Aspen Brewing Company & Capitol Creek Brewing Company acquired by Westbound & Down
Courtesy photo
When asked what he loves most about beer, Jake Gardner, director of brewery operations and operating partner for Westbound & Down Brewing, said, “Oh, too much.”
What started as a hobby of making homebrew while a student at the University of Colorado Boulder, vying for a spot in a PhD program, has turned into a lifelong passion and career path that led him to join the team at Westbound & Down Brewing Company.
Founded in late 2015, the brewing company owns and operates its flagship location in Idaho Springs, a pizzeria and brewpub in Lafayette, and its satellite taproom in downtown Denver’s The Dairy Block.
Last week, the company added both Aspen Brewing and Capitol Creek Brewery, which it acquired from High Country Brewing LLC. The deal included Aspen Brewing’s 7,000 barrel capacity production facility, which is located at 404 Aspen Airport Business Center, and its Aspen Tap brewpub location in Aspen’s core, along with Capitol Creek Brewery’s brewpub located in Basalt’s Willits Town Center.
“Being in the Roaring Fork Valley, culturally, it’s a great fit. I’m an avid fly fisherman and backcountry snowboarder, and my partners are big skiers,” said Gardner. “And that’s what drew us to the greater Boulder County in Lafayette at first, which has a great outdoor kind of community, and Aspen is the ultimate expression of that outdoor Colorado lifestyle.”
One of the other things that he said sets Westbound & Down apart is their focus on elevated culinary options at their various properties. They specialize in West Coast IPA and have earned several recent distinctions, including a bronze, silver, and gold medal at the 2023 Great American Beer Festival, a silver medal at the 2023 World Beer Cup, two silver medals at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival, a pair of silver medals at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival, in addition to top honors as Midsize Brewpub of the Year in 2019.
He said that one of the things that attracted them to Capitol Creek was the emphasis on delicious food as well as great service in its Willlits location.
It has also hired Matt Husted, the former director of hospitality and partner at Id Est Hospitality to oversee all brewpubs. Id Est Hospitality is the group behind Michelin-starred Brutø and the Wolf’s Tailor.
“Chef Hank has this this incredible background in fine dining, and the team cares about elevating American brewpub food alongside a dedication to craft beer,” said Gardner. “They’re already doing a great job, so we’re gonna be a great fit. You don’t accidentally make great food, you don’t accidentally have great hospitality, and you certainly don’t accidentally make great beer.”
He said they were also impressed with Aspen Brewing and its scrappy approach to beer making. The location in downtown Aspen presented an opportunity to bring brewpub culture to the center of town, and its production facility allows the company the ability to brew more beer locally.
The integration of Westbound & Down will be gradual, starting with stocking their cans in both locations in the next week or so, and soon after, guests will have access to their beer on tap in both locations.
Garner acknowledged that Aspen Brewery and Capitol Creek were beloved by locals for their accessibility and said that the goal is to keep both locations affordable to both locals and visitors.
“Our main goal is to grow the brand up here in the mountain communities,” he said. “We know we want to bring Westbound down to the Roaring Fork Valley; how that looks will take time. We’re trying to win the decade, not the month or the year, so we’re not in a rush to do anything. We don’t have one version of how things go. And that’s how we’re approaching this as ‘Let’s go there and learn.’ We’re excited to be part of the community, and I’m excited to be part of the fly fishing community. We just want to immerse ourselves in figuring out what might work there, while realizing that they’re two very different communities.”
Sarah Girgis is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Aspen Times. She can be reached at 970-429-9151 or sgirgis@aspentimes.com.
