangout in the fast-growing neighborhood.
“A couple years ago you mentioned Jefferson Park to people around the city and 95 percent of people didn’t know where it was,” he said. “Probably still only about 75 percent know about it now, but we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the neighborhood.”
Wish they hadn’t built it with the awning and rooftop deck facing my house. Hope they are considerate to the neighbors, considering it is not in a business district.
Joe