Durango’s Ska Brewing to take over former Fate space in Boulder

BOULDER — Ska Brewing Co., known for flagships beers True Blonde Ale, Mexican Logger and Moral Panic Brut IPA, will open its second brewery and taproom — the company’s first outside of its Durango birthplace — in the former Fate Brewing Co. space in Boulder.

Fate filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late 2018 and closed its 1600 38th St. location in May 2019 after an unsuccessful reorganization effort. 

The Ska Street Brewstillery, which could open in the 38th Street space as early as spring 2020, is a collaboration between Ska and sister spirits company Palisades-based Peach Street Distillers.

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“We really want to replicate what we love about both of the existing spaces,” Ska and Peach Street co-founder Dave Thibodeau told BizWest, “but with its own Boulder spin.”

Ska team members are no strangers to the Boulder area. Thibidodeau grew up in the northern Denver metro area, and co-founder Bill Graham is a University of Colorado graduate. Several members of the company’s leadership crew previously worked at Boulder’s Avery Brewing Co. 

“Boulder is a big, important market for us and we have a lot of roots there,” Thibodeau said. “… Boulder feels a lot like a bigger version of Durango. We are so comfortable here in Durango and we hope to really embed ourselves in the Boulder community and get comfortable there too.”

The Boulder brewery will have a 10-barrel brewing system that will mainly pump out specialty varieties that will be served in 30-tap taproom. 

Because the space previously served as a brewery, “everything is pretty turn-key, which makes getting it set up a much simpler process,” Thibodeau said.

Ska hopes to brew between 500 and 1,000 barrels of beer at the Boulder location next year, he said. 

“We’re going to be doing some really fun, experimental stuff [at the Boulder brewery], and that will be supplemented by our flagship beers we make in Durango,” Thibodeau said.