Longmont’s Wibby Brewing sets Labor Day weekend grand opening

LONGMONT — The founders of Wibby Brewing on Wednesday announced that they’ll be holding their grand-opening celebration over Labor Day weekend.

But they’re letting the first batches of beer determine the actual day.

The opening has been a long time coming for cofounders Ryan Wibby and Ted Risk, who began working on the project about two years ago and secured a lease on their location at 209 Emery St. in Longmont last summer. The pair originally had hoped for a spring opening but for several months now had been aiming for mid-July.

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A few minor delays out of the way, Labor Day Weekend it is, though opening day could be anywhere from Friday, Sept. 4, to Sunday, Sept. 6. Wibby Brewing is exclusively brewing lagers, a style of beer that is fermented at lower temperatures and takes longer to brew than the ales that dominate the craft-beer scene. Risk said Wednesday that he and Wibby want to have five beers on tap when they open, and they won’t know for a couple of weeks yet when a couple of those offerings will be ready.

“We’re working through a few details, but we’re excited to know that we’ll officially open our doors that weekend,” Risk said. “Ryan and I always said if we could get it by Sept. 1, we’d be happy.”

Risk said the brewery didn’t make its July target due to some normal hurdles in construction and attaining licenses. Being the first business that will open as part of the redevelopment of the former Butterball turkey plant in downtown Longmont also brought with it “lots of moving parts,” including certain requirements from the city, though Risk didn’t get into specifics on those.

“We wanted to make sure we were doing things appropriately,” Risk said. “The city of Longmont, by and large, has been overwhelmingly helpful.”

Other than getting the beer brewed, Risk said construction should wrap up in the next week and a half, with mostly cosmetic aspects yet to finish. When they open, the founders and investors will have put about $1.25 million into the operation, Risk said.

Wibby is serving as brewmaster and Risk as director of operations. They’ll have one other full-time employee and three part-timers when they open.

The 8,300-square-foot brewery, built in a former maintenance garage for Butterball trucks, will include a 15-barrel brewhouse, three 30-barrel fermenters, six 30-barrel lagering tanks, an 1,800-square-foot tap room, and a 1,400-square-foot outdoor patio.

Risk said he expects production the first year to be about 1,000 barrels. The brewery will begin kegging beers right away, and could begin canning right away as well, he said. The brewery will feature three flagship beers: Wibby India Pale Lager, Moondoor Dunkel and Lightshine Helles. Two more seasonal beers will also be part of the opening day lineup.

“The excitement is pretty indescribable,” Risk said. “The community has been really incredible. They’ve greeted us with nothing but enthusiasm and passion.”