Doozie Martin, the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District’s executive director, has been looking for ways to connect to a younger audience and get them interested in how the nonprofit works to support the White River National Forest by working with the trails specialists, fisheries, biologists and botanists to identify what the greatest needs are for the local ranger district.
It didn’t take long to come to the realization that breweries could be a good first place to try to engage younger people in places where they hung out.
Martin thought that having a signature beer in local breweries could be a good outreach tool.
The idea for Taps for Trails was born, eventually leading to a collaboration with Steep Brewing & Coffee Co., which introduced its Trail Ale on Oct. 19.
Martin ran the idea past Steep Brewing‘s co-owner Justin Slezak and general manager Scott Pugsley. Martin felt the Keystone brewery would be a good one to approach, especially given that Pugsley was previously on the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District board.
Between Pugsley’s former position on the board and the fact that Steep Brewing’s other co-owner, Elissa Slezak, is a Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologist, Friends of the Dillon Ranger District found an ideal birthplace for Taps for Trials.
The two groups began to flesh out ideas for how the program would work and how it would benefit the nonprofit. It was decided that $1 from every pint sold would go towards trail projects, and the purchase of the beer would also include a limited edition Friends of the Dillon Ranger District glass for Steep patrons to take home.
The goal of the promotion is to get people asking questions.
“The idea was, maybe people will ask ‘What is FDRD then? They must be involved with trails, somehow, you’re donating $1 per pint to the trails. What is this group all about? What do they do?’” Martin said.
When it came to what type of beer would come in that limited edition, Friends of the Dillon Ranger District glass, Steep’s head brewer already had ideas.
Head brewer Levi Brewer (yes, that is his real last name) had been talking a lot about wanting to introduce a spruce tip ale to the Steep’s lineup of craft beers, and this seemed like an ideal opportunity to introduce the unique addition.
“It’s not a common beer, but it’s really good. It has a really good aroma of pine/spruce with notes of strawberry at the end,” Justin Slezak explained. “So it’s actually very refreshing and delicious.”
Friends of the Dillon Ranger District members got to be a part of the brewing process along the way, helping to craft the beer.
Once the brew was nailed down it was now time to pitch it to other local establishments to carry. Martin said six local spots picked it up. In addition to Steep, Syndicate Brewing Co., Downstairs at Eric’s, RMU Breckenridge, Cove & Craft, and Bistro North are also serving up Trail Ale.
“We are getting placements in these places that have potential volunteers, remember … but on the flip side of that, we’re able to use our outlets, to basically use this whole ‘support those who support us’ concept,” Martin said.
Friend of the Dillon Ranger District is still looking for one more establishment to pick up the beer, according to Martin. He hopes that Taps for Trails will be something that expands going into the future.
This beer costs $7.