x
Breaking News
More () »

New queer-owned microbrewery opens in Littleton

Zymos Brewing just opened last week near South Lowell Blvd. and Belleview Ave.

LITTLETON, Colo. — Before they even officially opened their doors, Zymos Brewing, already began accomplishing their mission of creating community. 

"It's awesome. It's actually really cool," said owner Alex Tift. "I didn't expect to have regulars and ready-made friends this quickly."

Alex and her husband Tyler Tift, met their current business partners, James and Jenette Coulter, through craft beer. 

"You just make friends in breweries," said Alex. "I've made so many friends just talking about beer."

Going into their first week of being open, they've already forged friendships that have become the building blocks of their new community. 

"One of our neighbors across the street made that copper sign," she said. "I’m so grateful to all of the people who have already helped support me and who are already building this community."

Credit: 9NEWS - Joe Swanson

Alex said they're sourcing local ingredients as much as they can including, Colorado honey and malt for their honey-matcha blonde ale, 'Cup and Saucer'. 

"We're going to serve kind of anything we can," she said. "We love having a wide variety of beers because we want everybody to be able to find something they love."

James said they're also using locally forged spruce tips for their Nordic-inspired wheat beer. 

"My favorite is my 'Skaldic'. I really like how the spruce plays on it," said James. "You get kind of this beautiful aromatic sensation in the brewery while it's happening, which is really fun." 

They already have seven in-house beers on tap with many more to come. 

Credit: 9NEWS - Joe Swanson

“James is known for his pastry stouts, higher gravity, sweeter, darker beers, so that’s something else we’re going to be pulling out soon," said Alex. 

She said they've also designed their brewery to be welcoming and accessible to everybody. 

Zymos Brewing is also the fourth, self-identified, queer-owned brewery in the state. 

"It can feel really exclusive and intimidating to walk in to a building where you're the only woman or the only person of color, right? So we've done a lot of outreach to try and approach that," said Alex. "We want to be welcoming for everybody and the queer part of it is not really the focus of our story, it’s more of something that informs our decisions.”

>Video below: A look inside the beer brewing process with head brewer James Coulter 

Now they just hope it all continues to grow from here.

"We're already starting to form that community," she said. "So that's what I really want to foster."

Zymos Brewing has been five years in the making. They just had their grand opening on Friday. 

SUGGESTED VIDEOSLatest from 9NEWS


Before You Leave, Check This Out