On Saturday afternoon my wife and I set off to visit the newly opened tap room at CAUTION: Brewing Company. This was our second visit to the brewery, having dropped in when they first started about a year ago. It is definitely one of those locations that makes you glad Google Maps exists, tucked back in a nondescript East Denver (very, very East) business park.

I entered through the same door I had on my last visit, but instead of finding a wall to my right there was a bright, open tap room. Danny Wang, owner and head brewer, said they took over the neighboring unit (an extra 900sq. ft.) a few months ago and have been working feverishly to convert it. He told me it wasn’t until 3:30pm on Friday afternoon that the space was truly finished (doors opened at 4).

They had 5 beers on tap for the opening weekend, so we went for the sampler. Stacey and I rarely agree on favorite beers, but we loved the Lao Wang Lager and Toaster Bat Black. The Lao Wang Lager, brewed with what they like to refer to as “secret Asian spices”, was light and crisp but ended with a lot of unfamiliar spice notes. Toaster Bat Black was on the complete other end of the spectrum. It poured an inky black with an aroma and taste very reminiscent of a campfire (in a good way) thanks to smoked and peated malts. We decided to get a full pour of each… and a growler of the lager.

Before heading out over an hour past the scheduled ‘closing time’, we took another stroll through the quaint brewery. The 5bbl Brew House (from Odell Brewing Co.) and twin 13bbl fermenters were where I remembered them, but there were several additions - a brand new 10bbl fermenter and a rather large barrel. This French Chardonnay barrel is currently providing refuge to an Old Ale designed by the Foam on the Range homebrew club. I’m certainly looking forward to trying it when it’s ready.

While our taste buds were quite happy, it became apparent that we were in need of food. So with a 32oz growler of Lao Wang Lager in hand, we set our sights on finding some good Chinese take-out.