麻豆影院

In Colorado鈥檚 craft beer industry, precision is required and innovation is mandatory. CU Engineers bring both in spades.

Meet a few of our local alumni brewers and learn how they鈥檙e engineering a better brew.

Ratio Beerworks: Jason zumBrunnen

Jason zumBrunnen enjoys a beer at Ratio.

After working in Chevron鈥檚 plastics division, touring the world in a punk rock band, a stint in Cirque du Soliel (though not as an acrobat!) and seven years in film production, starting a brewery must have seemed somewhat tame for Jason zumBrunnen (ChemEngr鈥�97).听

鈥淎s my mom says, hey, you鈥檙e finally using your degree,鈥� zumBrunnen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 probably the most I鈥檝e ever used my degree.鈥�

A Fort Collins native, zumBrunnen was first introduced to the possibility of brewing while touring 麻豆影院 Beer during a food science course. Soon after, he and a roommate purchased a homebrew kit and promptly started producing 鈥渞eally terrible beer.鈥澨�

After school, he toured with his band, The Fairlanes, full-time for three years and off-and-on for another nine. From Japan to Europe and across the states, he observed how live music and beer worked hand-in-hand to bring people together.

ZumBrunnen was working in post-production with film companies in Los Angeles and drinking Oskar Blues鈥� Dale鈥檚 Pale Ale鈥搕he first craft brew to be canned鈥搘hen he began to realize Colorado was at the brink of a craft beer revolution.

鈥淚t re-piqued my interest, and I started thinking, that would be great, to open a brewery and to move to Denver,鈥� he recalled.听

In the five years since its debut, Ratio Beerworks has become a destination in Denver鈥檚 RiNo district. The airy, colorful indoor-outdoor taproom features long tables for gathering friends and prizes connection, community, music and the arts.

Reflecting on his engineering training, zumBrunnen said one of the most important things he learned at CU 麻豆影院 was the importance of not becoming too narrowly focused.

鈥淚 always try to have a balance, especially in engineering,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 almost forced myself to play music while in college. It was my break to try to balance my brain out a little bit.鈥�

Seeking complementary and divergent skills led him to connect with business partners Zach Lowery and Scott Kaplan, a graduate of Leeds School of Business, in operating the brewery. It also pushed zumBrunnen to consider that his technical background wasn鈥檛 all he could offer.

鈥淵ou sometimes pigeonhole yourself because you think, I鈥檓 this engineer, I鈥檓 analytical, I can鈥檛 be the one to go talk to someone about raising capital,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut in all actuality, it鈥檚 about getting exposed and knowing your project well.鈥�

FlyteCo Brewing: Eric Serani and Jason Slingsby

It sounds like the start of a bad joke: a rocket scientist and a chemical engineer walk into a bar. It鈥檚 actually the daily routine at FlyteCo Brewing, a 1-year-old Denver microbrewery started by two engineering alumni.

Broomfield native Eric Serani (AeroEngr鈥�11) and Jason Slingsby (ChemEngr鈥�11), who hails from South Dakota, met at CU and quickly bonded over their love of flying. In 2008, they found one more shared interest when a homebrewing kit became a joint obsession.

鈥淥nly about five things went wrong; it was great,鈥� Slingsby recalled. 鈥淲e quickly decided we loved it and just dove in.鈥�

After graduation, they parted ways for separate jobs and Serani briefly moved away from Colorado. They later reconvened with the goal of writing a business plan and looped in Morgan O鈥橲ullivan, Serani鈥檚 neighbor. The trio would throw giant parties (with homebrews, of course) for 200 friends in their bordering backyards in the Highlands area, and friends swore they would invest if the three would form a business.

鈥淭hat kind of got the mind thinking that if we鈥檙e going to do something like this, let鈥檚 do it while we鈥檙e young and make mistakes while we鈥檝e got some time to recover from it,鈥� Serani said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to live the rest of our lives thinking, what if we did this?鈥�

The brewery opened in March 2019 in Denver鈥檚 Berkeley neighborhood, the historic building decorated nose-to-tail with aviation gear. The floors are painted with runway markings, and a mock airplane fuselage provides a cozy lounge in the center of the taproom, among other more subtle nods to aviation.

Trained for problem-solving, the engineers found that do-it-yourself was not only possible but practical as they opened the business. They manufactured their own taster trays, designed a temperature controller for the refrigerant system using a basic Raspberry Pi, and built their own keg washer.

As a result of those cost savings鈥攁nd their personal devotion to the cause鈥擣lyteCo is able to support several aviation-related charities and nonprofits, including those that encourage the next generation of pilots.

鈥淎s important as the beer, as the space, as the community we鈥檙e building, we want to promote and engage people in aviation,鈥� Serani said.

Finding a balance between work and play could be challenging in the beer biz, but Serani and Slingsby said their CU Engineering days taught them how to balance the two.

Senior design projects were the ultimate training ground for future endeavors, Serani added.听

鈥淚t was kind of a wakeup call to how things work in the real world,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can have the best idea in the world, but getting a team to build something together is often a bigger challenge than the technical problem itself.鈥�

His advice for future engineers? Look for collaborators who round out your own expertise.

鈥淲e all teach each other skills that we normally would not have learned if we had followed our traditional paths,鈥� Serani said.

Bootstrap Brewing Company:听Steve Kaczeus

After decades advancing in the high-tech industry with disk听drive manufacturers, Steve Kaczeus (MechEngr鈥�82) felt the time was ripe for a change. He and his wife, Leslie, always dreamed of starting a business but hadn鈥檛 yet landed on the right idea.

Having already experimented with homebrewing as a creative outlet, Kaczeus decided that completing brewing school would help determine whether he should transition from hobbyist to professional. When the training ended, they knew it was time to commit to a radical change: Go all-in opening a brewery, or pack their bags and relocate to the Caribbean?

鈥淭hose were the options,鈥� Kaczeus recalled. 鈥淲here we screwed up was, we didn鈥檛 open up the brewery in the Caribbean.鈥�

Decision made, the couple located a small facility in Niwot and began purchasing equipment, conducting final research and preparing to launch. Boosted by a fortuitous early exit package from Seagate, Kaczeus and family opened Bootstrap Brewing Company in 2012.

The operation started small鈥攁 three-barrel brewhouse in the back of a building with two other tenants鈥攂ut it fit Kaczeus鈥� desire to serve as Niwot鈥檚 neighborhood brewery.

鈥淚f you wanted to find us, you really had to look for us, because our front door was in the back of the building. We had no advertising or anything like that, but people did find us,鈥� he said.

Today, the business has expanded mightily. Three years ago they opened a production facility and taproom in Longmont where most brewing and packaging now takes place, and more than 10 Bootstrap varieties are sold across Colorado.

The consummate engineer, Kaczeus said he collects data religiously on brewing and canning processes and uses it to keep the brews consistent and high-quality.

鈥淚 carry all of that engineering discipline with me into the brewery,鈥� he said.

As a student, Kaczeus said he worked hard in classes but also struck a balance with activities outside engineering: playing on CU鈥檚 varsity tennis team, attending football games and making friends through the fraternities.

鈥淚 think CU has one of the best engineering programs in the country, and I was lucky to be able to go through that process,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I also found that I wasn鈥檛 just an engineer at heart. I also enjoyed the business side of things, the bigger picture.鈥�

That foundation, plus years in industry, helped Kaczeus establish a laser-focus on quality, business acumen and enthusiasm for customer service. Just as important to his success, he said, was choosing a field aligned with his interests.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e really passionate about something and you put your mind to it, it鈥檚 amazing how addictive it can be,鈥� he said.