USA, CO: Oasis Brewing rising once again in Colorado

Like a phoenix from the ashes, Boulder’s once-beloved Oasis Brewing is rising once again in Colorado, The Denver Post reported on October 10.

Oasis brewed its Egyptian-themed beers — Scarab Red, Tut Brown Ale and Zoser Stout being the most notable — in Boulder for the better part of the ’90s. Those three brews, plus some new concoctions, will make their on-tap return next month when Oasis reopens in Denver.

Founded in 1991, it was one of the early purveyors of craft beer. Despite its Egyptian decor and naming scheme, the brewery churned out English-style beers. The brewery won several awards from the Great American Beer Fest back in the day.

They expanded, but it was too much, too fast, founder George Hanna said, and “probably” the reason the brewery closed in the early ’00s, just as the craft beer industry began to slow.

But the legacy of Oasis never quite faded from the minds of Hanna’s son, Jesse, who still lives in Boulder. Jesse and his brother-in-law Hawk Vanek, of Lafayette, asked Hanna to restart the brewery.

Oasis will reopen in an 86-year-old church in Denver’s Highland Square, as Westword reported earlier this year. Six beers will be on tap to start, a number that will double over time. Original recipes will join more experimental styles and, perhaps, Hanna said, a new staple: a “phoenix brew” to honor the brand’s rebirth.