If you go What: Bootstrap Brewing Co. When: Tasting room open 3–8 p.m. daily. Live music and food most Saturdays Where 6778 North 79th St., Niwot Tickets: $75 per person (includes food, anniversary beer samples and a Firestone Walker snifter glass) Info: (303) 652-4186 or bootstrapbrewing.com

It’s a bright, crisp Saturday afternoon the day I visit Bootstrap Brewing. Owners Leslie and Steve Kaczeus are behind the bar pouring beers for a steady stream of customers, many of whom they greet by name, and off to the side a local acoustic duo belts out some smokin’ blues and classic rock covers.

Even though it’s a college football game day, there’s not a television in sight (nor will there ever be, says Steve). Rather, an open garage door leads to an inviting back patio and yard where clusters of people sit on benches and Adirondack chairs sipping beers, munching on food from Niwot Market and engaging in honest-to-goodness conversation.

In the three months since Bootstrap Brewing opened for business, Leslie and Steve have transformed this former CrossFit location into the nanobrewery of their dreams — a community gathering place where neighbors and newcomers alike can relax, hang out and enjoy some local, handcrafted brews.

It has taken more than five years of research and planning, as well as navigating a “gauntlet of architects and contractors,” as Leslie puts it, and filing for all the necessary licenses and paperwork, but now that they’re up and brewing, the couple can finally sit back and enjoy their new venture.

“We’re getting to a point where we don’t count weeks anymore, like an infant,” Leslie jokes. “Starting our own business was totally like adding a new member to the family.”

Steve has brewed beer ever since Leslie bought him a home-brew kit for Christmas nearly 20 years ago, when they were newlyweds, and the couple has long enjoyed learning about beer and seeking out new breweries during their travels, including trips to Bavaria. In fact, it was during such visits that the couple hatched a plan to start a brewery of their own.

“We would spend so much time sitting in other breweries and beer gardens asking ourselves, ‘What is it that we’re both so passionate about that we could make it into a business?'” Leslie says. “And then one day we decided, ‘Are you kidding me? Let’s just go make beer!’ ”

They purchased a 31/2-barrel copper kettle brew system from Eddyline Brewpub in Buena Vista and put it in storage until the time was right. With an older daughter already living out of the house and their son a sophomore at CU, the couple decided it was time to leave their jobs in the tech industry and put their business plan into action.

They hired professional brewer David Mentus, formerly of the Pumphouse Brewery & Restaurant, to help Steve scale up his home brew recipes and to develop some new recipes, and then launched with a core lineup of flavor-forward beers that includes 1956 Golden Ale, Flagstaff Amber, Boomer Brown and Insane Rush. Insane Rush is a well-balanced and citrusy IPA that has quickly become a favorite among the local beer community. Several area restaurants, including the West End Tavern in Boulder and Oskar Blues in Longmont, have also requested the beer to serve on draft.

And although the Bootstrap brewery has been operational only since late June, Steve and David are already experimenting with a wide variety of styles beyond the core lineup, including a fruit beer and a fresh-hopped imperial amber ale, and are planning for a few barrel-aged beers and sours in the works. They’ve also entered five beers in this year’s Great American Beer Festival competition.

“That’s the fun part of being a small brewery, we can brew some different things and try them out,” says Steve. “Our aim is to make good, solid beers with a little Niwot character all their own.”

“It’s so simple. We just want to make really great beer and have a lot of fun doing it,” echoes Leslie. “If we’re not hitting those two things, then it’s time to adjust.”

Boulder Craft Beer Symposium

The Boulder Wine Merchant will host a Craft Beer Symposium from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Avery Brewing Co. to promote and celebrate Boulder’s unique craft-beer culture. The event will feature an educational discussion about barrel-aging beers with brewers from Crooked Stave, Avery and Crystal Springs Brewing Co., as well as comparison tastings of barrel-aged and fresh beers. Cost is $25 per person.

“Boulder’s beer scene . . . is really leading the charge with regard to barrel-aging beers,” says Brett Zimmerman, owner of Boulder Wine Merchant. “Our desire is to learn more about a topic that’s moving in a really cool direction.”

After the symposium, a Beer Garden Tasting featuring a variety of local beers with food catered by Pizzeria Basta will follow from 4 to 7 p.m., with a separate fee of $25 per person. Entry to both events is $45, with all proceeds benefiting the Growe Foundation. Visit boulderwine.com/craftbeer to register.

Contact Tom Wilmes at

boulderbeerguy@gmail.com