**ETA – Open as of August 11!!!! **
Let’s be honest, when you move to a new place (or back to an old place,) and you have to put yourself out there and find new places and new people who can tolerate your level of weird you can connect with, it sucks. Finding a great place to eat where they love your kid like you love your kid, a brewery where the beer AND the people both rock, neighbors who feel comfortable breaking in to your back yard when they see the fire pit going, and coworkers who make you maybe NOT want to work from home every damn day can be a real bitch, yo?
It takes time… there are false starts, there are strange vibes and weirdos (and not the good kind,) and all kinds of potential potholes you can’t always avoid.
But you get there. You find your folks. You land at a spot or two where, eventually, your conversation AND your wifi both connect automatically when you sit down after a long day.
You settle in.
And then they leave your ass.
Ok, that is 100% over-simplifying it, but I am prone to drama, so whatever.
When we arrived back in this sleepy little hamlet (seriously Keri? I just eye-rolled at myself with that one,) one of the first times I remember thinking “hey, we are going to be ok here after all,” was the first time I opened the door of Broomfield’s 1st Brewery, Big Choice Brewing. Social Distortion blasted through the speakers, and it smelled deliciously, invitingly beery. And holy shit, was the beer GOOOOD.
YAS, people, just YASS.
For the past 5 years it’s been where we go. It just has. Jr learned to climb stairs one quiet weekend afternoon there as we waited for an early dinner to come off whatever BBQ food truck happened to be parked outside that day. My coworkers and I toasted great news with pints of Disconnected Red, and commiserated in mutual exhausted silence with Peppermint Stout during end-of-year craziness. Faces around the tasting room became familiar and every visit became a chance to check-in, catch up, and connect.
Together we celebrated 5 anniversaries of their awesome beer and awesome-er (totally a word) community spirit with them. We got to watch the brewery grow into itself, and the owners turn from being “really friendly people” in to being just our very good friends.
But here is the thing about being really great. The best kinds of greatness always grow WAY beyond whatever level of great you could have imagined.
And so last month – in a final blaze of Broomfield beer-serving glory, Big Choice said goodbye to it’s original home and hometown, and the Big Choice family started renovations on an amazing new space in Brighton – a town about 15-20 minutes away. (The Mr states it is 17 minutes from our door to theirs.)
It isn’t really FAR, per se. It’s just not “in the same city as home and office close” anymore. Which means it will be a weekend afternoon destination now, rather than a last minute wanna grab a beer any given weekday spot.
And believe me – our ugly mugs will be there OFTEN, the beer is great, the new space is SO COOL, and the chance to see old friends and meet some new ones in Brighton will be awesome too.
It’s just… different.
And even if it was a little teary for me to imagine them anywhere else at first, I am so proud of how they have grown in these 5 years, and so excited to see what happens next for them.
The new space is ALMOST complete – the actual opening date is not decided yet, but you KNOW Keri will be blasting that all over here and every social media site she can when they pin one down. (*ETA* Open as of 8/11!!!)
Hey Brighton – you are SO FREAKING LUCKY! I’ll see ya soon at the brewery.
Soooo Broomfield… I know a place with some beer that is SO worth the trip…. Who wants to share an Uber?
Big Choice Brewing – 21 S. 1st Ave, Brighton CO
Reluctantly Suburban 