Shirt Off My Back: Black Shirt Brewing Company

• October 19, 2011
• upslopebrewing
• no comments

The highest highs and the lowest lows . . . it’s what makes life worth living.

The industry continues to blow me away with good souls, believing in their craft, a craft that lost its way in this country a century ago. However, all is not lost. The good news is that there are passionate people out there recovering the course. So sit down, grab a pint, and I’ll tell you a tale.

It’s July 2011. The beer gods had smiled down upon us and the expansion we put in place last March proves to be inadequate. More capacity is once again needed and the next fermenter is 3 months out. I’m in a sales meeting and Luke casually mentions, “I talked to Chad at Black Shirt, and he said that we could borrow one of his tanks if we want.” I had briefly met Branden from Black Shirt, but never Chad, so I called him up. Chad says, “Yeah, we’re still renovating our space and our tanks have already arrived. You’re welcome to them.” On Saturday morning I hooked up the trailer that we borrow from Phil, the welder in #14,  to my 2001 Jeep Cherokee and headed down to 38th and Downing in Denver. As I rolled down I-25, the Jeep gnashed out a sound under the hood that resembled a metallic maraca. The smell wasn’t too bad, so I tried to ignore it.

Chad and Branden Miller and some very good friends emerged with white faces powdered with concrete dust. They were cutting trench drains in the 4000 square foot former tavern and brothel (can you say, good karma?) that will one day soon emerge as Black Shirt Brewing Company. Passion for what they are creating seeps from their pores, and long hard days are fueled by it.

The 15 barrel fermenter was already sitting on the forklift, ready to go . . . as if these guys had nothing better to do. I described the Jeep’s mechanical challenges. Chad informed me that the clutch from the A/C was “grenaded” and that really bad things could happen if I continued. Without a second thought, he hooked up his pickup truck to the trailer as my Jeep was hauled off to the shop. Truly realizing the situation as I was driving north to Boulder, I called my wife. “Would you believe that I am driving a borrowed pickup truck, towing a borrowed trailer that is loaded with a borrowed 15 barrel fermenter to the brewery right now?”

I asked Chad if I could pay him rent and he declined.  We have been continuously brewing into the fermenter since the day it arrived.

Down this crooked path of life, if you pay attention, doors open and people surprise you. Black Shirt Brewing Company is carving out a space to bring artisan craft beer to Coloradans seeking what beer has the capacity to be. The Red Ale Project is truly unique in its scope and purpose. Support these guys, because they represent all that craft beer used to, and what it has the potential to be.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1538541949/black-shirt-brewing-co-the-red-ale-project?ref=live