Meet Matthew Fuerst of Grandma’s House in South Broadway

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Fuerst.

Matthew, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As many brewery owners, I began as a hobbyist and fantasized of one day making a career of it. When I lost my job twice in three years during the Great Recession (I worked in public policy to reduce tobacco use), I decided to take it as an opportunity to change careers and give the brewing industry a shot. I started studying for brewing accreditations, and since I had lived in Colorado for a brief time before my previous job and liked it here, decided that it would be a good place to try and find a job in the industry. After working for six months at a large regional brewery, and being far from a spring chicken, I decided on my 35th birthday to quit that job and get to work on starting my own place.

The idea for Grandma’s House was an amalgamation of several traits I wanted the brewery to possess, as well as some characteristics that sprung from my own personality. First and foremost, I wanted the brewery to have an atmosphere that set itself apart from what was quickly becoming a crowded brewery market in Denver. While many brewery taprooms have elements of steel or reclaimed wood, I wanted our taproom to have more of a relaxed, comfortable, and homey vibe. I also have always enjoyed accumulating odd items via thrift stores and yard sales, so the idea of decorating the taproom with a plethora of strange accumulated trinkets worked well with my own proclivities. While the taproom doesn’t actually resemble either of my own grandparent’s homes, it has been nice to include small touches from my own grandparents. For example, all of the paintings in the building were done by my maternal grandmother Franca, and a self-portrait of her is prominently displayed behind the bar.

We just celebrated our five year anniversary, and our opening seems both like forever ago and just yesterday at different times. We’ve faced all sorts of challenges to make it this far, but it is hard to imagine myself doing anything else.

Has it been a smooth road?
One of the defining characteristics of a business owner is their ability to adapt in the face of challenges, and we have faced many. Some are typical of most small businesses, while others could hardly have been foreseen. We faced the typical funding difficulties, construction delays, and bureaucratic red tape. I’d say that the biggest challenges I’ve faced have been related to some of my personality traits that might not be as well suited to running a business as others.

I have always tended to be a fairly trusting person, and while I have tried not to let the business change that about me, it has gotten me in quite a bit of trouble since starting the business. As they say, “a fool and their money are soon parted,” and I’ve learned the hard way to be cautious of people’s intentions while still giving them the benefit of the doubt. Additionally, I have always been more of a person to put my head down and get work done than to manage people, but I realized early on that there is only so much I can do alone. Trying to manage my employees and get the best out of them while also trying to do the best I can for them has been an ongoing challenge, and one I am continually trying to improve upon.

Please tell us about Grandma’s House. What should we know?
We are a brewery and taproom. While there is no shortage of great beer in both Denver and Colorado, I’d certainly have to say that what set us apart is our taproom atmosphere. I think our taproom is one of the most unique in Denver if not much farther, which I take a great deal of pride in. The concept of Grandma’s House has also lent itself to a host of other elements which we have spring-boarded off of, the events we host in the taproom being an example of that.

We have always welcomed crafty events which tie in very well with our brand, but probably the one we are best known for is our Foul-Mouthed Cross-Stitching every Sunday. The concept started as a reaction to our slow sales on football Sundays, and now our taproom is often crowded from open to close with guests of all types happily stitching profanities while sipping on a beer. That being said, I never wanted our concept to be window dressing for bad beer. While we have never been style-focused, we have always prided ourselves on having a wide assortment of beer styles, and I’ve had the benefit of several very talented brewers over the years making excellent beer.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The industry is certainly getting more competitive, specifically in Denver, and where breweries once never seemed to close, we have started to see more of them do so in the past couple of years (even very good ones). Large breweries are seeing their growth prospects start to dwindle and entertain buyout from large conglomerates as a result. I try not to look too far into the future and focus on what I can do in the short-term to help our brewery succeed. Not many of us are going to become enormous breweries ever, but if we can keep doing things that people enjoy, I hope that we will be around for a long while.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1710 South Broadway, Denver, CO 80210
• Website: www.grandmasbeer.co
• Phone: (303) 578-6754
• Email: howdy@grandmasbeer.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grandmasbeerco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrandmasBeerCO/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/GrandmasBeerCO

Image Credit:
Patrick Andrade, relicfineart.com

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