Owners Amy and Ross Koenigs toast to the future at Second Dawn Brewing Company in Aurora. The couple bought an old building near Stanley Marketplace to create a neighborhood brewery. It was a lot of hard work to get to where they are today, celebrating one year in business. Their passion is in the beer and creating an inclusive environment to bring community together.
He brews the beer that goes in the can. She creates the beautiful imagery on the outside of the can. Amy and Ross Koenigs met on a Frisbee team, married in 2016, and one year ago opened Second Dawn Brewing in Northwest Aurora, a brewery that works to bring people together. “No matter who you are, there’s a seat for you here, both literally and metaphorically,” Ross says. “I think it’s just what we’ve done, and I use ‘we’ as in everyone here on staff. It’s remarkable to see the community and culture here and experience of this place.”
There are several types of seating areas at Second Dawn—the interior and exterior are always changing to meet the needs of customers.
Connecting with the community has been on their minds since they first saw the building, located a block from Stanley Marketplace. “I think we’re a good asset to the neighborhood, but we are a gentrifier,” says Amy. “So how do we gentrify without displacement? How do we make everyone feel welcome here, knowing that there’s quite a big difference between Central Park and where we are? It’s in our business plan—how are we showing up and how are we welcoming?”
The Koenigs focus on the welcoming mission. Most of their customers are from the nearby area and they want to make sure the space feels inclusive. A section of the taproom bar is built at an accessible height, and the Koenigs hope to better serve non-English speaking customers by developing Spanish-language menus. Theme nights serving an array of communities are evolving as are alcohol-free options.
What 2302 Dayton Street looked like when it housed an auto body garage, before it became Second Dawn Brewing.
The inside of Second Dawn Brewing as it looks today.
Being part of the community is one of the reasons Ross knew he wanted to be a brewer. He says there’s nothing like the feeling of “pushing a pint across the bar and having somebody take a sip and say, ‘that’s really good.’”
Ross has been working in the beer business for 20 years. Growing up in Milwaukee, he spent the summer between high school and college delivering kegs of Budweiser. After spending time on potential career paths, he changed course and enrolled in the University of California Davis Masters Brewing Program.
He eventually ended up at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, researching and developing some of its well-known beers such as the Voodoo Ranger line.
Amy’s background is in design, with a brief time at Cosmopolitan and Esquire magazines in New York. She realized she wanted to do something good for the world and started working at a nonprofit, then started her own freelance design work. Moving to Fort Collins turned out to be good timing, joining that Frisbee team where she met Ross.
The couple knew they wanted to move to the Denver area. While some people were working on puzzles during the pandemic, the Koenigs were solving a puzzle of their own—how to start a brewery. Amy says the business had been “Ross’ dream forever,” so they took a leap of faith.
The Koenigs found a building that housed an auto body garage and apartments that had the right industrial look and space for brewing. There was an electrical power structure already in place, but Ross admits that “it took quite a bit of imagination” to see a brewery in the space. And it took the right partners to make the vision come alive. Amy credits architect Kaci Taylor.
Covid-19 supply chain issues delayed the intended opening in 2022. And a delay in the start of Xcel Energy service “was particularly devastating because we were hoping to open in the summer, and then it was late summer, and then it was fall, but then it felt pretty certain that we were going to open in the first couple of weeks of December,” Amy remembers. They finally opened their doors in February 2023. It was a year of learning and a lot of hard work. There’s also the “emotional pressure of wanting this to be successful so badly after having a vision for it, she adds. “But it’s also more rewarding” than she had thought.
The Koenigs credit their staff for taking on new responsibilities to help ease the workload. They credit each other for keeping their work and home partnership working so well. They have different lanes: the business one and the marriage one.
“I need to say this to you as a business partner,” Amy says, describing conversations with Ross. “Or, I’m going to say this to you as a wife. There are very different things that you need out of those conversations and different things that I need him to hear in those conversations.”
She adds, looking at Ross: “I was so thankful we each had someone who understood what we were going through. It’s like the tears we were shedding were the same.”
Together they’re working to find a better work-life balance.
“It’s at a certain point where working more hours does not yield all that more extra benefit to the business,” Ross says, “and so we’re giving ourselves opportunities to recharge.”
As for the future of Second Dawn, distribution and introducing people to the brand are key. Ross gives “a ton of credit to Amy” for creating memorable images for the brewery and beer cans. His responsibility, he says, is to “put a good beer in the can and hopefully, when people pick it up and whether it’s out in the world or in here, they really enjoy it and want to come back.”
It also helps to be ready to pivot, they say. A short-lived margarita seltzer was a miss, while a holiday-themed seltzer—Room for Seconds, which “tastes like Thanksgiving”—was a surprise hit.
Room for Seconds, Wolf of the Woods…beer and seltzer names and tastes are always changing. As for the name of the brewery, the couple admit finding a name was difficult.
Ross’ mom told the couple that Aurora means dawn in Latin. And the Koenigs say a second dawn is when you get to start the best part of your day. They hope people spend that time with them.
Second Dawn Brewing is located at 2302 Dayton St. To find out what’s on tap, go to www.seconddawnbrewing.com
Front Porch photos by Christie Gosch
Every beer we have tried, has been amazing! Love their beer and the beautiful cans they come in.