Justin Baccary always wanted to brew beer. He just needed to find the right place to do it …
“Breweries are interesting projects when it comes to finding a suitable space,” he said. “You need to pick the perfect mix of space and character.”
He found it at Station 26.
“I was riding my bike past the location a few months ago and knew it would work – it has 4,000 square feet on the main level, which leaves room to brew, but it has a lot of character,” he said about the former fire station just west of Central Park. “It even still has the fire poles. Obviously, a 1960s fire station is a cool space.”
Justin named the spot Station 26 Brewing Co. in honor of its Denver history and launched the brewery late last year.
“We opened the day after the city told us we could – it was the holiday season, so a lot of people were off work and out of town, but there were still people waiting in the parking lot,” Justin said, crediting that to an absence of other breweries nearby.
“This part of town – Park Hill and Central Park – is part of a big hole in Denver’s brewery map, so it was really just a matter of targeting those neighborhoods to try to find suitable space.”
That search began when Justin moved to Colorado.
“I’m a former investment banker and private equity guy. I did that for a handful of years, but I just never liked what I did,” he said. “When I moved to Denver eight years ago, I got increasingly into beer and took a job at a little brew pub in town.
“I spent about a year and a half there and realized I had an interesting combination of skills from my finance days that I could use for brewing. So I started this business.”
Since then, beer lovers have poured in.
“We’re making just enough beer to keep up with demand,” he said. “Lucky for us, we have big enough equipment, but we’ve been busy. We also sell glass jugs or growlers to fill and take, and we’ll be selling kegs to bars and restaurants soon.”
Right now, Station 26 has six beers, but plans to release a brown ale as well as a red IPA and eventually brew 10 beers on site.
“We’re focused on seasonal beers with a plan to keep things fresh,” Justin said. “There will be a lot of variety. We’re brand new, and beers take three weeks from start to finish, so we’re steadily growing from six brews.”
Each beer is $5, and food trucks are parked outside Station 26 from mid-afternoon through at least 7 or 8 p.m.
Justin is also planning for other additions.
“We are definitely going to do live music in the future,” he said. “We may also do movie nights or other entertainment – just keeping things interesting over here.”
And it’s all meant to build community.
“We really want to be an active and integral part of the neighborhood. We don’t have TVs on purpose,” Justin said. “We like people to come and chat with new friends. We’ve got a big bar, and all of our other seating is around eight-person, communal tables to encourage new interactions.”
Station 26 is at 7045 E. 38th Ave. and 303.333.1825. The brewery’s open 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and noon to 9 p.m. Sundays: Learn more & stop by!
