By Kyle Kirves

Those who say “you can’t take it with you when you go” never met the good folks at Jagged Mountain Brewing in Denver.

“We absolutely want our beers to be enjoyed outside,” says Rachel Gibbons, Jagged Mountain’s taproom manager. “It’s our motto: we make adventurous beer for adventurous people.”

Located on 20th Street in the heart of downtown, the urban brewery might seem a strange place to drop an outdoors-themed brewery. But step inside and you’ll catch an apr`es vibe like you’ve just come off the mountain, all of it built on a warm, neighborhood feel. The brewery is accented by blonde hardwood tabletops as well as ice axes, mountain memorabilia and Tibetan prayer flags. Jagged Mountain makes bringing the outside inside a point of pride.

“Our owners are both active outdoorspeople,” says Preston Plume, distribution manager for Jagged Mountain. “Mountaineers, snowboarders, hikers. Everything. And so are most of the people who work here.”

You’ll find that ethos carried forward into the names of their beers: Sawatch IPA, Grizzly Peak Session Porter, Grouse Mountain Gose, and Wolfpack Black Saison, as well as some obscure and funny names (no spoilers here, you should check the website).

General Manager and Marketing Manager Chad Bratt says one beer in particular has a very special name.

“People think they know what Cougar Slayer is all about,” he says, suggesting a link to the somewhat notorious appellation. “But it is actually a tribute to an underground mountain bike race outside Nederland that we were actually a sponsor of.”

But it’s not only the names of Jagged Mountain’s beers that are on the cutting edge. With the addition of Alyssa Thorpe as head brewer, Jagged Mountain has produced an adventurous take on their beers. Thorpe, who most recently brewed at Lone Tree Brewing Co., is excited about her new venture at Jagged Mountain, “I have so many ideas for new beers and I’m ready to dive head first into this adventure!” says Thorpe.

The core clientele at Jagged Mountain is young professionals who live in the surrounding apartment complexes. But to hear both Gibbons and Plume tell the tale, some folks come in from all over the world to visit the brewery. “We get a lot of people straight off the train from the airport,” Gibbons says.

“And our world map is dotted with flags from all over,” Plume says.

The close proximity to the Colorado Convention Center generates some of that traffic. But, as a venerated brewer once said: location might get ’em in the door the first time, but the beer brings ’em back the second. And third. And so on. Jagged Mountain’s great small-batch beer has created a geographical reputation that vastly exceeds their distribution footprint of the Front Range.

“I’ve seen people in Jagged Mountain t-shirts in Detroit, California…,” Plume says with a smile.

Fear not, though, if a trip to the Mile High City is not on your schedule: Jagged Mountain is an active participant at well over a dozen local and regional festivals per year.

Part of the beauty of beer is its portability. If you find something you like and want to take it home, Jagged Mountain cans crowlers while you wait. Because, after all, this was beer meant to be taken along with you on your next adventure — to the real 13,000-foot Jagged Mountain namesake, or wherever your feet can carry you.

Kyle Kirves drinks beer, plays guitar, runs trails, and manages projects – all with varying degrees of success. While not a craftsman himself, he is quite content writing about the Colorado artisans who create such wonderful things and memorable experiences.