Left Hand Brewing Company

Left Hand Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in Longmont, Colorado, US.

History

Left Hand began in December 1990 with a homebrewing kit that founder Dick Doore received from his brother. According to Doore, "it was all downhill from there." By 1993, Doore had teamed up with college buddy Eric Wallace and they resolved to start a brewery.

On September 21, 1993, they incorporated as Indian Peaks Brewing Company, and purchased a former meat-packing plant next to the St. Vrain River outside downtown Longmont, Colorado. A few weeks after beginning production, it was discovered that the name Indian Peaks was already in use by another brewery, so the name was changed to Left Hand, in honor of Chief Niwot (the Arapahoe word for "left hand") whose tribe wintered in the local area.

Left Hand's doors opened for business on January 22, 1994. Their first batch of beer was Sawtooth Ale In October of that year. Left Hand took home two medals at the Great American Beer Festival, a gold medal in the bitter category for Sawtooth Ale, and a bronze medal in the Robust Porter category for Black Jack Porter. In 1995, the brewery was able to start putting its logo on bottle caps. But when it came down to shrinking down the original logo to put on a crown, the design was illegible. Left Hand created a small hand to be the logo. It morphed into a sticker, and eventually into the company logo used today.

In April 1998, Left Hand merged with Tabernash Brewing, and doubled the size of their brewery. In June, they began packaging 12 oz. bottles for 6 packs (up to that point they had been bottling 22 oz. bottles and kegs exclusively). In November, they started their own distribution business, Indian Peaks Distribution Company. Tabernash was phased out and Indian Peaks Distribution Company was sold, allowing Left Hand to focus and redirect their energy back to brewing.

In recent years, the brewery has experience significant growth. With over 30% growth in 2010, Left Hand has steadily increased its production, making the Brewers Association's Top 50 Craft Brewers list in 2012. The brewery has added six 480 barrel fermenters, an additional 500 barrel bright tank, and a new KHS keg line. Left Hand has also expanded the brewery property, purchasing the warehouse across Boston Avenue to house offices as well as the site of a new 6,000 square foot cooler, bringing the total brewery acreage to 5.5 acres. In the fall of 2012, Left Hand opened a new bottling line that runs four times faster than their previous system and fills 200 bottles per minute.

On the first night of the 2011 Great American Beer Festival, Left Hand introduced Milk Stout Nitro in a bottle, which has become their most popular beer, making it both the first American and the first craft brewery to bottle a nitrogenated beer without a widget. Two years later, Left Hand expanded the bottled Nitro series with Sawtooth Nitro and Wake Up Dead Nitro.

Left Hand produced approximately 65,879 barrels in 2013.

Bottled Beers

Perennial Collection: Sawtooth Ale Travelin' Light Milk Stout Milk Stout Nitro Extrovert IPA Polestar Pilsner Black Jack Porter Introvert IPA Wake Up Dead Nitro

Seasonal Collection: Good Juju Oktoberfest Fade to Black Hard Wired Nitro Coffee Porter Well Played Red IPA Braveheart Nitro

Big Mo Series (all 22 oz): Oak Aged Wake Up Dead Chainsaw Double ESB Twin Sisters Double IPA Smokejumper Imperial Smoked Porter Warrior IPA St. Vrain Tripel Widdershins Oak Aged Barleywine Wake Up Dead Imperial Stout

Ambidextrous Ale Series (Draft Only): Step One: Imperial Milk Stout Step Two: Smoked Doppelbock Step Three: Great Juju Step Four: Maibock Step Five: Sticke Alt

Safety Round Series (Draft Only): Round One: Belgian Pale Ale Round Two: Copper Ale

Collaborations (all 22 oz): TerraRye'ZD (2008) Depth Charge (2009) Oxymoron (2010) Peaotch (2011)

Discontinued Beers: Motherlode Golden Ale Jackman's Pale Ale Haystack Wheat Deep Cover Brown Ale Snowbound Winter Ale XXXmas Ale Fade to Black Vol. 1 (Foreign Export Stout) Fade to Black Vol. 2 (Smoked Baltic Porter) Fade to Black Vol. 3 (Pepper Porter) Fade to Black Vol. 4 (Rocky Mountain Black Ale) TNT Weizen Doppelbock Rye Bock Lager Smoked Goosinator Doppelbock

Note: all active beers are available in 6 packs of 12 oz bottles unless otherwise noted.

Awards Beer Competition Category Year Place Milk Stout Great American Beer Festival Sweet or Cream Stout 2014 Silver Medal Smokejumper Smoked Imperial Porter Great American Beer Festival Smoke Beer 2014 Silver Medal Black Jack Porter Great American Beer Festival Brown Porter 2014 Silver Medal Sawtooth Ale World Beer Cup Ordinary or Special Bitter 2014 Gold Award Milk Stout European Beer Star Sweet Stout 2014 Gold Award Sawtooth Ale Great American Beer Festival Ordinary or Special Bitter 2013 Gold Medal Milk Stout Great American Beer Festival Sweet or Cream Stout 2013 Gold Medal Fade to Black Volume 1 - Foreign Export Stout Great American Beer Festival Foreign Style Stout 2013 Gold Medal Milk Stout European Beer Star Competition Sweet Stout 2013 Gold Award Sawtooth Ale Great American Beer Festival Ordinary or Special Bitter 2012 Bronze Medal Milk Stout European Beer Star Competition Sweet Stout 2012 Gold Award Fade to Black- Vol.1 Great American Beer Festival Foreign Stout 2010 Gold Medal Black Jack Porter European Beer Star Competition Porter 2010 Gold Award Smokejumper Great American Beer Festival Smoked Beer 2009 Gold Medal Milk Stout European Beer Star Competition Sweet Stout 2009 Gold Award Milk Stout Great American Beer Festival Sweet Stout 2008 Silver Medal Sawtooth Ale Great American Beer Festival Bitter or Pale Mild Ale 2008 Bronze Medal Milk Stout World Beer Cup Sweet Stout 2008 Gold Award Milk Stout European Beer Star Competition Sweet Stout 2008 Gold Award Milk Stout European Beer Star Competition Sweet Stout 2007 Silver Award Milk Stout World Beer Cup Sweet Stout 2006 Gold Award Tabernash Oktoberfest Great American Beer Festival German Style Marzen / Oktoberfest 2001 Bronze Medal Black Jack Porter Great American Beer Festival Brown Porter 2000 Gold Medal Tabernash Oktoberfest Great American Beer Festival German Style Marzen / Oktoberfest 1999 Bronze Medal Tabernash Golden Pilsner Great American Beer Festival European Style Pilsner 1998 Gold Medal Black Jack Porter World Beer Cup Brown Porter 1998 Gold Award Tabernash Weiss World Beer Cup South German-Style Hefeweizen / Hefeweissbier 1998 Gold Award Tabernash Munich Dark Lager World Beer Cup European-Style Dark / Münchner Dunkel 1998 Gold Award Tabernash Munich Dark Great American Beer Festival European Style Dark / Munchener Dunkel 1997 Gold Medal Tabernash Oktoberfest Great American Beer Festival Marzen / Oktoberfest 1997 Bronze Medal Tabernash Weiss World Beer Cup South German-Style Weizen / Weissbier 1996 Bronze Award Tabernash Derailer Doppelbock World Beer Cup German-Style Strong Bock Beer 1996 Gold Award Tabernash Munich Dark Lager World Beer Cup European-Style Dark Lager 1996 Gold Award Black Jack Porter Great American Beer Festival Robust Porter 1995 Gold Medal Sawtooth Ale Great American Beer Festival Bitter 1994 Gold Medal Black Jack Porter Great American Beer Festival Robust Porter 1994 Bronze Medal Juju Ginger Great American Beer Festival Herb, Spice 1994 Honorable Mention Tabernash Denargo Lager Great American Beer Festival Dark Lager 1994 Bronze Medal Tabernash Golden Spike Great American Beer Festival Export / Helles 1994 Bronze Medal Tabernash Weiss Great American Beer Festival German Wheat 1994 Gold Medal

Left Hand Brewing Company

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