By Kyle Kirves

When you visit 300 Suns Brewing in Longmont, before you order your first beer, look around … and listen. What you’ll find even before you take your first sip of one of their signature ales is that a lot of attention has gone into creating an atmosphere that cultivates connections between people. The interior is rustic and warm, shaded with a muted and earthy palette of copper, sand, and water, most of it fashioned by hand by the owners themselves. Whether it’s the oftentimes live music, the beer garden-inspired seating, or the conscious choice to leave the televisions out of the picture, 300 Suns is a place where people – and families – talk, laugh, toast, sing, play, eat and celebrate.

The commitment to authentic, small-scale, singular experiences goes beyond just the beer and the brewery space. Everything under the Suns, as it were, is hand-crafted with great care.

“It is part of our plan, and always has been, to create great, craft beer first, yes,” says co-owner and brewer Dan Ditslear of 300 Suns, “but to also be a very chill environment for family and friends and co-workers to really connect.”

Jean Ditslear, co-owner, expresses the similar community-based sentiment. “We love being a part of Longmont and did long before we opened a brewery,” she says. “Our kids are growing up here. And we’ve developed great connections that we think create a collaborative, artistic vibrancy that’s part of our success. It’s in the beer, and we like to believe it’s in the air here as well.”

It’s a success they share, too. Roughly 65 days out of the year, 300 Suns “makes it rain” (get it?) for local non-profits by donating 10% of everything they sell to a selected Boulder county organization. El Sol comes out even when it rains: that’s the 300 Suns way.

Beyond beer, 300 Suns’ commitment to craft extends to artisanal foods and snacks offerings, and serving as a venue for intimate performances. On various nights, you can catch live, local comedy, or local favorite musicians and they have a gallery wall for local artists to display their work. Jean’s favorite is the Wednesday “open mic” style acoustic jam sessions. “During the baseball playoffs, there were three musicians here playing at our traditional open mic for a small crowd. It was spontaneous, creative and magical,” she says. “It inspired our new Acoustic Jam Sessions where we try to capture that magic every Wednesday.”

All of it together works, and works well. It’s a formula built on connections. 300 Suns is a place that you can walk into and feel instantly at-ease. It’s a bright, inviting place with excellent, sometimes wildly experimental beers on tap and a welcoming staff ready to introduce you to a new favorite. If you’re having trouble deciding on something, let me recommend one that has been a favorite up and down the Front Range (and that quickly disappeared at the Great American Beer Festival) – the originally seasonal but now brewing staple, Salted Toffee Imperial Brown … and let the sun shine in.