Roaring Fork Beer Co. to open production brewery, tasting room

The Roaring Fork Beer Co. announced the opening of its production brewery and tasting room, located less than 1 mile southeast of downtown Carbondale, Colo.

The hook for Roaring Fork is the man in charge: long-time Colorado brewer Chase Engel, owner and head brewer of Roaring Fork. Engel was most recently the head brewer at Aspen Brewing Co., where in 2012 he won the brewery’s first ever GABF medal, a silver for Aspen Brewing Co.’s Saison. Engel has shared in eight other GABF medals, and more than 40 medals in national beer competitions during his long tenure at Ska Brewing Co. and Oskar Blues Brewery.

The new “brewer-driven brewery” is the manifestation of Engel’s long-time dream to open his own brewery and brew aggressive yet simple beers.

“I decided to only focus on one or two flagship beers because I want to leave plenty of room for seasonal releases, specialty lines and one-off batches,” he said. “I’ve felt a bit creatively hampered in my previous brewing jobs because we HAD to have the same 5 or 6 beers out ALL the time.  I have fun making new recipes, teaching people about different beer styles, and expanding their beer palette. I don’t like drinking the same beers all the time and I figure you probably don’t either. We want to brew outside of the box and without any sort of self-imposed limitations.”

The 3,000 square foot brewing facility will feature a 15 bbl brewing system, hand crafted in Colorado by Bennet Forgeworks, and will start with a 2,000 bbl annual fermentation capacity. The tasting room will include a front bar and seating area, as well as a barrel room in back to feature music and special events on certain nights.

The boutique tasting room, set to open in early spring 2014, will focus on bringing seasonal craft beers as well as homemade sodas and root beers in a family friendly atmosphere.  The tasting room will feature pints, pitchers, take home growlers, exclusive tastings, brewery tours, special events, music and more.