Strategic maneuvers: Veteran brewers up the game at Colorado Springs craft breweries
Colorado Springs is a city of award-winning craft breweries, and award-winning veteran brewers.
Is that simply the outcome of the (much) higher-than-average population of current and former service members in El Paso County, or is there also something particular about the military experience — and the personalities and skill sets of those drawn to and cultivated by it — that translates so well to the brewing industry?
Maybe it's the world travels, the appreciation and attention to detail, or the craving for an ordered workspace with colleagues who know how to follow orders.
Whatever the reason, the nexus of two of the Springs' defining identities has created a beer wonderland for those able to reap the frothy bounty on the home front — on Veterans Day, and every day.
Brian Koch, Phantom Canyon Brewing Co.A self-taught home brewer and Certified Cicerone, Air Force veteran Brian Koch (pronounced "cook") stepped into the head brewer role at Phantom Canyon in May, after almost 21 years in the military and a path to brewing that officially began before he retired from service in 2020.
His plan was to stay in the military until he could exit with a government pension and health care, then turn to the slings and arrows of a suds career. As he was negotiating that eventual pivot about five years ago, he learned of SkillBridge, a new federal internship-style program created to help active duty military transition into the professional civilian sphere.
"I didn't think they would let me do it," said Koch, who nonetheless wrote up and submitted a proposal. "Very rarely do people transition out of the military and go into brewing or wine-making, so I didn't think they would take it seriously. But they did."
Koch's five-month internship at Kros Strain Brewing, near the Omaha base where he was stationed, segued into a full-time job as soon as he officially retired from the Air Force, as a lieutenant colonel. In 2021, he moved to the Springs with his wife — now also retired military — and their two children, landing a brewing job at Cerberus Brewing Co., first as assistant and then head brewer, before taking over the top brewhouse role at Phantom Canyon.
A former intercontinental ballistic missile operator whose military career evolved into "mostly space," Koch said that what made him good at those jobs was a boon in the world of professional brewing.
Craft brewing may be a wildly creative endeavor, but producing large-scale recipes for patrons who expect their favorite flagship to taste the same every time is a dance of details that starts long before the actual brewing begins.
"I feel really lucky that my first job was nuclear missiles. You're told exactly what to do, and you follow a checklist and you don't deviate from that," Koch said. "I could take those skills and they translated to the brewery, where we can consistently make good product because everybody's doing the same thing.
"That kind of discipline and consistency that comes from (military) training is something that I think can really help."
Three years at Ramstein Air Base in Germany didn't hurt.
"I could travel all over Europe and try beers in the cities that they originated in and try the perfect examples of all those beers," Koch said. "It was a lot of great beer, and beer education."
To honor Veterans Day on Monday, Phantom Canyon will donate 10% of sales to The Torchlight Initiative, a non-government organization of current and former Air Force ICBM community members and their families focused on providing practical support and raising awareness about the environmental factors that lead to higher rates of disease and illness among those who operated, maintained, supported or protected ICBM delivery systems.
Todd Baldwin, Red Leg Brewing Co.
Exposure to global beer cultures, especially during postings in Europe, certainly helped nurture a deeper love and understanding of beer for the founding owner of Red Leg Brewing Co., Army veteran Todd Baldwin, who spent about 10 years in service as an artillery officer, including deployment to Iraq.
"A lot of us were stationed overseas and in Germany, Belgium, England, places like that, where the beer culture has been around for not just a few decades, but for a few centuries," Baldwin said.
A love for craft beer and a desire to continue the sense of military community in the civilian world was just as fundamental to Baldwin's decision to open Red Leg's first, modest-sized iteration in 2013, off Forge Road.
"The military itself leads to a sort of tight knit culture that the craft brewery industry sort of leads to, too," Baldwin said. "And as you exit from the military, you continue to look for that connection. It's really another great opportunity for all of us to find meaning in our post military service careers."
On the professional side, Baldwin said many active duty and former military are attracted to the regimented, demanding and goal-oriented nature of the industry.
"It's 'we're gonna work for this long. We're gonna get it done, and if it doesn't get done, we're gonna keep going until it's done,'" he said. "I think a lot of folks find that work environment very intriguing, very attractive, especially folks that are on their way out of the military."
Red Leg's name was inspired by the cardinal stripe Civil War artillery soldiers wore on the battlefield. Baldwin founded the brewery to celebrate U.S. service members, and "brew great beer" — which it's certainly done, including a silver medal for Wunder Bier Märzen at the 2023 Great American Beer Festival in Denver.
The brewery's 14,000-plus-square-foot multi-purpose complex at 2323 Garden of the Gods Road opened in 2021, providing even more space for Baldwin and crew to continue to fulfill their mission, which includes regular fundraising for an array of nonprofits that support the military.
Stop by the brewery on Veterans Day for the annual Veteran Beer Mug raffle, open to active duty and former service members. The winner receives a personalized mug, with free pours in the honorary vessel.
"Everyone who sees them with this mug knows this person served or is currently serving," Baldwin said. "It's sort of our way to always, every day, support those individuals who go out there and serve our country."
Steven Fuller, Wackadoo Brewing Co.
About a mile north of Red Leg, at 5158 Centennial Blvd., lies the only brewery in America to launch inside a VFW hall — which it did in 2020, with a single tap behind the bar inside VFW Post 6461 in Fountain, said Wackadoo Brewing Co. owner and head brewer Steven Fuller.
"We are also the only brewery in America that donates 100% of our profits every month to 17 different nonprofits, 12 of which are veteran nonprofits," said Fuller, who said he pays his overhead and employees, but has never drawn a salary. "I literally sold everything I own just to open the brewery. I get my disability check every month, and that's the only thing I live off of. I've never paid myself a dime."
Fuller spent 14 years in the Army, and served three tours in Iraq. All of his employees at Wackadoo are veterans or direct family members of veterans, he said.
And that's how he sees Wackadoo: as a business, yes, but one that also functions like a family, community center and info hub for those seeking support and connections.
Colorado Springs is full of nonprofits that assist active duty and former service members, but finding what you need, when you need it, can be a challenge, Fuller said.
"I started the brewery to show people and give people a place to actually put all this together," Fuller said. "If somebody walks in my doors and they need help with something, I can name off all the different groups and how they can help them, instead of them trying to reach out individually and only getting what little help that one nonprofit can give. I can help them network with all of them."
Veterans and active duty service members can stop by the brewery Monday for a free beer, to stay or to go.
"They can just take it and leave, with our thanks," Fuller said.
