The story of New Image is as much about community as it is about beer.
After many successful years at its taproom in Olde Town Arvada, the innovative brewery opened a similar space in Wheat Ridge in March of 2022. Since then, the company has gone to great lengths to provide Wheat Ridge and its residents with opportunities to connect, vend and – of course – drink delicious and unique beers.
Hosting and facilitating community events has been central to the brewery’s success since it opened its West 44th Avenue taproom. Marketing Director Ryan Pachmayer speaks proudly of one such event: a Saturday market held on the patio every third week of the summer months.
“We had 15 vendors here [last Saturday]. We had acoustic music and a bunch of patrons out here […] literally all the way to the back of the building.”
Pachmayer emphasizes that all vendors are local, and range from jewelry artisans to painters to gnome-makers. Any and all are welcome, and are given their areas on the patio free of charge.
“We’re just trying to get people to gather here because we have a nice big space, and that’s the kind of experience we’re trying to provide.”
New Image also offers patrons a chance to earn their beers with its weekly bike and run clubs, held on Wednesdays and Thursdays respectively. Participants of all skill levels are welcome to come work up a sweat with other locals before indulging in a few of the brewery’s finely crafted products. Pachmayer reports that up to 50 people have shown up for Bike Club in the past, but they are always open to new riders.
Pachmayer’s attitude toward the city of Wheat Ridge and its residents immediately conveys New Image’s company-wide philosophy of community engagement:
“At the end of the day, if we didn’t care about the community, we wouldn’t have a taproom,” he muses. “You can have a warehouse and just make beer and sell it across the country. There’s plenty of breweries that do that. But it’s just fun to see people come in, enjoy beers. Yeah, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Outside of New Image’s community involvement, Pachmayer also wants to emphasize the measures the company takes to remain dynamic and forward-thinking in its brews. True to its Colorado origin, one of their staples, Cannaheim, is infused with hemp terpenes during the brewing process, eliciting an especially “dank” and delicious taste.
The brewery also makes occasional batches of barley wine, which typically sell out online within two hours of release, according to Pachmayer. Another local favorite, the Phanny Pack, is brewed with Phantasm, a powder derived from New Zealand’s Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc grapes. These work to form a particularly rich and fruity flavor. But, perhaps the best indicators of New Image’s quality are the cheers and laughs that can be heard at its taproom seven nights a week.
At the time of writing, New Image is gearing up for Ridgefest 2023 – an event to which it has donated a large quantity of beer.
For information about New Image and its beers, taprooms and events, visit them at https://www.nibrewing.com, and follow them on Instagram at @nibrewing – or, simply drop in to see what they have coming next.
