The Frisco-based brewery reaches new limits with a brewery expansion

By Monica Parpal Stockbridge

After four years, Outer Range Brewing Co. in Frisco has completed a brewery expansion that includes an expanded taproom, larger production area, coffee shop, restaurant, outdoor patio and rooftop. Even though 2020 has been fraught with challenges, owners Lee and Emily Cleghorn are finding plenty of silver linings.

The Expansion

When they opened Outer Range in 2016, the Cleghorns envisioned it as a family-friendly place. Before too long, however, the brewery’s fan base outgrew its 2,200 square-foot space. “We love the high energy but it was just too crowded,” Emily says. When she stopped bringing her daughter to the brewery because it was so packed, she knew something had to change.

“We feel so fortunate that we expanded when we did,” says Lee, adding that, with this year’s COVID-19 restrictions, the brewery may have gone out of business in their original taproom. Now, the brewery has a 60-seat patio area ideal for outdoor dining and drinking, and until recently, had been able to accommodate more people indoors due to the increased square footage.

The expansion seemed fated. “It kind of fell in our lap that the restaurant in that space wanted to leave and we had the opportunity to quadruple our space,” Lee says. “We essentially applied all that extra space to the taproom experience.”

While the owners originally planned to open on Friday, March 13, 2020, the new space was only open for one day before having to close again due to COVID-19 restrictions. Lee anticipated an aluminum shortage and stocked up on cans before amping up their canning production to five days a week. They gave their staff more hours, which became a win-win to keep staff employed and get beer out the door.

A beer lovers’ paradise

Lee and Emily saw the renovation as an opportunity to build an entirely new bar — and along with it, a new bar experience. The 40-seat, 360-degree bar is designed with beer lovers in mind. “All of our bartenders are Cicerone Level 1 certified,” Emily says. “We wanted to get as many people around the bar so that they could get that kind of, you know, educational experience.” She hopes that in 2021, they can achieve that vision.

The duo was particularly inspired by Washington, D.C., craft beer bar, ChurchKey, where beers are served from the tap at their ideal temperatures. “It just blew my mind,” Lee says. “I was like, oh my god, this is exactly how we should be drinking beer.” So when they had the opportunity to build a new bar, he built a similar system. Pilsners are served at 37 degrees, IPAs at 45 degrees and darker beers at 54 degrees. As far as they know, Outer Range is the only bar or brewery in Colorado with such a system.

Another aspect of the rebuild involved installing a CO2 recovery system. Adapting a specialty system from Earthly Labs out of Texas, Outer Range can now recover the CO2 that is expelled during fermentation and use it to carbonate beers. “The amount of CO2 a brewery produces really isn’t a big point of conversation now,” Lee says, “but it might be in the future.”

He goes on to explain that the CO2 used to carbonate beer is typically a byproduct of fossil fuel production, which comes with a risk of leaching trace amounts of impurities and oils into the beer. In fact, Outer Range plans to brew side-by-side versions of its In The Steep IPA: one traditional and one with the recaptured CO2, so guests can taste the difference.

Stay for the Food

As part of the expansion, Outer Range opened a restaurant, Bird Craft, run by Chef Chris Schmidt. Schmidt is co-owner and chef at Craftsman, a gourmet sandwich spot in Edwards. “He knows a lot about beer,” Emily adds. The restaurant serves “Thai-ish fried chicken” poke tots, papaya salad and honey Sriracha wings, to name a few. Online orders have been pouring in.

Mountain Dweller is a separate business that rents space from Outer Range to offer coffee and pastries from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily — ideal for early morning guests and non-beer drinkers.

Pivoting in a Pandemic

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Outer Range didn’t distribute beer at all in Colorado (other than a specialty brew they made once for Whole Foods). But once the pandemic hit, they began selling beer out of liquor stores to tap a new revenue stream.

“Then we realized, too, that people were really discovering us for the first time at these liquor stores,” Emily says, especially since Outer Range is 70 miles from Denver.

After reopening the taproom in July, they decided to continue local distribution — a credit to those liquor stores that helped keep them afloat and a chance to keep those channels open in a still-uncertain environment. Still, with the newly added foodservice components and bigger, better space, Outer Range seems geared up to increase their fan base in the new year.

“This whole COVID thing,” Emily says, “the silver lining with it, it got us to think about it differently, and try to go to customers where they are.”

Monica Parpal Stockbridge writes about food, travel and technology in Colorado and beyond. Read more of her work at monicastockbridge.com.