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Craft breweries turn Longmont into a beer town

Oskar Blues opens new plant while Left Hand expands

By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 28, 2008 at 5 p.m.

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At Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, workers use a crane to lower a lauter tun through the roof of the brewery. A lauter tun is used early in the brewing process to separate the so-called wort, a sweet liquid, from the mash. Left Hand Brewing is in the midst of a $1.5 million expansion.

Photo by Roger Fillion / The Rocky

At Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, workers use a crane to lower a lauter tun through the roof of the brewery. A lauter tun is used early in the brewing process to separate the so-called wort, a sweet liquid, from the mash. Left Hand Brewing is in the midst of a $1.5 million expansion.

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This town of 82,000 is known as the home of high-tech heavyweights such as data-storage company Seagate Technology and biotech giant Amgen.

But another industry has taken root here and is undergoing a major growth spurt: brewing.

Today, Longmont is home to two significant craft breweries: Left Hand Brewing, founded here in 1993 and undergoing an expansion that will about double its brewing capacity; and Oskar Blues Brewery, which opened a new brewery here in April after outgrowing its original facilities in nearby Lyons.

A brewpub, the Pumphouse Brewery, also calls Longmont home.

While not boasting the number of craft breweries as, say, Denver, Fort Collins, Boulder or Durango, Longmont is emerging as more of a beer town.

"It's coming along slowly, but it's coming along," said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association in Boulder.

Local officials are happy to see the industry grow. They said it potentially could attract "culinary tourists" in the form of craft beer enthusiasts who like to visit small-batch breweries.

"It's nice to have that diversity in town," said Longmont Mayor Roger Lange.

Outpacing the industry

Left Hand Brewing is undergoing a $1.5 million expansion that will roughly double its brewing capacity to some 35,000 barrels a year.

The brewery - known for such brews as Sawtooth Ale and Milk Stout - took delivery of five big tanks last week. The tanks, including a kettle and two water tanks, will serve as the foundation for the brewery's expansion.

"This sets us up to grow," brewery co-founder Eric Wallace said as he watched a crane gingerly lower the tanks through a large opening cut in the brewery's roof.

Why the expansion?

"Sales are increasing," said Wallace, whose brewery last year produced nearly 15,000 barrels. "The whole industry is growing. We're just outpacing that."

In 2007, independent craft brewers posted a 12 percent jump in sales volume, according to the Brewers Association. Left Hand posted a 30 percent jump.

Colorado is home to some 90 craft breweries.

Wallace caught the beer bug early on, as a teenager growing up in Germany. His father served in the Air Force there. The younger Wallace acquired a taste for German lagers and wheat beers.

After moving back to the United States in 1979, Wallace found he didn't like the taste of domestic beer. "Everything was watered down," he said.

In 1993, Wallace hooked up with a former Air Force Academy mate and home brewer, Dick Doore. The two founded Left Hand Brewing that year. They sold their first beer in January 1994.

"We pretty much put Longmont on the beer map," Wallace said. The co-founders named the brewery in honor of Chief Niwot, whose tribe wintered in the area. According to the brewery, Left Hand is derived from the southern Arapaho word Niwot, which means left hand.

Today, Left Hand sells its beer in 26 states. It operates a tasting room at the brewery.

Wallace expects to fire up the new brewing equipment in about a month. The brewery has the potential to expand even more - to as much as 100,000 barrels a year. "We're not there yet. But we're designed to be able to expand to that," Wallace said.

Oskar Blues soars

A few minutes away from Left Hand stands Oskar Blues Brewery's new brewery and canning line, housed in a cavernous 35,000-square-foot facility.

Oskar Blues started as a restaurant in 1997. It began brewing beer as a brewpub in 1999.

The brewery has garnered national attention for putting its Dale's Pale Ale and other beers in cans - a move that others have followed, including the larger New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins.

The move to Longmont came after demand for the brewery's beer shot skyward - soaring about 50 percent last year, to 12,409 barrels. The brewery distributes its beer in 22 states.

"There wasn't room in Lyons to build the facility we wanted to build," spokesman Marty Jones said.

So the brewery turned its attention to Longmont, where there was ample space. Officials there helped Oskar Blues locate a new home 12 miles east of Lyons.

"We were a logical alternative when they couldn't expand in Lyons," said John Cody, Longmont Area Economic Council CEO.

Oskar Blues officials are pleased with the move, although they will keep the brewery's official headquarters and existing brewpub in Lyons.

"We have so much more room to play with," Jones said.

The new facility will brew and package all of Oskar Blues' canned beers. The current capacity is 30,000 barrels a year. The first can rolled off the line in April.

Oskar Blues has invested $3 million in the Longmont facility. It plans to open a tasting room.

Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis said the new brewery has the "elbow room" in Longmont to expand to 100,000 barrels.

Looking ahead, he reckons his new brewery and a larger Left Hand Brewing will prove to be a good thing for Longmont.

"With the growth of both our companies, we might be able to do something to significantly change the face of Longmont," Katechis said. "Breweries tend to attract people."

fillionr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2467

Tops in the craft

* Top craft brewers overall

(Based on 2007 beer sales volume)

1. Boston Beer Co., Boston

2. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, Calif.

3. New Belgium Brewing Co. Inc., Fort Collins

4. Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, Texas

5. Pyramid Breweries Inc., Seattle

* Top Colorado craft brewers

(Based on 2007 beer sales volume)

1. New Belgium Brewing Co. Inc., Fort Collins

2. Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins

3. Breckenridge Brewery, Denver

4. Flying Dog Brewery*

5. Boulder Beer Co., Boulder

6. Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont

7. Avery Brewing Co., Boulder

8. Oskar Blues Grill & Brewery, Lyons

9. Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver

10. Tommyknocker Brewery, Idaho Springs

* Flying Dog moved its brewing operations to Maryland at the start of 2008.

Source: Brewers Association in Boulder

Comments

  • May 29, 2008

    12:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    windbourne writes:

    Hmmm. It may be smart of one of these brewery to leave their old facilities still running and allow other small start-ups to use them. In return, get a small piece of the company. That way, if somebody else has something that interesting, you still get part of it.

  • May 29, 2008

    9:36 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    scapulon writes:

    Flying Dog moved their production to Maryland and shouldn't really be called a Colorado brewery.