Strange Craft BV and the BV Backyard Now Open in Buena Vista

April and Ken Pishna have been traveling for the last seven years, documenting their adventures in the craft-beer world in the popular Living a Stout Life podcast and other video content. Now they’re settling down.

The couple, along with Marni and Tim Myers of Denver's Strange Craft Beer, opened Strange Craft BV on Friday, July 25, at 324 East Main Street in the heart of Buena Vista. Strange Craft BV is a standalone taproom at a new, outdoor beer garden, where two food trucks, including The Olive, are offering Mediterranean and Cajun food. The three businesses together make up the collective at what's been dubbed the BV Backyard.

The Pishnas and Tim Myers brewed up the idea for Strange Craft BV over beers at Bruz Off Fax. Myers wanted to expand the Strange brand into a mountain town; the Pishnas wanted to settle down in a similar type of place. “It was so organic,” recalls April. The two couples wound up partnering on the project; the Pishnas are on-site and managing the outdoor taproom.

The space has over a dozen eight-foot long communal tables; the Pishnas built most of those tables with their friends. Wood chips from a local tree trimmer give the space a “soft” feel, according to Ken.
Strange Craft BV launched with eight taps from a kegerator inside a 340 square-foot building on the property that operates as a serving space; Ken says there will soon be twelve-to-sixteen permanent taps. Most of them will feature beers brewed by Tim Myers at Strange Craft in Denver, although the Pishnas hope to have a couple of guest taps from time to time. The original plan was to serve beer from a trailer, but permitting difficulties led the team to pivot from that concept.

April says the Pishnas are focusing on being a collaborative part of the community — very much a reflection of the wider craft-beer industry — and other breweries and distilleries in the area have been very supportive. “They’ve been really cool and welcoming,” notes Ken, who adds that he hopes to get a collaboration going soon with neighbor Deerhammer Distillery.

The beer lineup will be pretty familiar to patrons of Strange Craft, with longstanding regulars like Cherry Kriek, although there will be some changes for the Arkansas River Valley market. “We’ll tailor it to fit things up here,” says Ken. “Tim crafted an American light lager called River Water specifically for the opening of the taproom, knowing that the summer activities here are mountain biking, hiking and a lot of river activity.”

Longterm plans include adding things like hard seltzers and cocktails. “Tastes are changing, and you have to go with the time,” says Ken, noting that you can’t just focus on what you drink personally, you have to listen to your patrons.

The outdoor space may be more of a challenge in winter, but Ken says that Buena Vista has been promoting cold-weather activities as a way to make the town a year-round destination. The Pishnas will offer some special events during the colder months, and they hope that the south-facing aspect of the property and an outdoor tent will allow Strange Craft BV to power through the off-seasons.
For now, the Pishnas are the ones serving all of the beer at Strange Craft BV in order to learn the business and their customers. While the two have long been involved in the beer industry, they haven’t run a taproom before. “April and I want to be the boots on the ground for at least the first couple of weeks,” says Ken. “We want to know all the ins and outs, we want to make sure we can support our [future] employees, too.”

"We're really excited to bring Tim's beers here and to work with Marni," adds April. “We’re just super stoked to be here and to add a different piece of something to BV.”

Strange Craft BV and the BV Backyard are currently open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at 324 East Main Street in Buena Vista; visit Instagram handles @backyardBV and @strangecraftBV for more information.