Aspen Brewery Gets Compromise from City

It had been a long wait for the new Aspen Brewing Company to pour their first beers. The brewery opened for business back in March 2008, but something was not sitting right with them. The brewery wanted to have a tasting room and invite the public to come to the brewery and sample their beers in order to help build interest and sales for their beer. But the Aspen City Council had a zoning law in affect that limited the brewery to offering only 16 oz of beer per customer per day. Aspen Brewery owners Duncan Clauss, Rory Douthit and Brad Veltman felt this rule was a bit too restrictive and went to the city council to appeal. They felt the law was too restrictive. The Aspen City Council wanted to prevent the brewery from becoming a "bar" as the zoning for that area prohibited bars and restaurants from being there.

The first round of debates with the city ended in a defeat. For the time being, Aspen Brewing would have to stick to a 16-oz limit. The city agreed to give Aspen Brewing another hearing however on April 28th. It was a long month in passing, but on April 28th, they met again, and this time with a more favorable outcome.

The Aspen City Council agreed to allow up to 40-oz of beer to be served. This breaks down to either six 6oz tasters or four 6-oz tasters plus a pint of the customers favorite beer. Customers may also purchase beer to take home. The Aspen Brewery will sell 64-oz growlers.

While 40-oz of beer can be enough to put some people over the legal limit, the question remains on how much is really enough at a brewery before it essentially doubles as a bar. At a bar, there is no limit to how much alcohol can be served, although that point could be argued as well. A bar has some responsibility to cut off customers who appear intoxicated.

So at least for now, the brewers at Aspen Brewing Company have a bit more leeway in how much beer they can offer to their customers. Now that the ski season is over, the push is on to attract more local customers to their fine ales. Aspen Brewing is located at 557 North Mill Street in Aspen. Stop by and check out what's on tap.

More blog entries on Aspen Brewing Company.

Aspen Brewery Opens

At long last, the brewery and web site for the new Aspen Brewing Company has finally opened and along with it the news of their first inaugural beers. While some of these beers may still be in the fermenter, the boys from Aspen Brewing will offer up six beers to the locals of the high altitude resort community:

- 10th Mountain Stout
- Independence Pass Ale I.P.A.
- Conundrum Red Ale
- Brown Bearale
- Smuggler Wheat
- Timberline Lager

All of these beers will be available year round. Aspen Brewing will also offer some seasonals later on. The brewery is located at 557 North Mill Street in Aspen, Colorado. Their tap room is open 7 days a week and pending an appeal to the local city government, visitors will be able to sample a limited variety of their beers on-site and be able to take home growlers of the local brew.

So next time you're up in Aspen, stop on by and check them out.

Aspen Brewing Faces Town Restrictions

Opening up a new brewery in a Colorado ski town may not be as easy as you think. Local laws have been putting the crimp on the soon to open Aspen Brewing Company's plans to host a tasting room in their new brewery. The city counsel wants to prevent the brewery's tasting room from becoming a bar-like atmosphere and are attempting to dictate just how much beer can be offered in the tasting room as well as some highly restrictive rules to keep the tasting room from becoming a hang-out for locals.

Plum TV has recently interviewed the owners of the Aspen Brewing Company and talk about their plans to soon pour their first beers in the new brewery by St. Patrick's Day.



For those of you wanting to partake in the new brews, you may wish to offer up your support for the Aspen Brewing Company at the next city counsel meeting where they plan to appeal some of the recent rulings late last month. We all need to support our local breweries! Can't wait to try their new beers.

Longer Wait for New Aspen Brewery

Back in October, I reported that a new brewery was being built in Aspen, Colorado. The opening day was supposed to have been in December. Unfortunately, construction delays have pushed back the opening until sometime in late January according to the Aspen Times on January 10th. Here is a transcript of the Aspen Times story:

Aspen Brewery opening delayed - Aspen Times - January 10, 2008

ASPEN — Beer lovers looking to wet their whistles at the new Aspen Brewery will have to wait a little longer.

The new brewery and tasting room, originally scheduled to open in mid-December, won’t be open until at least the end of the month, said co-owner Duncan Clauss.

Delays in construction have delayed the grand opening by more than a month.

“We are working day and night to get the doors open,” Clauss said.

Clauss expects to get the brewery’s four fermenters operating next week, and it will take two weeks for the beer to be brewed. During that time, Clauss hopes to put the final touches on the interior of the building, located at 557 N. Mill St.

“Our brew system is in place but we don’t want to rush it and serve bad beer,” he said, adding four different brews will be available at the beginning. “We are very close. We are anxious as everybody to get it open.”

Clauss, and his business partners, Rory Douthit and Brad Veltman, last fall signed a three-year lease in the 2,000-square-foot space owned by local attorneys Ron Garfield and Andy Hecht, as well as several other investors.

Aspen Brewery will operate with a manufacturing/wholesale license, meaning it doesn't follow state or city liquor laws, which forbids liquor sales at retail outlets on Sundays. The difference is that Aspen Brewery is manufacturing a product and selling it wholesale.

The license applies across the board, so whether a thirsty customer wants to sample beer at the brewery's tasting room or take some home in a growler (a beer-to-go glass bottle), they can do it seven days a week.


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I'm sure that the locals and skiers in Aspen can't bear to wait another few weeks to sample the 1st local brew the area has seen. I look forward to seeing what they plan to serve up when they open up. I've added them to the Colorado Breweries list.

Aspen to Open Local Brewery

Colorado is about to get another small craft brewery as plans have been announced to open a new brewery in Aspen in December. Three young entrepreneurs have gotten the support of local businesses and will open the "Aspen Brewery" in December of this year. They plan to produce eight different beers initially and sell to local restaurants, bars and liquor stores.

The owners are young but enthusiastic that feel that their craft beers will sell well in this upscale Colorado ski town. Duncan Clauss (22), Rory Douthit (22), and Brad Veltman (23) found a small 2,000 square foot site to produce their fermented beverages and have signed a three-year lease for the site. Brewmaster Jason Courtney (38) will oversee the creation of the initial brews.

Aspen Brewery also obtained a license to sell beer on their property and will offer up their wares in take-home growlers for the local patrons from their planned tasting room.

While the entrepreneurs are new to the business, they've consulted with one of the local Aspen businessmen, George Stranahan, who is one of the co-founders of Flying Dog Brewery in Denver and got his nod for starting up the business.

Colorado beer enthusiasts will no doubt look forward to sampling their first beers and gladly add them to the growing list of Colorado brewers.