Former Great Divide lead brewer heads to Denver Beer Co.

Denver Beer Co. recently added another member to its growing team with the hire of Austin Wiley for the position of lead brewer. Formerly the lead brewer for Great Divide Brewery, Wiley will manage brewing and recipe development for the Platte Street tap room.

Wiley joins brewer Nick Bruno, and Brewmaistes Charlie Berger and Patrick Crawford.  With the opening of the Denver Beer Co. production brewhouse, Bruno will assume the role of lead brewer for the production facility, while Wiley manages the Platte Street tap room.  Berger and Crawford will continue to oversee brewing operations at both facilities.

“We are very excited to have Austin join our Denver Beer Co team,” Berger said. “He has trained with one of our industry’s best breweries and we are excited to tap into his creativity and expertise for our ever-changing beer lineup.”

Austin Wiley joins Denver Beer Co. from Great Divide Brewery, where he began on the packaging line in 2007 and worked his way up to lead brewer.  While with Great Divide, Wiley focused on recipe development and managed brewing operations. With Denver Beer Co., Wiley will oversee the brewing schedule and operations for the tap room. His responsibilities will include recipe development for the continuously rotating tap selection, and management of the Denver Beer Co barrel-aging program.

“Austin will be an integral part of our brewing team; we are excited to have him help us continue to develop unique and flavorful recipes for our tap room, plus lend his expertise on yeast strains and barrel-aging,” Crawford said.

The Denver Beer Co. tap room was founded in 2011 and is open seven days per week.  Denver Beer Co. plans to open a production brewery this summer, which will focus primarily on the canning and bottling of beer for distribution.