What's Brewing in Manitou

Of all the brewery openings poised to occur in 2014, Manitou Brewing could be the most anticipated. It will be the first craft brewery in Manitou Springs in more than a decade, and they have the opportunity to truly establish themselves in a brand new market. We’ve been trying to keep up to date on all the changes they’ve done since announcing their plans last fall, but things have been developing at a blinding rate for the guys at Manitou Brewing. They've installed a brand new Portland Kettleworks brewhouse and worked out most of the kinks of their new system. In a location that had previously been multiple retail shops, the amount of infrastructure that they installed is astounding. From glycol chillers to barrel-stave chairs to their open air patio, each piece is helping breathe new life into the building as a brew pub. Last week, I was lucky to stop by randomly when they were finishing off one of their first full brew days.

They were just knocking out a red ale, trying to get some house beers going strong before they open their doors. It was the end of a long brew day for everyone, but there were smiles on every face. With little space to spare, their brewery has everything where it needs to be, and hopefully they have planned for everything. While the brewhouse and cooler look pretty much ready to go, the kitchen is the final step for them to finish the build and to open. Kevin and Dominic said final inspections on their kitchen and the building are the last hurdle before they can open, and everything they built is above and beyond what the code required.Their public space feels unique and very Manitou-ish, from Waldo Canyon logs surrounding their chalkboard to repurposed packaging materials that make up the bar to the refurbished barn roof on the ceiling.

 With things progressing at such a quick rate, we'll try to keep you updated as to when their exact opening date is, but definitely connect with them on Facebook for the