What happens at Left Hand

Located southwest of the town center in Longmont, CO on Boston Ave. Lefthand Brewing Co. is a true destination brewery. If you have any interest in Colorado I suggest strongly starting here. It is at the base of the foothills of the Rockies and the scenery is simply stunning. There are 3 breweries in town to keep beer lovers occupied and if you're a motorcyclist plan at least a ten day stay to see the amazing roads. Someone has already written a far better Left Hand synopsis than I can so I won't reinvent the wheel.  Left Hand was a blast for me. I actually got to work with, and interact with a large cross section of the employees there. Thanks guys.

Since I have a really hard time working while also writing and talking I missed some information I should have picked up.

I know it's probably boring to hear how terrific every person has been on this trip so I suggest if you are bothered you suck it up and forget about it. Every single person I talked to at Left Hand was awesome!

Brian shows me the ropes on the Bottling Line

Thanks to production manager Mark Sample and packaging manager Jake Kolakowski I had pretty much free reign of the brewery during my visit. I started by bottling for awhile with Brian Alexander and Jeff Martin. We packed 12 pack boxes by hand for about 30 minutes and I was lucky enough to have my initials (RD) in the date code of those bottles of Sawtooth ESB that were packed during my time on the line. I somehow missed the photo op for this fun and friendly gesture. I also forgot to grab a bottle to take with me due to getting so wrapped up in the fun of filling bottles.

After bottling I moved on to the keg filler (racker) where I spent the next hour or two. I worked with Jamie and Mick (actual name Matt, changed due to too many Matt's - Jimbo take note) prepping and placing kegs on the filler and then removing them after filing them and placing them on a pallet. I later learned that it was Micks first day on the racker. As we were filling kegs we talked a lot about places I should visit in the area. Everyone was easy going and I felt right at home at Left Hand.

Leaving it to the experts - Mick, Jamie, and Jeff have a laugh at Left Hand.

I think the best part of any day is the time I finally get to meet another obsessed motorcycle junkie. This always makes me feel at home. This has happened every day of the trip so far. Left Hand Co-founder Dick Doore was the one I was lucky enough to meet today.

A few years ago Dick took a sabbatical from Left Hand to hike the Appalachian trail from south to north. When he arrived at his parents home in NH he purchased a KLR650 and took a 9 month 37000 mile trip from NH to the southern tip of South America, to Prudhoe Bay, AK. From Alaska he rode back to NH This is a dream for most of us die hard motorcyclists. For Dick the dream included getting hit by two cars in Argentina, using up 6 rear tires, 4 front tires, and 3 chains. I could barely talk as he relayed his story to me. Once he returned to NH he hiked the rest of the Appalachian trail. After finishing that KLR off he sold it and went one year before buying another one. Recently Dick did a fly and ride where he flew to Wisconsin to buy a Honda VTX1800 to ride it back to Colorado. I could have easily talked to him for 10 hours about bike travel and we could have spent countless hours talking about beer as well. I count myself lucky to have met him. I hope we get to go riding someday.


After talking to Dick I noticed that the racking was over I decided to go see what I could get into next.

Jake and Matt were talking about that very thing as I entered the offices.

I spent the next hour hanging out with Matt. There was no brewing until later that night and he had a small amount of extra time. For anyone not familiar with brewing, it is not always making wort for yeasts to consume. Sometimes you get thrown into a PR role and are forced to lead a complete stranger around your workplace. This creates and opportunity to demonstrate, both to yourself and the recipient of your guidance, how knowledgeable you are in your environment. I feel like Matt knew everything. Perhaps this is due to Left Hand brewers pulling duty as cellar men, and filter operators in addition to their duties as wort producers? Whatever the answer, I was given an overwhelmingly positive depiction (and accurate, I think) of day to day life at Left Hand courtesy of Matt.

Again, if you are in Colorado you should make the trip to Longmont to visit Left Hand. Their beers are very balanced. The attitude is friendly and a little off balance - they named a beer Left Hand Stranger for Gods sake. After just consuming a growler of that Stranger while typing this I can attest to it's quality and drinkability. Make sure to bring an open mind and a desire to try every beer they offer. If you are alive you will have a nice time here.

Stay Alive.