“Long time no see” or “The quiet before the storm”

Posted: 07/07/09

Friends,
It has been a while since I last took fingers to keyboard, but I have not been writing for lack of motivation or absence of news but rather because I have been busier than a one legged man at an ass kicking contest.
Anyone reading this blog knows that Stranahan’s has been growing over the last few years.  From hard earned shelf to hard earned shelf we have been slowly acquiring new fans and expanding our Colorado maverick spirit into 34 states and 2 other countries.  Recently there came the time that full barrels were touching all 4 walls of the rack house, the stills never went cold and our wash demands were out-stripping what we could contract.  We had to make a decision.  We were considering purchasing some brewing equipment to do our wash production in house.  We had heard of some brewing equipment that had been sitting dormant for years in an abandon building in central Denver.  We all piled in to Jess’ big red Ford F150 and headed out to an address in the warehouse district behind the Baker neighborhood.  When we arrived I recognized the building as the old Heavenly Daze brewery.  The Heavenly Daze was a brewpub from the golden age of microbreweries that had fallen by the wayside due to poor management and industry wide contractions.  As we opened the door and fumbled around by flashlight for a breaker box we didn’t know what to expect.  A click of the breaker and fluorescent lights shuttered to life, I felt a bit like an archaeologist .  There before us, under a thick layer of dust, like a kings treasure, sat and entire 30bbl brew house.  Mash ton, kettle, 3 fermenters, hot liquor, cold liquor, a row of bright tanks and just about everything we needed to kick our production into high gear.  We could not wait to rip all that equipment out and move it to our distillery.  As we left in a cloud of excited conversation we noticed a banner on the side of the building.  “FOR SALE”.  It occurred to Jess, why move the mountain to Mohammad?  We had planned on purchasing a building within the next X years anyway, why not take a run at this one.  We re-entered the building with new eyes.  We were looking at it as a possible distillery and not as storage building full of dust and junk.  A few more breaker boxes and a few stubbed toes later we were looking at 60,000 square foot of potential.  A mirage of brew house, still house, rack house twinkled before us in the ether.  This was to be our new home.  Jess set to work, in the relentless way only he can, figuring out how we could afford this jewel.  I went back to Blake Street and went right to the stills, making whiskey with a lump in my throat.  8 months later, the lawyers were richer, the brokers were popping champagne and Stranahan’s was a lot poorer but we had a home.
There was little time for us to celebrate, I assembled the distillers and gave them a speech I thought Patton would envy and within the 5 weeks we had totally disassembled the Blake street location and had it assembled at Kalamath street.  (I make it sound harder than it was, it was really pretty turn key… all the brew house needed a cleaning, it was complete and operable, the steam pipes for the stills were already there- it was really more like a plug-n-play than moving.)  In just over a month, the fermenters were in a primordial bubble and the stills were groaning in that magical way that only a stillman hears.  We were back in business.
That being said, we are far from being open to the public.  We are still contending with the damage of a neglected building.  Every square inch needs a scrubbing and at least one coat of paint.  The outside of the building is adorned with a highly questionable mural in addition to years of graffiti that needs to be dealt with. We ask for your patience as we chip away at the iceberg of petty maintenance needed and we will be open for tours as soon as possible.  The new distillery also houses a bar restaurant.  Having our hands full with the expansion we have leased the pub to a local restaurateur and he hopes to be up and running by September.  Even though the restaurant is a separate company and has separate owners it will still feature regular Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey as well as some of its more rare incarnations.  If you would like to join us in the celebration of our new building and this new challenge we are undertaking, find the most rare glass in the house and pour yourself a dram of what used to be only a dream and breathe deep the the spirit of Colorado.

Cheers Jake

Listening to:  Buck Owens