Cheers to Five Years: Thank You from our Founder
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The dust has settled from our weekend of celebrating Five Years of Beers, and we’ve taken some time to reflect on how awesome reaching this milestone really is and how we have all of you to thank for it! A few words from our Founder, Matt Cutter, on how we got this far…
The dream to make it to a Five Year Anniversary Party was always just that to me – a dream. It’s hard to believe it’s already been that long, but we’re here and feel lucky to have come this far doing what we love.
It all started in 1996 when I put a business plan together for a microbrewery. That business plan was shelved for other pursuits, but I eventually dusted it off and started on my vision for Upslope Brewing Company in 2007. One year later, my business plan got legs – I met a brewer from Argentina, we got a spot to brew in, and the homebrew recipes and pilot batches started taking shape that fall.
Our 2,200 square feet at our original Lee Hill location filled up quickly. We doubled it and then started looking for enough space to allow us to continue that growth. Out of an empty 17,000 square foot warehouse in Flatiron Park was born our new brewery this past February. The seven barrel brewhouse that we started on at Lee Hill was converted to brew specialties, and the new 30 barrel brewhouse at Flatiron Park became the focus for production. Fermentation capacity, the primary way in which we scale up production, grew quickly from the initial three 120 barrel fermenters to the nine that we have now, and we’ve still got some room to grow.
It’s hard to believe that in five years, we took what seemed like a pipe dream and made it the reality that is now Upslope. The outpouring of support from our fans, suppliers, partners, and fellow brewers this past weekend was mind-boggling. Like us, so many folks could simply not believe it had been five years. The love and support of all of those people is really what got us this far, and for that, we are forever thankful.
Early on, my wife hung up a little plaque on the wall that really hit home. It still hangs next to me now and offers, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” I have always answered that question the same way . . .
Cheers to five more years!
Matt Cutter