Beyond the Mountain Brewing Company is Creating a Gem in Boulder
Beyond the Mountain Brewery team
Beyond the Mountain Brewing Company is a brewery run by Morgan Way and Chuck Hixon which started in late 2017 in Boulder, Colorado. Way and Hixon are lifelong friends, having met at summer camp in Virginia. In college, they started homebrewing together when they would visit each other. They both loved the experience so much, they each got into the brewing industry. Now almost six years later, Beyond the Mountain is part of the thriving Boulder beer scene with local distribution in the Boulder/Longmont area. They also operate a lively tasting room with a focus on live music.
Brewing Beginnings
At the bar at Beyond the Mountain Brewery
Hixon got his start as an assistant brewer at Williamsburg Alewerks in his native Virginia before moving to Colorado to work at Twisted Pine Brewing in Boulder, first as a packaging technician and warehouse worker and then as a brewer. Way, who hails from Maryland, also worked for a time at Twisted Pine, becoming Head Brewer and was also a brewer at Vine Street in Denver so the two were seasoned brewery workers before venturing out on their own. Beyond the Mountain now has three full time staff and four part time beertenders.
“I was drawn to brewing in Colorado because it was one of the first places to really develop a craft beer scene and is basically the Napa Valley of beer.” says Hixon. “With such a storied history, I knew I could learn a lot here and continue to learn from other brewers in the community to this day.”
Hixon’s love of beer comes from respecting the classics and people who came before him. A visit to Stone Brewing’s Vertical event in 2012 was a “life changing” event for Hixon. Nowadays, Hixon looks to more of the “quiet” heroes of craft beer.
“These days I’m drawn more towards brewers who are quietly doing absolutely incredible work, such as John Dean at Blind Tiger Brewing in Topeka, Kansas and Joel Stickrod at Barrique Brewing and Blending in Nashville.”
The Product Line Up
Beyond the Mountain Brewery beer flight
Since opening almost six years ago, Beyond the Mountain brews many different styles. They have four year-round beers, BTM IPA, Headspin DIPA, Sour Shakedown Party, and Klaus’s Kolsch. They recently brewed a cold IPA that was a brisk seller for them in their tasting room.
“We normally have twelve beers on tap, with four being year round beers and the rest being seasonals and one off brews,” says Hixon. “My favorite beer to brew is the basil saison. Saisons are always a fun style to brew and the addition of basil makes it pretty unique and refreshing. My favorite beer to drink is our klaus’s kolsch. It’s by far the beer I drink the most, it’s just a great after work beer that’s crisp, light, and refreshing with a really clean flavor profile.”
Beyond the Beer
Beyond the Mountain Brewery tasting room
A visit to their tasting room will have you trying many beers but they also do a lot of community events such as Monday night trivia and live music on three nights of the week from bluegrass picks to open mic night. Hixon is obsessed with live music and felt it was a great way to connect with the community.
“I want people in the taproom, especially with the local music community. Our bar top has all my old ticket stubs on it which is always a great talking point with customers. I’m a huge music fan, so getting to tie music into our taproom in any way possible brings me great joy, from having live music to doing beer collaborations with local bands as well as sponsoring music festivals or pouring beers at certain concerts. ”
Beyond the Mountain has a small food menu to nosh on as well with pizza, pretzels and empanadas for sale.
Beyond the Mountain is located at 6035 Longbow Dr unit 109 in Boulder and their tasting room is open every day.