Elevation Beer Company (Poncha Springs, CO), a new microbrewery specializing in barrel aged beers, plans to begin brewing the second week of February. Some of you may question what a small Colorado brewery has to do with the craft beer culture in Alabama. Well, I will tell you.
Elevation has been started by four friends, Carlin Walsh, Christian Koch, Sheila Bustamante, and Xandy Bustamante. That last name, Xandy Bustamante, may be a bit familiar to Alabama craft beer lovers. Xandy Bustamante has been very active in Alabama beer culture through his work at his previous company, Craft, Corner. Consulting (CCC). While at CCC, Bustamante worked closely with western breweries like Moylan's Brewery, Great Divide Brewing Company, Tallgrass Brewing Company, and Tommyknocker Brewery, and helped organize the distribution of their products in Alabama. Bustamante has been very active in local events acting as a regional rep for the breweries CCC represents, and he even helped create and organize Alabama Beer Week in 2010. It goes without saying, that his contributions to the Alabama beer scene have been great.
Xandy Bustamante's new venture, Elevation Beer, will focus on producing three lines of beers based on the ski slope rating system: Blue Square Series consisting of easy drinking offerings, Black Diamond Series of bolder beers, and Double Black Diamond Series of adventurous, barrel-aged beers. These beers will be brewed by Head Brewer Christian Koch on a new, 15 barrel system at the 7,400 square foot facility. The first beers from the brewery will be the Black Diamond Series Apis IV, a Belgian Quadrupel made with caramelized honey, and Double Black Diamond Series Signal De Botrange, a Farmhouse style ale brewed with brettanomyces yeast and aged in Napa Valley Chardonnay barrels. If these two beers are an indication of what to expect from Elevation, it is time to get excited.
Like with all new breweries, the distribution area for Elevation will be small to start. For the time being, both the Black Diamond and Double Black Diamond Series offerings will be available on draft and in 750 ml bottles across Colorado, and the Blue Square Series will only be available on draft in the high country of Colorado. Xandy did assure me that when Elevation looks at future plans of distribution, the passion for craft beer in Alabama and the South will not be forgotten.
Although Xandy Bustamante has moved to dedicate himself full time to Elevation Beer Company, Craft, Corner. Consulting will be taken over by his father, Ed Bustamante. He assures that CCC willnot be affected by the changes, and will continue to dedicate themselves to the "good flow of craft beer in Alabama".
I would like to close by saying that Xandy Bustamante has been more than just a contact and colleague over the last couple years, he has become a friend. He has always shown great passion for all things craft beer, and I respect him greatly for that passion and his contributions to our beer scene. I wish him and his partners nothing but the best of luck with Elevation Beer Company, and I cannot wait to one day see his brewery's beers on our local tap lists. Prost!
Comments