New local stops on tap for Brewhop Trolley

Longmont-based Brewhop Trolley has announced plans to expand service to nine breweries in the Niwot and Gunbarrel area beginning next month.

The new Brewhop Tour, which is scheduled to launch on March 24, will depart from the Tasty Weasel Tap Room on Sunset Street and stop at Beyond the Mountain Brewing, Asher Brewing, Avery Brewing, Finkel & Garf Brewing, Vindication Brewing, Gunbarrel Brewing, Bootstrap Brewing, and Powder Keg Brewing.

“There’s six breweries in Gunbarrel and two in Niwot,” Brewhop Trolley owner and operator David Lewis said. “That’s a nice concentration of breweries to visit in an hour.”

The move comes after a highly successful year for the hop-on/hop-off service, which shuttled nearly 7,000 riders between unique food, drink and entertainment destinations in and around Longmont in 2017. In addition to their brewery tour, which includes stops at 300 Suns Brewing, Oskar Blues Brewery, Left Hand Brewing Company, Wibby Brewing, and Bootstrap Brewing’s Longmont location, the Brewhop Trolley has also sponsored holiday lights tours, comedy club tours, and food tours in conjunction with Discover Longmont. The vintage streetcar is also available for private and corporate events.

“We wanted to look at expanding and getting more trolleys, because last year I did a number of private events on the weekends, and that took the trolley away from the brewery tours in Longmont,” Lewis said. “We wanted to avoid doing that this year, so we looked into expanding into the next closest logistical point, which is Niwot-Gunbarrel.”

The new trolley will make its rounds on Saturdays and Sundays between 2 and 9 p.m., with hourly stops at each brewery. Tickets are $15 for a single circuit, but riders can add the Longmont tour for just another $5.

Leslie Kaczeus, co-owner of Bootstrap Brewing Company with husband Steve, said she is thrilled the Trolley will be making regular stops at their Niwot location.

“I asked David to do this early on, but he didn’t have the bandwidth with only one trolley,” she said. “There have been a few times he’s had a special charter, and he’s brought people over and it’s been great. They’re all excited to check the place out.”

With the new stops, the Brewhop Trolley will be a familiar sight at three of Colorado’s most popular independent craft breweries: Avery, Left Hand, and Oskar Blues. However, many of Lewis’ riders are in search of those places “off the beaten path.”

“A lot of people are interested in visiting the smaller breweries they might not have gone to before,” Lewis said. “This affords people the opportunity to try them out for an hour or two.”

Both Kaczeus and Lewis said the craft beer industry is still in a high growth phase, especially in Northern Colorado. Last year, Bootstrap Brewing opened a second location in Longmont to accommodate the demand.

“We’ve continued to double our volume every year,” Kaczeus said. “Last year we finished with 4,557 barrels and we’re going to produce between 8,000 and 9,000 barrels this year.”

If ridership trends continue their steady climb, Lewis said they will likely add another Boulder circuit next year. Eventually, he hopes to run Brewhop Tours in Erie, Lafayette, Firestone, and even Denver.

“We’d love to be able to cover the whole Front Range in a trolley system,” Lewis said. “We’re just excited about the future here and covering all the areas and getting people to new breweries.”