Strange Brewing plans to make headlines in May and honor the Rocky Mountain News

Both men were laid off by the Denver Newspaper Agency in February 2009 when the News - which was half of the DNA, along with the Denver Post - was shuttered by its parent company, Scripps Howard, after 150 years in business.

While they'd always wanted to start a brewery, the time was never right, Fletcher says. Either hops prices were too high, or it didn't make sense to quit their jobs. "We'd been talking about it for a few years. Once we were let go, we didn't really have a choice."

Located in an industrial warehouse complex, at 1330 Zuni Street, Unit M, just a few blocks from Invesco Field at Mile High, Fletcher and Meyers plan to open May 17 - the first day of American Craft Beer Week - with three beers on tap, a pale ale, an IPA and a wit. They'll sell kegs to local bars and restaurants and operate a tap room.

They will also brew a one-year anniversary beer, which they'll age for a year, that will honor both their brewery and the April 23 anniversary of the News. It will probably be called 151 - as in 150 years of publishing by the news, plus one.

"This is kind of a way to pay homage to it," Fletcher says.