E-Malt.com News article: USA, CO: Telluride Brewing Co. opens in Lawson Hill

Two locals, Tommy Thacher and Chris Fish, just launched the Telluride Brewing Co., a craft brewery located in Lawson Hill, Telluride Daily Planet reported on October, 23.

The partners have three beers ready to take home now, will launch more soon and will even be canning their beers for distribution by Thanksgiving.

Telluride Brewing Co. has a tasting room where they pour samples, and patrons can buy growlers to take home.

For Fish, it’s a dream come true. “It is, 100 percent. It’s basically the collision of all the dreams coming true in this place,” he said.

On October, 21, the brewery hosted a soft, unadvertised opening. It was packed, and people have been coming back to fill their growlers up ever since.

Everything seems to be coming up hops for the two friends, who met while Fish was the brewmaster at Smuggler’s and Thacher a new-to-town bartender there.

“I always knew that, eventually, I wanted to do my own thing,” Fish said. “I honestly didn’t think I could pull it off here.”

A few years ago, Fish was tossing the idea around, but it never quite took off. A little more than a year ago, he and Thacher, who taught at the Mountain School for five years, started to look more seriously at options. Thacher, 30, is from West Chester, N.Y., but hasn’t been able to escape the West post Colorado College.

“As this conversation kept coming up more and more, we started thinking about it,” Thacher said. “I loved it there,” he said of the Mountain School. “I loved my time there. But I was looking for a change.”

“I don’t know why beer … I was just so intrigued by the brewery world. I loved beer, always have. It was an opportunity with one of my best friends in a place that I adore that allowed me to, possibly, be here forever. So I jumped on it.”

And for the teacher, there’s plenty of new material to brush up on. “Fish is my teacher,” Thacher said. “I learn every day.”

Fish has been here brewing for a decade or so, and has been decorated as the brewmaster at Smuggler’s Brewpub and Grille where, among other things, he created the locally loved Russel Kelly Pale Ale, and more seasonal endeavors, like the Nutcraker.

Thacher and Fish spent late nights after work putting together a business plan, then looking for a suitable space with local Realtor Brian Gavin, who is the brewery’s COO and also an investor. Once they saw the Lawson spot, things began to come together.

Since the boys are located out of town, they needed an in-town presence on tap. They’ve partnered with the Llama as a venue for beers on draft. TBC beers, once they’re canned and ready for distribution, will be at liquor stores around town and across the southwestern part of the state.

“We want to establish ourselves locally, first and foremost,” Fish said. “What we really see is growing the space … We want to grow into a mid-size, craft brewery.”

Ideally, TBC beers will be stocked throughout Colorado and perhaps even in the neighboring states.

“I don’t necessarily have a vision of someday building this monstrosity brewery,” Fish said. “I’m just stoked to be getting my beer into the package finally,” he said. “Especially a can, which we can take to where we like to go.”

Thacher will be making the rounds as the TBC distributor once a week. If they get more popular, he’ll be on the road even more.

As many businesses lost ground in the recession and post-recession economies, craft brewers actually gained business. “It’s an affordable luxury,” Fish said. “People are going to the liquor store and taking their beer home. Camping, wherever … Even if the times are bad, it’s maybe even better for the beer business.”

There are about 140 breweries in Colorado, Fish said. For those at the brewery, it’s a chance to do something great in a place they love.


26 October, 2011