The Beers
Our beers lean towards malty, but we are willing to try just about everything. Variety is the spice of life, but malty and smokey brews are our passion.
Brewery & Tap House
We are a classic home brewery creating 5 gallon batches based on whims and work schedules. This results in eclectic and very personal batches of beers.
About Us
We started brewing beer almost 40 years ago in Denver, CO. Since then we have tasted many a craft beer and said – ‘I think we brewed that 30 years ago”:-)
Our Beers
THE BIG NINE 0
A birthday beer for the patriarch of the brewery! To celebrate 90 incredible years, we brewed a classic English Strong Ale. A rich and complex beer for a great father who never missed a game, skied the black runs when he was tired, took us camping and fishing, and taught us the value of hard work.
ABV – 9.0
IBU – 12
SILVER LINING ESB
A beer brewed while social distancing, washing my hands, and hoping for a silver lining. A classic ESB bringing back memories of drinking and singing in the pubs of London.
ABV – 5.4
IBU – 60
SMOKEY THE SCOTTY
The next in line of a lifetime pursuit to brew the perfect Scottish Ale. A sweet and smoky memory – a tribute to Smokey the Bear and the four legged friends tht have blessed our lives.
ABV – 8.2
IBU – 15
GRANDMA'S CABIN GOLDEN ALE
A strong Belgian Ale to honor the strength of our great family matriarch (Grinny Nick) who built this cabin and instilled in all of us a love and respect for the great outdoors. Original painting by Gary Nichols.
ABV – 9.0
IBU – 20
3 DOG NIGHT
A tribute to three of the best dogs anyone could every experience in a lifetime – Rocky, Coco, and Tofu Joe. A malty ale with a bit of hoppiness and a lot of love. Bottle artwork created by Kai Song-Nichols.
ABV – 6.3
IBU – 20
THE SCOREKEEPER
Dedicated to the memory of a lifelong friend and guest brewer this beer is smooth and dependable with a little bit of spice. All attributes of our friend and disc golf scorekeeper.
ABV – 5.2
IBU – 32
THE SMOKY SCOTSMAN RETURNS
This remake of an all time Nichols Brewery great, the Smokey Scotsman adds an even bigger punch of smoked malt and a bigger grain bill resulting in a strong smokey treat.
ABV – 8.4
IBU – 10
UNIDENTIFIED FLYING DISC
An IPAish brew that begs the question of what the heck is going on, just like the mysterious floating disc (that turned out to be a curious fox) this beer has some humor in it.
ABV – 5.8
IBU – 65
THE HALLOWEEN KING
To celebrate the best holiday ever, the brewery goes all in with decorating and brewing. This Marzen style beer is a malty monster that is full of treats.
ABV – 6.2
IBU – 12
EXPERIMENTAL INTEGRATION
This experimental lager is named after the court ordered integration of the Denver Schools. A truly experimental process and a truly experimental brew that combines tradional Ale ingredients and foraged wild Colorado Hops in a Lager.
ABV – 5.0
IBU – 35
THE SMOKY SCOTSMAN
A classic Wee Heavy with a a touch of smoked malt. Imagine sitting around a Colorado campfire in kilts toasting marshmallows. A classic – now I wish we could just remember the recipe.
ABV – 8.2
IBU – 10
THE BEER DOG
A tribute to the faithful companion of the Shiloh Disc Club who for many years kept the players stocked with beer. An Imperial IPA brewed with Colorado spring water and wild hops from the South Platte.
ABV – 7.2
IBU – 58
WINTER WARMER 2016
A classic Winter Warmer brewed with a generous helping of spices. Great while wrapping those final presents and setting out the cookies for Santa.
ABV – 9.0
IBU – 20
OBSERVATORY PARK RED
A tribute to the park that hosted years of YAL Pioneers football and baseball. This beer that was as close to orange as we could get it has a sweet carmelized flavor like our memories.
ABV – 5.2
IBU – 30
WINTER WARMER 2014
The original Winter Warmer named after the best ski area in Colorado – Winter Park. A great brew to smuggle on to the ski train.
ABV – 8.0
IBU – 15
BOOK OF ORDER BEER
You think the bar exam is difficult, then you should try Presbyterian Church ordination. Never quite made it, but did brew this excellent pale Ale trying.
ABV – 5.0
IBU – 35
Brewery and Tap House
The current home of the Nichols and Son’s Brewery and tap House is in a lovely Southeast Denver neighborhood. Holding to homebrewing tradition and a lack of capital, we rely on a basic home brewer setup churning out 5-gallon batches. Did we mention that contact from investors is always welcome – you can reach us here.
Our taproom is a basement oasis with plenty of room to spread out, watch sports, play darts, and race AFX cars on our custom track modeled after the movie Cars. We have two taps that typically have one of our beers, and a guest brew from one of the many excellent Colorado craft breweries. And sometimes when we are feeling our oats and not traveling it will have two beers that we brewed. The ambiance is casual and comfortable, and we are open whenever friends and family drift by.
Cheers!
The exact origin of the Nichols & Sons Brewing is a bit fuzzy, but the consensus is that it started with a serendipitous walk past a homebrew shop in the Cherry Creek area of Denver sometime around 1985. This happy little stop resulted in the purchase of home a brew kettle, a glass carboy, and the ingredients for a simple ale (a long lost recipe). This first effort culminated in a drinkable beer, but we were not entirely clear that we had done everything correctly. Based on a palette trained on domestic beers and salted with a range of imports (Watneys Red Barrell, Oranjeboom, Heineken, etc.), we did not have a lot to judge our creation.In retrospect, and after tasting 1,000s of craft beers from around the world (you can find me on Untappd as heitzlernichols), we have realized that our first beer was damn good. If we were smart, we would have made brewing our occupation (how many times have you heard that sad story?:-). But, as with a majority of homebrewers, we kept it as our hobby and forged ahead. There were several other brews that year, and we learned a lot about brewing and carbonation. They are probably still finding pieces of glass in the basement of our old house from a couple of over-carbonated batches:-)
From this point forward, the brewery became a bit of a gypsy organization following the travels of the brewers. One notable stop along the way was Princeton Theological Seminary, where we brewed the infamous Book of Order Beer (B.O.O.B.) to celebrate the completion of a particularly painful course on Presbyterian policy. After this, we produced a couple of brews in Pomona, CA, now the host of several excellent craft beer spots.
The next several decades included the most prolific stretches of
brewing in Chandler, AZ, and now back in Denver, CO. In Chandler, the core team (Frank, Rod, and Mark Nichols) brewed what was to become the flagship of our brewery – a Smokey Scottish Ale. Some
who sampled this brew claim that it is the best Scottish Ale they have ever tasted. We still have a few bottles stashed away for momentous occasion and continue to try and improve on the recipe. During this time, we also brewed several winter warmers and a couple of Ales.
The return to Colorado chapter resulted in a stretch of interesting and personally meaningful beers, including Beer Dog, the
Scorekeeper, 3 Dog Night, and Experimental Integration. Each of these brews has a unique story connected to significant experiences, people, and animals in our lives. These brews also involved a cast of guest brewers, including the Shiloh Disc Club (Andy Kamlet, Steve Morr, Ron Harris, Mark Rubald, and Greg Martz). Nothing says Colorado Home brewing than standing outside late at night with the temperature at 19 degrees trying to cool the wort to add the yeast.
Another great brew of this era is the Halloween King dedicated to the head brewer’s passion for the holiday. If you are ever in SE Denver during Halloween drive by the corner of East Princeton Ave and Olive St.
As with every home brewery, we dream about going pro, and maybe we will someday (funders feel free to contact us here:-). If not, we will continue this incredible journey of brewing to please and surprise our family and friends.