Hey y’all! It’s Em Hutto. While I type, I’m sipping a beautiful dark lager called The Nightman Cometh brewed by our friends at The Empourium Brewing Co. and sporting my favorite pair of yoga pants— also created by The Empourium. I’m here to launch a new series that tells the stories of projects that we’ve had the professional privilege to be a part of.
Introducing That Was Rad.
We stay busy celebrating the work of our partners, but it’s rare that we pause to celebrate our own. Some wise folks have advised us to do so lately… so here we go.
We’re kicking it off by showcasing our work with The Empourium Brewing Co., who just celebrated their fourth anniversary last weekend!
We’re proud to say that we’ve worked with this standout brewing company in Denver’s Berkeley neighborhood since their start. Co-Owners Greg and Sara Fetzer told us that when they opened their own brewery, we’d be one of their first marketing calls. Sure enough, they called and the rest is history.
Included in that history is the #POURtrait concept that we teamed up on to showcase the eximious mural by Drew Button that shines on the west wall of their tasting room. Our friends hired Drew to paint a mural that would anchor their space as a community hub. To capture this ethos, he pulled in vibrant colors of red and yellow, with each fragment spilling across the background as a golden grain, a sliver of fruit, a chunk of passion, a new idea—all together to create an explosion of potential bursting into the unknown. If there was a “Top Ten Brewery Murals” list out there (maybe we should create one), The Emporium’s would make the list every year.
So what is a #POURtrait?
It’s a selfie or a photoshoot in front of The Empourium’s gorgeous mural, preferably with a beer in hand. Back in February 2020, we activated this hashtag with a photo contest for the most creative submission. We also invited beer photographer extraordinaire Holly Gerard out to create an album of The Empourium’s guests posing in front of it during a First Friday celebration. This event was a blast, and we saw the hashtag appear on Instagram for weeks to come.
Check out some of Holly’s photos here, and in this Instagram post!
Over their four years in business, Greg and Sara have indeed anchored the Tennyson Street, Berkeley neighborhood, Denver, and Colorado beer scenes in their hospitable, dog-friendly space that serves truly world-class beers. First Friday celebrations have continued, as well as their annual Freshtober Fest that’s become a can’t-miss autumn event in the Mile High City. They collaborate with their neighbors, they give back to causes that they’re passionate about, and they have a lot of fun doing what they do.
Oh, and they make pristine, repeatable beers that win awards, too! In 2022, their Atari’s Lantern jasmine rice lager earned a bronze medal in the American-Style Lager category at the World Beer Cup®!
At RadCraft one of our mantras is great beer, better people. It’s an honor to work with a company that exemplifies these simple but powerful four words. Cheers to that, and cheers to them!