Catching up with Boulder businessman Adam Avery

Brewery owner wants everyone to be drinking his brand of liquor

By Jennie Dorris, Camera Staff Writer

August 29, 2004

Adam Avery, founder of Avery Brewery, is on the quest to make the perfect beer. He's still coming up with new ideas and casting a critical eye on his current brews, though Men's Health magazine just named his beer, the Reverend, the No. 8 beer in the nation and ratebeer.com named the brewery 16th in the nation (and first in Colorado).

Avery on the religiously themed names of his beers (The Reverend, Salvation ...):

"I'm a recovering Catholic. I'm getting on a dictatorship kick next though - we've got the Czar and just released the Kaiser, and next summer we're brewing a Maharaja Imperial IPA."

On how many miles he puts on his car doing DIY-style promotion of his beers with distributors:

"In the last year I've put 60,000 miles on my car. We're already in 21 states, and I just meet with more people - kind of shaking hands and kissing babies"

On Coloradans thinking they know good beer because they drink New Belgium's Fat Tire:

"Colorado is the land of the ubiquitous amber. Some brewers think success means just selling a lot of beer."

On trying to get Boulderites to develop a taste for Avery's aggressive flavors:

"I definitely want to be Boulder's brewery. Hey, just out of ego I want everyone to be drinking my beer."

On his current small location w-a-y east on Arapahoe:

"The ultimate goal is to build a brewery. That used to be a pipe dream, but it's not any more - if we continue to grow, we might have a new place in a few years."

On what he thinks about Pete Coors trying to lower the drinking age to 18:

"See that picture? (He gestures to an enlarged picture of himself at 8 months old, drinking from a pint of beer.) That's my answer. I actually agree with him 100 percent - I think we'll have less problems with alcoholism and drinking and driving if people get to start drinking at a younger age."

On the brewery's charitable efforts:

"We give to tons of charities - three different environmental causes, the Humane Society, and the 14er Initiative among them. I think we've donated to 45-50 nonprofits."

On his Avery team being brewers and athletes:

"We've got people that rock climb, ice climb, surf, compete in triathlons, and play Ultimate Frisbee on a national level. Our passion we have for our beer is the passion we have for life."