And how do you predict in three or four years what your sales might be?” Engelhorn says the local response has been wonderful, telling that bottles “fly off the shelf.” Right now, their bottles are sold in the tasting room and at on- and off-premise accounts statewide. Measured growth is the goal, though. Engelhorn has seen breweries and distilleries that grew so rapidly the businesses turned into stressful nightmares, and he’d much prefer to grow organically to fit their market. “I’d like to continue to grow, and I don’t know what our upper limit might be,” he explained. “We just have to do it as we can afford to. We can grow quite a bit without having to rip everything out. The bottom line for me is, I want to keep making sure we continue making a top-quality spirit.” He’s still staying connected to his roots, too, working with local breweries on a variety of projects. “When we first started, we brewed a wash at Upslope in Boulder,” said Engelhorn. “We would load up a local guy’s biodiesel-powered truck with grain, and haul an empty bulk milk tank over there. Once we had some empty barrels, we got them over to (Upslope). They did a Scotch ale with some peat smoked malt and aged it in two of our barrels.” BJ’s Brewing has a dortmunder double alt in two Spirit Hound barrels, too, and City Star Brewing has beer aging in rum and whisky

barrels. They also had Engelhorn distill some raspberry wheat that was brewed for a national women’s brew day. “The spirit that came out of it was phenomenally interesting,” he said, noting that they’re not done yet. “We have some other collaborations in the works.”

Spirit Hound Distillers is located in Lyons, CO. For more information, visit www.spirithounds.com or call (303) 823-5696.

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