One of the first changes that a now 10-year-old Centennial brewery experienced came when its inaugural brewer could longer squeeze her pregnant body among the gleaming tanks and snaking hoses inside the business’s modest cooler.
“I quit brewing when I could no longer fit in here,” Paige Schuster, who owns Two22 Brew with her husband, Marcus Christianson, told the Centennial Citizen as she gave a tour of the brewing system. “There are spaces back in the back that I literally could not fit into.”
The only non-chain brewery in Centennial at the time, Two22 Brew opened in February 2014 with five beers on tap and a mission to give back to local causes. The company’s name reflects its practice of donating $2.22 of every $10 of profit back to Colorado nonprofits like Sloppy Kisses Animal Rescue, which adopts out cats and dogs in the south metro area, and Mustacchio Grief Foundation, which helps people who have lost a loved one.
Longtime customers speak of the food drives, book wrapping parties and bicycle fundraising events the bar has hosted over the years.
“When they talk about really giving back — that $2.22 — I mean, they don’t just talk it. They walk it,” said Centennial resident Scot Sturgis.
Sturgis remarked that he was at Two22’s first anniversary celebration and hasn’t missed one since. Naturally, he attended this year’s “Caddyshack”-themed anniversary party where, along with other loyal patrons, family and co-workers, Two22 commemorated a decade of charity, community and good beer.
“We’ve been coming here ever since they opened,” longtime customer Joe Lothringer said as he sipped a beer with his wife at the gathering. “This is our neighborhood brewery. We just really love this place.”
Lothringer marveled that there are now 22 brews on tap. He commented on the talent of the current brewer, Kjell Wygant, and cited an apricot seltzer aged in a bourbon barrel as an example of his creativity. Schuster called Wygant innovative and his style bold.
“We want to have a broad spectrum of beers,” Schuster said, describing Two22’s approach to what they offer these days. “We want to be able to cater to a large patron base while still, obviously, playing up our brewer’s strengths and, also, playing with trends in the industry.”
The number of beverages on tap and the owners’ family aren’t the only things that have grown since Two22’s inception.
At the end of 2019, the brewery completed an expansion project that allowed it to reconfigure the setup of its brewing equipment, add a second cooler, and nearly double the size of the seating area. The 3,600-square-foot space can now accommodate 120 people inside with more seating outside on its 1,500-square-foot patio.
Schuster talked about the relationships that have flourished since Two22 opened — with the clientele, of course, but with others too. The business has given her the opportunity to work with people in both philanthropic circles and in the craft brew industry. Her staff, which she says is just as passionate about her business as she is, has become an integral part of her day-to-day life. And in the past decade, she’s gotten to know the scores of food truck owners who bring in unique food options nightly for the brewery’s customers.
“It’s a group of people we probably wouldn’t have met and been involved with otherwise. … It’s just allowed us to have a really good appreciation of our community and the people in it,” she said.
And while Schuster acknowledges that there’s been some shifts and developments over the business’s lifetime, overall, its focus on providing enjoyment of craft beer while contributing to local causes has remained constant.
“I feel like so much has changed and yet, like, not very much,” Schuster said. “Our general feeling of who we are, and what we do, has stayed the same.”
If you go
Two22 Brew is at 4550 S. Reservoir Road in Centennial. It opens at 2 p.m. on weekdays and noon on weekends. It closes at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. two22brew.com
