Beyond the Mountain Brewery celebrates 4th anniversary

Last Saturday, Gunbarrel's Beyond the Mountain Brewing Company celebrated its fourth anniversary. The brewery, known for a love of both craft beer and music, had both on site for the event with a pair of performances by Danny Evans and jam band The Jauntee.

In honor of the milestone and in keeping with the cooler season, the taproom brewed and served a S'mores Stout as a special release Anniversary Ale. It was smooth, with flavors of chocolate, creamy marshmallow, and graham cracker nuttiness.

Even early on, the taproom was fairly busy. General Manager Tyler Mitchell was on hand as events kicked off. "It's just exciting for us to have a party again, because last year we really didn't get the chance to. It's great to have a whole wall of beers on tap. And to think about how far we've come since we opened- - with distribution and even the styles of beer that we make constantly evolving, things are worlds away from where they were when I started coming here as a customer when it opened."

Mitchell's hopes for the remainder of the day centered on who would come into the taproom. "We're looking forward to seeing some of our loyal customers back with us, and perhaps engaging new regulars who might come here for the first time. And I'm excited for some great, live music."

One of the reasons that the brewery is working with live music, besides the enjoyment of it, is that it highlights the owners' focus on both music and beer. Owners are fans of the jam band Phish and a photo over the bar highlights them recreating a live music album cover that was taken in Telluride. The bar is also completely covered in concert tickets, mostly from Phish concerts, that span from the left to the right, sometimes overlapping.

Beyond the Mountain's commitment to supporting music extends beyond their taproom stage. From time to time, they invite musicians to brew with them. The band featured later that evening, The Jauntee, collaborated on a beer with the brewers several years prior. The result was a double IPA called Headspin. It's still on tap and has become one of the core beers served.

As Danny Evans took the stage for the afternoon's first performance, the line at the bar grew and laughter and conversation came from guests.

Between songs Evans remarked, "So glad to see so many friends here. Craziest fourth Birthday I've ever been to."

The guests cheered and Evans' music continued.