'It's Really Exciting:' Casper Brew Crawl celebrates thriving craft beer scene - Casper, WY Oil City News - Oil City News

Head brewer Ty Martinez talks with co-owner Bob Glisczinski at Skull Tree Brewing in north Casper. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City, File)

CASPER, Wyo. – For years it seemed that craft brewery fans in Casper would be left eternally thirsty.

Granted, the state as a whole was slow to jump on the craft beer revolution that started in the 90s in cities like Denver and Portland. As that changed, eventually many Wyoming towns both smaller and larger than Casper had at least one local brewery.

Finally, just before the 2017 Eclipse Festival, Frontier Brewing Company opened in downtown Casper. A succession of breweries opened in the following weeks and months, including Gruner Bros., Skull Tree, Mountain Hops, and Oil City Brewing.

Article continues below...

Second Street is seen from Frontier Brewery in downtown Casper. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City File)

Going from beer zero to beer hero in four years is quite an achievement, especially after watching the many failed Casper brewing attempts over the past two decades.

“It’s really exciting to see Casper growing so quickly,” said Michelle Forster, executive director of the Wyoming Craft Brewers Guild in Sheridan.

“For the population size of Casper, it’s sort of shocking it took so long but it’s really exciting that it’s finally happening,” she said.

Oil City Beer Company owners Chris Hoburka and Dan Graham pose in their new taproom and brewery on June 30, 2020, in Casper. The table was salvaged from their old job at Sperry Drilling, where the two met and began brewing beer together. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City File)

Forster says the number of craft brewers in Wyoming has grown from eight to around 40 over the past dozen years.

“Now that number includes multiple locations, but that’s still a testament to how much welcome the craft beer community has been received from the state of Wyoming,” she said.

The Casper Brew Crawl on Saturday aims to celebrate Casper’s new and growing beer scene. All five breweries are participating in the event, which encourages beer fans to cycle, run, Uber or “roller skate” to local breweries. Each brewery will stamp a “passport” and offer gifts and special deals.

Among the participants is Skull Tree Brewing in North Casper. Co-owner Ty Martinez was one of the craft brewing pioneers in Casper before any particular independent brewery successfully took hold.

Mountain Hops Brewhouse owner and brewery Eric Magnuson poses among his system last year in Casper. The new brewery purchased equipment from Mishap Brewing in Buffalo and will begin selling craft beer sometime this month. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News File)

“There has always been a craft beer culture in Casper,” said Martinez, “it’s always just been a select few people that found it as a passion and as a hobby and as an interest.”

Martinez graduated from home-brewing to making beer at the old Wonder Bar, but most people didn’t realize they were selling local beer at the time. In the late-90s, Tommyknockers from Colorado rebuilt the defunct Wonder Bar into a brewpup, but that experiment failed within a few years. After the space was reopened as the Wonder Bar, Martinez was eventually hired to revive Tommyknockers’ equipment.

“Literally when I was brewing beer there, people would come say to me ‘did you know they used to make beer here?’ Uh, yeah, I’m doing it right now,” said Martinez.

Gruner Brothers Brewing co-owner Daron Gruner takes a look in the lauter tun tank, where the malt mash is separated into clear wort in the early process of brewing. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City File)

That frustrating era seems to be a thing of the past, says Martinez.

“The craft beer industry is one of the fastest growing industries, and it’s good to see Casper embrace it,” he said. “I couldn’t give you an explanation why it took so long.”

Forster says Wyoming has generally been behind the curve as far as national trends go, but she says that has worked to the state’s advantage in this case.

“We’ve had a chance to watch what’s happening over there and adapt it on our side,” she said.

Though there are five local breweries in Casper, each one has a distinct personality and offers their own unique takes on beer.

Frontier is located in downtown’s core inside a former Wolford’s Shoe store. Gruner Bros. converted the beloved Petroleum Club building, adding a deck with spectacular views of Casper. Skull Tree is tiny and intimate, and is tucked in an industrial neighborhood. Mountain Hops features a delightful outdoor patio. Oil City Beer Company on Casper’s east side has a big, spacious with a warehouse chic vibe and room for food trucks.

Martinez says the growing beer scene isn’t only good for Casper locals, it’s good tourists.

“We have a big map that shows where visitors have come visited from all over the continent, and it’s exciting to see where people come from and visit our little brewery,” he said.

Later this year Casper brewers will be joined by one of Wyoming’s most successful craft brewer, Sheridan-based Black Tooth, which recently announced plans to open a satellite brewery and tap room in the Nolan development near downtown.

“I think there’s room for more breweries,” said Forster. “I think there’s room for people who are creative enough and willing to do it.”

Martinez says he welcomes the variety.

“They have a lot of exciting things happening and we hope they do well here alongside us,” he said.

“I think there’s room to grow,” he said. “I don’t know where it’s heading, but it’s exciting.”

Click here for locations and more information on the brewers participating in the Casper Brew Crawl.

Search

'It's Really Exciting:' Casper Brew Crawl celebrates thriving craft beer scene - Casper, WY Oil City News - Oil City News

Related Stories from Oil City News:

0 Response to "'It's Really Exciting:' Casper Brew Crawl celebrates thriving craft beer scene - Casper, WY Oil City News - Oil City News"

Post a Comment