Brewers Guild Marketing Director Moves on to Laws Whiskey House

The Thirst Colorado Team

Colorado Brewers Guild marketing director Steve Kurowski celebrated his departure from the organization Friday at Cannonball Creek Brewing Co. in Golden.

Kurowski has served as the face of Colorado beer for the past 10 years, working to promote the state’s ever-expanding brew scene.

He plans to take his marketing skills to Laws Whiskey House, 1420 S. Acoma St., which is currently in the process of expanding in west Denver. Laws has led a pack of top distillers in the state, aging its whiskey during the past eight years. With more than four years of sales, owner Al Laws said it’s the perfect time to bring on someone with Kurowski’s experience. “We’re amazingly excited to have him on the team,” Laws said. “We are expanding our sales and marketing a quite a bit.”

Laws said expansion plans include doubling its whiskey output in the next year and opening a two-story tasting room next door within a few years.

In the near future, the distillery also plans to offer bonded bourbon and rye, both of which are aged six years (instead of four). “We’ve got to keep raising the bar,” Laws said.

Prior to working with the Colorado Brewers Guild, a nonprofit trade association that promotes the state’s brewing industry, Kurowski worked at Breckenridge Brewery and Wynkoop Brewing Co. as a marketing manager.

Kurowski helped the Brewers Guild work through a canyon-wide divide in 2016 when more than a dozen major brewers left the Guild and launched their own organization. He helped patch things up between brewers who wanted new leadership at the Guild.

Strange Craft owner and brewer Tim Meyers said Kurowski has been a huge part of the brewing scene. “During the Guild tumult of 2015 and 2016, Steve worked hard to hold everything together, Meyers said. “He has been a driving force in promoting craft beer in Colorado and nationally. While myself and the Guild will miss him, I wish him huge success in his new journey. Laws Whiskey is lucky to have him.’

Kurowski’s Guild duties will be split between membership director Shawnee Adelsen and an event planner who will be added to the team, according to Jonathan Shikes, who tracks the Colorado beer scene for Denver Westword.