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Will Denver airport’s Tivoli Brewing ever make beer again?

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When Denver International Airport announced in 2015 that it was looking for a local company to build and operate a brewery inside the attached Westin hotel, it was big news. Not only would an onsite brewery highlight Colorado’s exploding craft beer scene, but it would also give DIA some cachet as one of the first and only airports to have a brewery physically located on its property.

“It’s a chance to be unique and do something that someone else hasn’t done,” DIA’s then-senior vice president for concessions Neil Maxfield told Westword at the time, adding that the winning brewery would be required to make a signature IPA that would be served only at the airport.

But that was one of the last times airport officials had anything frothy to say about the brewery, which has proven to be anything but a party. While the restaurant portion of the taproom remains open, just off the plaza on the south side of the Jeppesen Terminal, the beer-making equipment — including tanks and a small, 3.5-barrel brewing system — has been mothballed since the pandemic began in March 2020. And it may stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Last month, DIA’s brewery began a new chapter when the concessionaire that ran it, Midfield Concession Enterprises (MCE), sold its contract to another concessionaire, SSP America, according to SSP vice president of brand strategy, Lana Cramer​​​​. SSP’s parent company operates nearly 3,000 restaurants and stores at 600 travel locations around the world.

Tivoli Brewing opened at Denver International Airport in 2018, but only has made beer on-site for 15 months of that time. It's future is now up in the air. (Staff photo/Jonathan Shikes)
The brewing system at Denver International Airport. (Jonathan Shikes)

“As the new owners right now, we are meeting with the brand and trying to get our arms around the operation in order to conduct an analysis. Ultimately our efforts will be focused on determining what is best for all parties in order to ultimately offer a world-class experience,” Cramer said.

That “brand” is Tivoli Brewing, which opened its first location in the Tivoli Student Union building on Denver’s Auraria Higher Education Center campus in 2015. In a conversation with The Denver Post, brewery CEO Ari Opsahl was up-front about its future at DIA.

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“Everybody sees the value in having a taphouse in some way, shape or form. But brewing out at the airport isn’t the most logistics-friendly environment on the planet,” he said. Would it be cool to make beer at the airport again? Absolutely. Does it make logistical or financial sense? Not at all.

Not only is it difficult to take delivery of raw materials and get rid of the spent barley that is used to make beer, but the facility doesn’t merit having a full-time brewer on hand because it is so small.

“We want to revamp the look the feel out there. It’s everybody’s intention to do exciting things. But we’re trying to work out what that would look like, and we don’t know yet,” Opsahl said.

DIA itself had little to say about the brewery, deferring to SSP America. “We remain open to exploring opportunities that enhance the overall experience at our airport, including an operational brewery,” spokeswoman Ashley Forest wrote in an email. “We are excited about what the future may hold for the new owners of” the Tivoli Brewing taproom space.



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