Bootstrap Brewing brings home awards

Steve and Leslie Kaczeus have added to their list of awards for their brewery in Niwot.

Steve, owner and chief brewer of Bootstrap Brewing, along with Leslie, “Chief of Stuff,” won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for their Stick’s Pale Ale, and yet another gold for Wreak Havoc, an Imperial Ale.

Stick’s Pale Ale was in the American Pale category, and rose to the top of 157 entries across the country.

“It’s a highly drinkable pale ale,” Leslie Kaczeus said. “It’s got a nice citrusy finish. We use a couple of different hops in it that really give it a unique flavor.

“We’ve thought it was delicious for a long time. This kind of validates that, others think it’s good too.”

Wreak Havoc is in a completely different ballgame when it comes to craft brews.

“It’s 8.3 percent, so it’s more of a sipping beer,” Kaczeus said. “We’ve won multiple medals with it, but this was our second GABF medal. We also won a bronze in the World Beer Cup. That one just keeps winning, so we’re thrilled with it as well.”

Bootstrap has been open for four years, and Steve and Leslie frequently take their craft to competitions. The GABF is held every fall, while the World Beer Cup is held every two years.

“These are like the Olympics for craft brewing,” Leslie said. “If you look on our website, you’ll see that we’ve won awards in a lot of different competitions, and we love them all. But oh my gosh, this is the Olympics.”

Steve started home brewing around 20 years ago, honing the science of the craft and working with different ingredients to make the perfect brew.

Some of their products can be purchased in stores.

“Right now we’re focused on the Front Range,” Leslie said. “So the farthest out is Castle Rock up to Ft. Collins. We’re certainly getting into some foothill mountain towns like Evergreen, Black Hawk, Nederland, Estes Park, places like that.”

But they’re also looking to expand to having a second tap room.

“What we’re focused on right now is building a second location in Longmont,” she said. “That’s going to have increased production capacity and a second tasting room.

“At that point we’ll be able to package more beer. Right now we’re just trying to make as much as we can whenever we can. It’s a lot of hard work and it’s a lot of fun.”