So we walk in the door and there it is. My eye goes to it immediately. Past the smiling faces of the owners of Shoes & Brews, who are greeting us warmly. There it is! My heart skips a beat like I’m viewing my newborn child for the first time. I turn to finally acknowledge Mark & Candace who are past the initial shock and enjoying one of the many beers on tap at this cool establishment.
It all started with our first batch of Rabbit Mountain Red Ale. It was our very first beer brewed on our system. And admittedly, we were not prepared for some things that happened…in short, we lost half the batch. But we had made beer, and we thought all was well! And, we hoped for something close to the Red we had lovingly honed while homebrewing. Perhaps the Curse started then, who knows….
Thanks to Boulder County Lifestyle Magazine for the great article. View it here:
http://issuu.com/lifestylepubs/docs/bcljune2014finallr/24?e=10131829%2F8025844
Ok, we had such a blast on Big Brew Day! Takeaways:
1. Home brewers are some of the nicest people around. I’m not just saying that because one of them is my brother. The home brewers in BRUDE home brew group are typical of what we find of homebrewers everywhere. Nice, funny, fun and really enjoy a cold brew.
Me (Jean), and my favorite brewer, my brother, on Big Brew Day.
Our “Your Two Cents” Jar is hard at work! We read everyone’s suggestions and implement what we think will bring a better experience to our customers. Two of the things that have come out of that so far are the request for a happy hour and more hoppy beers for Hop Heads.
So, we have added a happy hour which means $1 off pints for you, Monday – Wednesday 2-6pm. And because – well we don’t really know why – but being a woman myself, I’m not going to question the rationale of LADIES NIGHT! I mean, $1 off pints for women all day Wednesday…really? Who cares why, we’re doin it.
Mark has started what he is calling “Shades of IPA” which will be an experimental series of hoppy beers in various styles. The first of the series is out: Sunglasses at Night American Dark Ale. At 86 IBUs this Ale is black as night with roasted flavors on the front end followed by a strong hoppy finish.
We’ve been asked lately why we decided to open a brewery and what it’s been like to go through this process. And because we are in the process of starting a brewery, our brows wrinkle and our eyes gloss over (We could all use a little sleep!). Well, here’s a little about it.
Here we go people! We have set the tentative opening date for February 22. If all goes as planned (of course, when has any of it gone as planned?!?!?!) then we should be able to serve up our first beers that day. It’s been a hard, exciting journey and many things haven’t gone as planned, but many things have fallen into place thanks to great support from family and friends both old and new!
We look forward to the many trials and tribulations, as well as good times to continue as we strive to bring good beer and a community gathering place to Longmont, Colorado!
Penny bartop – it took DAYS to lay down all these pennies. There are some foreign ones courtesy of Chamberlain Coins (Thanks Mark!) and of our brewer Mark Lusher (Thanks other Mark!).
Julie Clement did this beautiful piece of art just for us in her signature style. Check out her other work at http://www.clementinedotart.com/
We were fortunate to have Ted Wilson Structural Arts, sharing our building. He and his team created our railing for the deck. Now all we need is sunlight, warmth…and maybe a place to sit.
Hops!
Dan moving the kegs.
A month from demolition and construction is well underway. Framing is up, electrical mechanical and plumbing rough are done and drywall is going in as I type this.
It’s very exciting to see everything taking shape:
December 5, rest of framing started, sprinkler system in
December 18, ductwork in, bar framed out
