Crazy Mountain Tap Room + BBQ Will Open in Former Breckenridge Brewery

Crazy Mountain Brewery, which took over the Breckenridge Brewery’s former headquarters at 471 Kalamath Street in August, plans to open a barbecue joint and tap room in cooperation with Beaver Creek’s Group970 Restaurants sometime this fall. Group970 runs Blue Moose Pizza locations in Vail and Beaver Creek, along with two...

By Jonathan Shikes

October 6, 2015

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Crazy Mountain Brewery, which took over the Breckenridge Brewery’s former headquarters at 471 Kalamath Street in August, plans to open a barbecue joint and tap room in cooperation with Beaver Creek’s Group970 Restaurants sometime this fall. Group970 runs Blue Moose Pizza locations in Vail and Beaver Creek, along with two restaurants in Texas. The eatery will fill the void left when Breckenridge closed its own Carolina-style barbecue restaurant in May and moved the entire operation to a twelve-acre, $36 million campus in Littleton, where it also opened the new Farm House Restaurant, which serves a wide variety of fare.

Crazy Mountain, which was founded in Edwards in 2010 by Kevin and Marisa Selvy, had been negotiating with Breckenridge for two years for the spot. “They have a great reputation in this valley,” says Group970’s Sarah Franke about the brewery. “When they started looking at the space, they told us that they wanted to stay true to their focus, which is the brewery side of things, but that they wanted someone to take over the restaurant side.”

The two companies had worked together on community events over the past few years, and Group970’s restaurants all served Crazy Mountain beers. The company formerly owned the Chophouse restaurants in Vail and Beaver Creek before selling them last summer.
Crazy Mountain Tap Room + BBQ will be owned and operated by Group970, but it will “stay true to the brewery’s look and feel,” with reclaimed barn wood and a simple, clean design, Franke says. It will also serve a full lineup of Crazy Mountain’s beers on its two dozen taps, along with several guest beers.

The forty- to fifty-seat eatery will offer counter service at lunch and table service at dinner, but since Group970 chef Jay McCarthy’s background is in Texas, the restaurant will probably serve Texas-style rather than Carolina-style barbecue. “It was a barbecue restaurant in the past, so it seems like a pretty natural fit when you talk about breweries and craft beers,” Franke says.

Customers who want to get growler fills or buy bottles of Crazy Mountain beer to go will be able to visit a “speakeasy” next door to the restaurant, which will also be used for special events and tours. That room will be run by Crazy Mountain rather than Group970, under a different liquor license.

Franke says the restaurant could be open as soon as November.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.