Elevating the Craft of Beer - New Look for Pikes Peak Brewing Co.

Beer

Jun 12

PPBC's landmark tank awaited the reveal of sporting
its new logo. Smoke from the Black Forest Fire eerily
loomed during the night's celebrations.

In the Midst of a Disaster

Yesterday afternoon felt like the end of June 2012, an unwelcome fire-season repeating itself. "This is unfolding -- this is real time," said Governor Hickenlooper.

I followed the fire all day. From live updates online to twitter and video on tv, everyone shared their first hand experiences of the day's events. "3600 people evacuated from more than 1200 homes." "Firefighters reported flames at 300 ft." "At last count the fire was at 8,000 acres." - via the Gazette's live feed. One of my favorite coffee shops wearily evacuated their newly remodeled space.

After an hour and a half of being passed by emergency vehicles on my rubber-necker filled, bumper to bumper interstate drive, I made it to Pikes Peak Brewing Company. A pall loomed over everyone as the evening began. Many were wide-eyed in disbelief of the tragedy spreading.

"It feels odd to be festive with the current events," said Chris Wright, owner and head brewer of PPBC. The fire is right in their backyard. In the midst of everything happening, this newer brewery had some exciting news that's been in planning for over five months. Their exciting release of the "new" Pikes Peak Brewing Company helped me think of promising things to come for Colorado Springs and our craft community.

Lari and Laura of PPBC stand in front of updated merchandise
as they cheers to a new beginning for the brewery.

Pikes Peak Brewing Has a New Look

For the past two years Pikes Peak Brewing Co. has made a name for itself with its award winning, classic styles. The brewery has decided to make these landmark beers a better representation of the region they call home. The new logo sports a sleek design and clearly displays who they are, a must visit brewery in the midst of the beautiful Pikes Peak region and Colorado's amazing craft beer culture.

"Colorado Springs is drinking good craft beer, but they are not drinking local," said Chris. The crew at PPBC is determined to change that.

The brewery's beer names have always represented local landmarks: Ascent Pale Ale, Devil's Head Red, Elephant Rock IPA, and the new Incline Imperial IPA. They have also modified the name of their gold medal winning English Mild to Little London, to reflect one of Colorado Springs' older nicknames. PPBC also approached the local mining museum to help name their new English Bitter the Beamish Engine Bitter. The new designs and names help tell the story of the Pikes Peak region. In order to make the connection with the area even greater, employees are organizing events including a community hike to Devil's Head Fire Lookout on the 21st of June. (To join in on this and other happenings planned along side their 2nd Anniversary check out their Facebook Page or their new soon to be running website.)

Packaging design for Elephant
Rock IPA Cans

Starting the 20th of June, PPBC will be making their beer even more accessible. The mobile canning truck from Wild Goose Canning in Boulder, CO will be making it's way down to Monument to can the first of their line of beers. They'll be starting with 26 BBLs of the Elephant Rock IPA and plan to can Devil's Head Read towards the beginning of August. Pikes Peak Brewing Company will currently be the only Colorado Springs brewery to can.

Inline Imperial IPA aging in barrels

The friendly staff and at-home atmosphere has always set the brewery apart. When you are at Pikes Peak Brewing Company, you are a part of their family. How can the brewery maintain this feeling with their new branding? Will everyone picking up cans and bottles at liquor stores miss out on this key piece? Their updated merchandise will be sporting a new motto, "Malt, Water, Hops, Yeast, and Friends." "There are not four ingredients to beer, but five," said Chris. Seeing this written out helps express the community that PPBC has established over the last two years.

After the excitement stemming from the new designs had subsided, everyone had a chance to sit down and enjoy food and drink as part of the celebration of PPBC's 2nd Anniversary. At this moment, an elegantly labeled bottle, Penrose Private Reserve #1302, was brought out for everyone to see. The beer inside made the guests even more excited. Pikes Peak Brewing Company released this red wine blend barrel aged Belgian Style Golden as the first of their new rare barrel aged series. The brewers at Pikes Peak took Gold Rush and let it age in Geyser Peak barrels for 2 months and then bottle condition for another 3 weeks. This wonderfully complex beer picked up Brett from the oak barrels for a earthy, funky alternative to the standard Gold Rush. The response to this beer was very positive and several vendors sought out to carry the bottles immediately including Coaltrain Wine & Spirits and Brewer's Republic.

It was exciting seeing the growing barrel project at PPBC. In all, Pikes Peak Brewing has 20 barrels including Jamaican Rum barrels a porter has been aging in, Templeton Rye barrels filled with their newly released IIPA, whiskey barrels their stout is aging in, and a few exciting tequila barrels that have yet to be filled. Each of the Penrose Private Reserve limited release series will stem out of these barrel aging efforts.

A Promising Future

A large amount of time has gone in to the rebranding of Pikes Peak Brewing Company. It is encouraging to see more businesses invest in to making Colorado Springs a more appealing place to live. While the tragic events loom in everyone's backyard, businesses like Pikes Peak Brewing Company are the promising source of the community building needed to recover.