During our trip to Colorado last year, we were having dinner at E3 Chophouse in Steamboat Springs. (Click here to see the entry on E3 Chophouse.) The server we had that evening was a young lady who had just moved up to Steamboat from Colorado Springs a few months before. We told her that we were going to eventually end up in Colorado Springs and she gave us a tip on a brew pub there that she really liked. "You have to try the Bristol Brewing Company," she said excitedly. "It's located in an old school and the food and beer are really good!" We made a mental note to look up Bristol Brewing Company when we got there. Upon arrival later that week to Colorado Springs, and after a quick re-visit to the Garden of the Gods, we decided to find Bristol Brewing Company and have lunch there.
Mike Bristol grew up in Fort Collins, CO and ended up going to his hometown college Colorado State University. After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, he set off to Florida to work for Nissan, eventually becoming the District Manager for the company. It was in Florida he met his wife, Amanda, who was the creative art director for an advertising company. Mike Bristol started to play around with brewing his own beer at home. Amanda was soon on board and they two began to share a passion that evolved into Mike building his own home-brewing equipment.
As Mike was becoming a fledgling home-brewer, a microbrewery revolution was beginning in his home town. CooperSmith's, Odell and New Belgium were starting to make waves with their craft brews and it hit Mike Bristol, "Hey, I could do that, too!" The only problem was that he knew he couldn't do it in Florida - it had to be in an area where the people would embrace craft beers. After meeting with Jeff Lebesch from New Belgium, and Doug Odell from Odell Brewing, the Bristols came up with a business plan for a microbrewery. After scouting different locales for a possible craft brewery, they picked out three cities that they believed could sustain a start-up craft brewery - Boise, ID; Raleigh-Durham, NC; and Colorado Springs. Mike Bristol was able to convince his wife to move back to his home state and they made the move in 1993.
The Bristol's found a small space in an industrial park on the north side of Colorado Springs and opened Bristol Brewing Company in 1994. Bristol was able to convince a handful of restaurants in the area to carry his beers and he suddenly found himself as a full-time brewer with absolutely no formal training in the art of brewing beer.
Pictured at right - Mike Bristol. Photo courtesy Colorado Springs Business Journal.
By 1998, Bristol Brewing had outgrown its small space and they moved to a new location on S. Tejon Street south of downtown Colorado Springs. It was there that they did something almost unthinkable for most microbreweries - they put in a tasting room. Other breweries would visit Bristol to see their tasting room, even though it was pretty bland in decor. However, it appeared to be a hit with people coming to the brewery to sit and drink Bristol's beers. Bristol's lead became the norm for many subsequent microbreweries to put in their own tasting rooms.
Within a year, demand for bottled Bristol beers was high enough that the company bought a used Italian-made bottling line from a closed brewery in upstate New York. They started to distribute their beers to grocery stores and liquor stores in Southern Colorado and demand intensified. After a few years at the S. Tejon location, Bristol wanted to make another move.
Ivywild Elementary School was built in 1916, a stately blond-brick building with ornate early-20th century architecture inside and out. But declining enrollment forced the local school district to close the grade school in 2009. Sitting there empty, Bristol saw an opportunity with the building that was literally walking distance from his brewery. Along with restaurateur Joseph Coleman - owner of the (now-closed) Blue Star restaurant and a couple of other restaurants in the area - and architect Jim Fennell, the partnership group bought the former school with a plan to renovate it into retail and entertainment spaces.
The idea of turning Ivywild into an entertainment destination came from a visit Bristol had to the McMenamins Kennedy School entertainment complex in Portland, OR. Based out of Portland, McMenamins has over 60 locations in the Pacific Northwest, many of them former schools or public buildings. The Kennedy School project features hotel rooms, a movie theater, several bars, a restaurant, and - of course - a brew pub. Bristol, Coleman and Fennell wanted to do something similar with Ivywild, only without a hotel.
The transformation took about three years and the group got a boost from the City of Colorado Springs who designated the building as an urban renewal project that allowed Bristol to put in a larger brewing facility and a warehouse. When the Ivywild School project opened in 2013, it housed the Bristol brewery and brew pub, a coffee shop/bar, a bakery/cafe, a distillery tasting room and lounge, a small deli, a small retail shop, and spaces that could be rented out for events and celebrations.
It was around 2 p.m. when we got to Ivywild School and the Bristol Pub that is part of the Bristol Brewing Company. We were able to find parking out in front of the building by the brewery. (see map) The stately old school had been modified with patios out front and the brewing facility was attached to the north side of the building.
Inside the old building, we found a long hallway with ornate arches and a hardwood floor. A sign at the top of the stairs directed us either direction to the coffee shop and bakery to the left and to the brewpub to the right. We took a short tour through the building after we finished up at the brewpub.
Ending up at the brewpub, we found a spacious area with a large bar in the middle of the room. It was a combination of contemporary and early 20th century industrial decor. Exposed wooden beams were on the ceiling, and there were large metal doors that hid a second room that is used for private functions or over-flow from the bar area. The doors were repurposed from the old elephant house at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo just outside of Colorado Springs.
Behind the bar were large windows that looked into the brewing facility at the Bristol Brewery. The 34 barrel operation more than doubled the capacity of the brewery, and allowed for Bristol to brew more specialty beers. The brewing operation has the capability of brewing 12,000 barrels annually with enough space to expand, if needed.
We were greeted by a hostess and we were asked if we wanted to sit outside on the patio. There were a number of people seated at metal tables with umbrellas and metal wired chairs, but there appeared to be a thunderstorm moving in from the mountains so we decided to sit inside.
Our server was a affable young man who came over with a couple of food menus for us to look at. The beer menu was also on the table and we decided to get a flight of beers to try. The beers we tried were the Laughing Lab Scottish ale, the Red Rocket pale ale, the Kolsch, the Mass Transit ale, the Compass IPA, and another seasonal beer they had on tap that day. In all, Bristol Brewing has nearly 40 flagship, seasonal and special beers. I really liked the Kolsch and the pale ale. There were a couple that we didn't care for all that much, but to each his own.
Since it was later in the afternoon and we were planning on going out for a nice dinner that evening, we really didn't want anything really heavy for lunch. At the Bristol Pub, they featured a handful of sandwiches, a couple three burgers, a number of shared appetizer plates, as well as some soups and salads. I seriously thought about getting the burger that featured a beef patty topped with hickory smoked bacon, gruyere cheese, and mushrooms sautéed in whiskey from the Axe and the Oak distillery that's located downstairs from the Bristol Pub.
But I decided to go lighter than that and got the Italian sandwich. It featured sliced prosciutto and capocollo topped with provolone cheese, a pickled vegetable spread finished with lettuce and a garlic aioli on a toasted baguette. Fries, chips, a vegetable medley or a salad came with the sandwich and I went with the salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The sandwich was actually pretty good, a little too much bread for my liking, but it was still very good.
My wife went with the Mediterranean BLT - hickory-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato and a pesto aioli on toasted semolina bread. She got the roasted veggies medley for her side. She was happy enough with her sandwich - it was light and it stopped any hunger pains she was having up to that point.
After we finished up at the brewpub, we wandered the hallways of the old Ivywild school checking out the little shops and the cafe down the hall from the Bristol Pub. Next to the pub was the Bristol Brewery swag shop featuring shirts and knick-knacks. Down the hall was the Ivywild Kitchen, formerly known as the Old School Bakery and Cafe. This was a pretty vibrant place that featured pretty much the same menu as at the Bristol Pub. It was a decidedly younger crowd in there for around 2:30 in the afternoon with a number of people appearing to be studying at many of the tables. And across the hall from there was a place called The Principal's Office that was a small coffee shop/cocktail/wine/beer bar. We talked about coming back there the next day to get some coffee before we hit the road to start back home.
The rain held off enough where we could have sat outside, but we were more than happy with sitting inside at the Bristol Pub. The whole refurbishing of the old Ivywild school is a great concept and the Bristol Brewery and Pub are the centerpieces of the building. It was one of the more unique destinations we've been to over the years and we told many of our friends about the place upon our return home. The food was serviceable, some of the beers were very good, a couple others we didn't care for that much. And the service we had that day was prompt, friendly and laid back. There are over two dozen microbreweries in Colorado Springs and while we didn't try all of them on our trip there, I think we found the most interesting one. I'd start out at Bristol Brewery and Pub and go from there if you're looking to do a craft beer tour of Colorado Springs.
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