August 12, 2014

New brewery headed to downtown Longmont

LONGMONT – The year of new breweries in Longmont appears ready to spill over into 2015.

Ted Risk said Tuesday that he and business partner Ryan Wibby are just days away from inking a lease on an 8,000-square-foot space in downtown Longmont where they plan to open Wibby Brewing in the first quarter of next year.

The pair recently raised $230,000 in equity funding, according to a regulatory filing, and Risk said their capital raise will continue as they work toward launching the business.

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“We’re locking down a location as we speak,” said Risk, who declined to disclose the location until it’s official.

Wibby Brewing will join a craft beer scene in Longmont that has already seen two new breweries – 300 Suns, and Shoes and Brews – open this year. Grossen Bart is in the process of building out its own space. That’s not to mention the city’s mainstays – Left Hand, Oskar Blues and The Pumphouse.

Wibby Brewing intends to go big from the start, with a 15-barrel brewhouse. The brewery will include a taproom, and will initially can three flagship beers.

The brewery will also try to set itself apart by exclusively brewing lagers, which ferment at lower temperatures and take longer to brew than the ales that are much more common in the craft beer world.

The style is one in which Ryan Wibby, who will serve as brewmaster, has developed a unique talent, Risk said. Wibby, who spent 10 months in Germany acquiring his brewing certification, has brewed professionally for the past seven years, most recently at Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Ore.

“We see it as an opportunistic point of differentiation to come into the market and get some attention,” Risk said. “It’s a whole avenue of flavor profiles that people haven’t explored in the craft scene.”

Wibby, who grew up in Gunbarrel, and Risk met at Ithaca College in New York. Risk has spent the past few years managing a startup health club in Chicago. They both moved to Colorado recently to start the brewery.

They picked Longmont, Risk said, because they felt it is a city still full of growth potential.

“We’ve been planning the brewery for the last year, and we’re at the point where we need to be to move forward,” Risk said.


LONGMONT – The year of new breweries in Longmont appears ready to spill over into 2015.

Ted Risk said Tuesday that he and business partner Ryan Wibby are just days away from inking a lease on an 8,000-square-foot space in downtown Longmont where they plan to open Wibby Brewing in the first quarter of next year.

The pair recently raised $230,000 in equity funding, according to a regulatory filing, and Risk said their capital raise will continue as they work toward launching the business.

“We’re locking down a location as we speak,” said Risk, who declined to disclose the location until it’s official.

Wibby…

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