Play It By Beer

Breckenridge Brewery’s Todd Usry’s passion for beermaking is rivaled only by his love of golf—and the Washington Redskins.

By Jon Rizzi

From the white tees, the left-dogleg seventeenth hole at Morrison’s Red Rocks Country Club plays 345 yards. A cluster of deciduous trees and a high-lipped chasm of sand veil the left third of the green and today’s sucker pin position.

Which is precisely where Todd Usry, brewery director of Breckenridge Brewery, is aiming. He’s 170 yards out, laying 3 after having to reload off the tee, and holding a 6-iron. “I’m going to try and go right over those trees,” he says, apparently ignoring the fat, safe part of the green in typical 20-handicap fashion. (Hey, I ignored it, too; my ball’s in that sandy chasm.)

As our playing partners, Können GlasHaus CEO Mike Windemuller and Head PGA Golf Professional Mitch Nielsen, watch from the putting surface, Usry does as he said, barely clearing the trees with a high fade that disappears from our line of sight—but not from the view of the pair on the green, both of whom holler back to us, lifting their arms and pointing their fingers straight down, signaling its fate in the hole.

“Well, that’s one way of making par,” Usry jokes as he picks up his ball. “That’s two fours on the scorecard,” he says after I get up and down. 

“Ah, but yours was an eagle par,” I tell him. “Circle it twice.”

He doesn’t. Usry knows the true measure of his success lies in the bottom of a pint glass, not a golf hole. And the Virginia native has enjoyed abundant levels of achievement during his 18 years with the brewery. An insulated bag filled with the chief example of it—cans of Breckenridge’s signature Avalanche Ale, which Usry created in 1992 and just this summer began packaging in aluminum—accompanies us as we motor around the course, which has improved dramatically during the decade Usry has been a member, thanks in large part to the work of Kevin Atkinson of Phelps-Atkinson Golf Design.

“We’ve seen improvements on the tee boxes, the bunkers, the addition of water feature, and the speed of the greens,” says Nielsen, “and there’s some thick rough out here.”   About the only thing that hasn’t really improved is Usry’s golf game. “I can shoot 85 as easily as 105,” he says. “But I’m avid. Some guys say they like to play. I have to play.”

Usry originally came to play on the ski slopes of Steamboat Springs in the late 1980s. An advertising major out of Virginia Commonwealth University in his hometown of Richmond, he arrived with his future wife, Terry, and a friend, Stuart Close. He’d gotten into the emerging brewpub scene during trips to the West Coast, and wanted to start a brewpub in Steamboat. He and Close instead hooked up with Richard Squire, who’d founded the original Breckenridge Brewery in 1990 and was looking to expand into Denver’s renascent downtown.

The site at 22nd and Blake, across from Coors Field, would soon become a landmark, and Usry, apprenticing with a Canadian brewmaster and attending Chicago’s renowned Siebel Institute, would become Breckenridge’s main brewmaster, earning the company numerous awards. In 1995 and 1996—“the funnest years I’ve ever had,” says Usry—he put on his advertising and marketing hat as the microbrewery opened brewpubs in Buffalo, Birmingham, Tucson, Memphis, and Omaha, expanding its wholesale beer distribution to more than 30 states.

The expansion, however, was as rapid as the contraction that followed it. CEO Kyle Craig, who came on board in 1998, rewrote the business model, and today, Breckenridge Brewery only operates brewpubs in Colorado—the two in Denver (on Blake and on Kalamath), the original one in Breckenridge, and a fourth, The Ale House, in Grand Junction.  All are thriving—especially the three-year-old Ale House, which is “kicking ass”, according to Usry—thanks to welcoming atmospheres, superior food (Close’s contribution) and, of course, excellent beer. Stores in 25 states carry the product. Breckenridge annually produces 30,000 barrels—roughly 930,000 gallons—of beer.

Those come in five year-round flavors (Avalanche Ale, Oatmeal Stout, Agave Wheat, Trademark Pale and Vanilla Porter) and four seasonals (Pandora’s Bock, Summerbright, Autumn Ale and Christmas Ale). There’s also the “small batch” series, consisting of the extra-hoppy, extra-strong (9.2 alcohol by volume) 471 Double IPA and the punchy Extra ESB Scottish Ale. In addition to six-packs, these last two come in 22-ounce bomber bottles, while Mighty Brown and Porter Porter, two Imperial-style beers, are only available in bombers.

Usry clearly relishes the craftsmanship that comes with brewing. Before our round, he talks animatedly about Lucky U IPA, an homage to the Tivoli Brewing product of the same name that will soon join the year-round lineup. He’s also excited about the limited-edition beers he’s aging in Cabernet and Templeton Rye Whiskey barrels. Summerbright Ale fills the cab barrels, while the whiskey barrels hold Oatmeal Stout and some Michigan tart cherries. Usry plans on tapping both this month at the Kalamath location during the Great American Beer Festival.

“I like my beer to taste like beer,” Usry says in response to what other fruits or flavors he’d consider. “Other people in the business—and one in particular—put all kinds of stuff in there.”

Usry says this as he marks my ball, which sits next to his on the third green. The gracious gesture turns out to be a joke. It’s a Washington Redskins marker; and Usry knows I’m a New York Giants fan. His burgundy, gold and white golf bag shows his loyalty. We chirp at each other throughout the round, referring to one another as “LT,” “Theisman,” “Megget,” “Monk,” and “Sonny Jurgensen.”

It’s Jurgensen, the gun-slinging, beer-loving Hall-of-Fame quarterback, who provides the most apt comparison to this lifelong Skins fan. Like Jurgensen, Usry is ballsy, enterprising, intelligent and, as I learn during expeditions into the rough, a great teammate.

“My favorite thing about my job is the people,” he says. “The people at the brewery, we’re a bunch of beer geeks. We’re like a family, and it shows in the product. We give each other crap, but we’ve all got each others’ backs.”

Taking it a step further, he likens the entire craft brewing industry to a good foursome. “We try to beat each other, but also we help each other,” he explains. “I’m fighting for shelf space with another brewer across town, but if he’s running low on hops, I’ll send over some. It’s the same in golf. We’re competing, but I’m going to help you find your ball in the hay or tell you how a putt might break. It’s competition and it’s camaraderie.”

Much as he loves playing golf with friends, Usry says his favorite playing partner is his son, August, who’s a freshman at Columbine High School. “We played on Kiawah during our summer vacation, and it’s just great to have that connection,” Usry reflects. With his wife, Terry, a 21 handicap, and seven-year-old daughter, Mary Elizabeth, Usry will have a family foursome for years to come.

Their rounds will be at Red Rocks—with a fully-stocked beverage carrier and a Redskins bag on the cart.