By Erica Buehler

For those familiar with Denver’s quaint Baker neighborhood, you know the appeal is two-fold: the excitement and bustle of Broadway and the hidden gems in the quiet corners just blocks away. One of those gems on West 1st Avenue and Cherokee Street is neighborhood brewery Novel Strand Brewing, which also shares its space with Queen City Collective Coffee.

The brewery is still in its early years, officially established in 2016 through a collaboration of some seriously talented minds (and really good friends). Ayana Coker, Tamir Danon and Chantel Columna are the impressive co-founders, whose love for craft beer eventually blossomed into tackling a longtime dream of opening their own brewery.

All three attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. “We would hang out at this craft beer bar (The Ruck) in the city we went to school in,” Danon says. “I was homebrewing and was working on my biochemistry degree, so it kind of goes hand-in-hand. The joke we made is that I have a microbiology background, so it’s cool for beer — and I know what yeast like.”

Danon and Columna, who were dating at the time, decided to move from Queens to Colorado in order to focus on launching the brewery. While Danon brings the scientific brewing aspect to the company, Columna brings artistry, engineering, and a knack for knowing what people like. “Chantel liked the idea of a space you can design that welcomes people,” Danon says. “An artistic design and an intimate space. When you’re part of a team, the goal should be to find roles where people will shine … together. If we play to each other’s strengths, then it’s a strong team.”

“I think that we complement each other as to how we work,” Columna says, noting that Danon also brings creativity to the table not just in his brewing of fun beer, but determining labels, working with designers, “and what the product itself entails.” Columna also manages the operational side of things, which she refers to as her playground; one that definitely posed a challenge once the COVID-19 pandemic erupted. “We’ve had to pivot our business and make sure that we always have a concrete plan, even if that plan changes every week.”

Tweaking the Recipe

Like most other businesses severely impacted by the pandemic, the name of the game for Novel was getting creative. The brewery’s space has a built-in, to-go window that was utilized from the beginning of the nationwide shutdown, and it incorporated delivery service as well. But even after some restrictions were lifted, the Novel team chose to keep their doors closed.

Danon, in conjunction with Scott Byington of Queen City Collective Coffee, decided to keep indoor dining shut down, citing the safety of their customers and staff as their number one priority. “We’re not putting business before health for anyone. We’re not going to do anything that feels unsafe.”

So, in addition to maintaining the to-go and delivery service, Novel Strand opened up outdoor seating, started mass-canning their beers, and also began building private greenhouses for sitting and sipping. “(We’re) doing the best we can to make it fun and safe for everybody, within our limits,” Columna says.

The Bond of the Brew

The team certainly sympathizes with those who simply couldn’t survive Covid-19. “It’s sad,” Columna says, “but at the same time, people have become as creative as possible to make things work. We’re in constant contact with our closest friends in the industry and we’re all suffering, but even just being able to talk to somebody about it who is struggling the same way — even if you don’t have a solution — has been really helpful and speaks to our sense of community.”

Back before a pandemic was a concern, the Novel team chose their space based on its embedded location within the Baker neighborhood. “Having a smaller community but still being known by others outside the neighborhood was very key to us,” Columna says. “Being the neighborhood brewery is part of why we chose this location.”

The dedication to customer experience radiates through Novel Strand’s events and the constant spinning of its creative wheels. The brewery has kept customers engaged this season via its Chateaux du Novel Strand Outdoor Experiencia and Winter Village. “We bought a handful of greenhouses and set it up as a small village so people can come in single parties and have a good time,” Columna says. “We hope that if people are willing to come out and adventure through the winterland, these (greenhouses) will provide a comfortable space to enjoy a pint and support the local food trucks we continue to have. Everyone is looking for a sense of normalcy, and we’re doing our best.”

Erica Buehler is a freelance writer living in Littleton with her two dogs and plenty of coffee.