Beer Traveler: Left Hand Brewing

When the mood strikes to venture out and find a new ‘watering hole’ to try, one might consider making that journey to a tap room of really good craft-made beer. It’s been a while since we have opened this topic, so with that thought in mind, I will try to expand the Beer Traveler series during the month of February.
To begin this series, I met up with Richard Doore recently. He is the co-founder of Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, CO. We met because of this column and a review of their White Russian Nitro Stout recently. Dick reached out to me through email and agreed to meet in January. He and his wife are fond of Woodman’s Brewery in Bristol and I wanted to visit there anyway to interview them. He has relocated from Colorado back to his native NH upbringing.

Left Hand Brewing Company was the result of the love of homebrewing by friends Dick Doore and Eric Wallace. Founded in 1993, Dick and Eric spent 3 months brewing every weekend to find the right core recipes to open in January, 1994. They are known across the country for their Milk Stout but have so many other great beers to their credit. When asked how many different beers have they made, Dick says “Well over a hundred!”
As Left Hand’s popularity and distribution broadened, production became a focus. In 1998, Tabernash Brewing was acquired which doubled their capacity. 12 oz six packs replaced most of their 22 oz bottles from previous production years. With multiple award winning beers, growth was realized. But the beer that really put them on the beer map was Dick’s own recipe for his Milk Stout with CO2. This same recipe was entered in the 2011 Great American Beer Festival in Denver as a nitrogen beer with much acclaim. This stout is now available in both bottles (no widget) and in cans (with nitro widget).
In 2010, a 30% increase in production and distribution helped put them on the Brewers Association’s Top 50 Craft Brewers list in 2012. That same year, Left Hand opened a faster bottling line to keep up with demand.
By 2015, Left Hand Brewing developed its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) so that their employees felt more vested in their work. Many other breweries have different total percentages of employee ownership as well. This helps support public recognition of a quality brand. Partner Eric Wallace was quoted as saying he would never sell out to big beer (Anheuser-Busch, InBev, etc). Growth should not control the company but rather the company control growth so they develop at a slower pace to stay ahead. They plan to soon move toward the 75,000 barrel/year capacity.
Dick is no longer in the day-to-day operations of Left Hand but he and his, wife Aom, are enjoying travel and what life has to offer. He is still on the Board of Directors but admits that he loves a simpler life style. It was really nice catching up to chat beer with them and to meet someone who has made a successful career happen… through brewing.
You can find all of Left Hand Brewings offerings at Case-nKeg in Meredith as well as other fine beer providers. See you next week with another unforgettable traveler experience.
Cheers!