Sanitas Brewing closed. Its co-founder is opening a new Boulder brewery in the same space.

A new Boulder brewery is preparing to open in the former Sanitas Brewing taproom at 3550 Frontier Ave. Pattern Break Brewing is led by Sanitas co-founder Michael Memsic, alongside a team of experienced brewers and industry veterans, and plans a soft launch by the end of April, with a full public opening expected May 8.

At a time when alcohol consumption is declining and many beverage businesses are struggling, Pattern Break’s opening represents a fresh attempt to create a taproom-centered third space in Boulder.

The brewery will operate in the same location as Sanitas but with a reimagined approach: a family-friendly taproom, a chef-driven smashburger food truck and a wide range of beers alongside on-draft nonalcoholic options. Rather than emphasizing distribution and packaged sales, as Sanitas did, Pattern Break will focus on serving all beverages, canned or on draft, onsite, prioritizing the in-person experience.

Memsic, a longtime figure in the Boulder County craft beer scene, has teamed up with Dean Eberhardt, co-founder of Hoplark HopTea, to rethink how the local brewery can best serve its community.

“Across the board, we are trying to break the expectations of the customer,” Memsic said. The business duo is seeking to upend standard practices in every realm, “from the way we built the team, to how we’re sourcing ingredients, even to the way we’re brewing the beer.”

Memsic co-founded Sanitas Brewing Co. in 2013 and spent more than a decade building it into one of Boulder’s best-known craft beer brands, with a flagship taproom and later expansions into Englewood and Lafayette. Over time, he helped shift the company’s focus from regional distribution to taproom-centered community spaces, a model that proved more sustainable as the industry evolved.

Sanitas closed all of its locations in December after 12 years, citing a combination of rising costs, limited access to capital and broader changes in the craft beer market. Memsic described the industry as moving from a period of rapid growth into a more mature phase, where not all breweries can survive. Shifting consumer habits, including declining alcohol consumption and higher expectations for food and hospitality, also played a role.

Those same shifts are shaping Pattern Break’s approach from the outset, with a greater emphasis on experience, variety and meeting customers where they are. The drink menu will include traditional and hoppy beers, as well as concept-driven beers that push beyond typical beer profiles, alongside a range of inventive nonalcoholic offerings. For food, Pattern Break has bought a food truck that will serve smashburgers made with regenerative beef from Colorado’s Western Slope. The iconic Sanitas patio will be expanded and may be tented during colder months to allow for year-round indoor-outdoor gathering.

The six-person founding team brings a combined 75 years of experience in craft beer and 45 years of business ownership and entrepreneurial experience. Brian Hutchinson of Cannonball Creek Brewing in Golden is working with Pattern Break part-time as head of beer innovation. Working closely with Hutchinson is Fred Rizzo, who spent five years brewing beer for Denver-based Call to Arms Brewing Co. after his 15 years at Avery Brewing.

According to Memsic, what truly sets Pattern Break apart is its innovative brewing process.

“We’re playing with a hop process that totally inverts everything you know about how beer is made,” he said.

Eberhardt, Pattern Break’s co-owner, began developing the process while launching Hoplark in 2017, identifying a method of processing hops that has yet to be widely used at scale in brewing.

As Eberhardt refined the process, he became convinced it could reshape how beer is made. “Every component of the way brewers use hops is different,” Memsic said. The brewhouse has been redesigned to support that experimentation, replacing several large tanks with smaller vessels that allow for more frequent, small-batch brewing.

That setup gives Pattern Break more flexibility than many breweries, Memsic said. “We’re constantly getting to try new things and play games and rethink the way beer is made.” He noted that smaller breweries often don’t have the cash flow needed to be that agile, while most macrobreweries may lack the incentive.

The shift also reflects lessons from Sanitas. “Sanitas ran so lean,” Memsic said. “We went into survival mode a long time ago. When you have that pressure on you, it’s really difficult to be creative. We’re creating systems to allow a bunch of people to be far more creative.”

The building at 3550 Frontier is still slated for eventual demolition and redevelopment. Pattern Break has a five-year lease, and Memsic said he hopes the brewery can carve out its niche in Boulder’s beer scene during that time.