Meet Tony Briggs of Elizabeth Brewing Company

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Briggs.

Tony, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Started in early 2017 as a conversation between two friends in a brewery in Colorado Springs. I lived in Elizabeth and he (Scott Roberts) lived in Colorado Springs serving and part-time brewing for another brewery. After a few beers we decided it wasn’t that crazy of an idea. I told him “You brew the beer, I’ll figure out how to make this happen.” About a year and a half later (and a lot of paperwork), we started the remodel on our now 129 yr old building, on Main Street in Elizabeth, CO. That way May of 2018. We worked tirelessly all summer long, doing as much as we could for ourselves to save money and were finally able to set an opening date of December 15th, 2018. Since then we have seen growth each month and have done everything we can to root ourselves in our community by supporting it however we can.

Has it been a smooth road?
Most of the struggles were in the beginning with learning and understanding all of the legalities of opening a new business. We learned a lot in that first year and a half before we even stepped foot into our building. In the end, we didn’t cut any corners and filled out millions of pieces of paper work, which doubled our initial start-up budget. That was difficult as well, but we have seven owners in total and no one was willing to let this dream we all had come to an end.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Elizabeth Brewing Company story. Tell us more about the business.
At the base, we’re a brewery just like any other. We make and sell beer. However, we get to be in a small farm town that creates the perfect setting for a comforting “homie” feels in our tap room. We made sure that we let all of those worried about us trying to “change Elizabeth” know we would be embracing the history, not trying to erase it.

We’ve done big things and little things to prove this and to try and cement ourselves into our community. Small things, we support as many other local businesses as possible. We don’t have food trucks, so we partnered with the local (non chain restaurants) and have a deal with them, where they will now deliver to EBC. The pizzeria, Buzzards and Catalinas Diner. So when you come to EBC and get a beer and order food, you now support multiple local small businesses.

You can also buy a shirt in our tap room (that says “mama needs a beer”), that was made by a local printer and is usually sold at the boutique across the street. But it fits us so well, and we wanted to help her out, so we sell it in our taproom for her. Or if you see us at a festival or event, you’ll notice our unique tip jar. Which is a cowboy hat made by the amazing hat maker Brook, at Powder River Hat Company. Again just across the street from us on the main street.

With these businesses, we don’t make any money off of their food or clothing. We’re just simply wanting to support them and in return, they come and enjoy a beer in our taproom frequently and tell all their customers to come see us.

The big thing that we do, is to support our first responders in our community. We just gave a $1000 check to our Elizabeth Firefighters Community Foundation. They chose 6 of their firefighters to come brew a beer with us, then we released it along with a really awesome shirt at the beginning of summer and $1 from every pour and $5 from every shirt went to their foundation. We’re doing another fundraiser on September 13th, of the Sheriffs Dept. Police Dept. and Fire Dept. They’ve all agreed to participate in a tug of war, where people can come and donate to their “favorite team” watch some good ol’ fun and give back to those that protect and serve us. Then in fall we’ll be doing another brew fundraiser with our local police dept. like with did with fire fighters and we’ll do it again in the new year with the sheriffs’ dept.

The last thing and the thing we’re most proud of is our Friday night event in the summers. We partner with the town and hold a hybrid “farmers market and concert series” every Friday night. It is free entry, so you can peruse local vendors, watch live bands play, get beer, wine and food from food trucks. This event is the ONLY thing happening most of Friday’s in Elizabeth. And we don’t charge for entry because we want families to be able to come and enjoy themselves for a night, without having to spend all of their money. If they want, they can bring their own food and non-alcoholic drinks and literally have a fun evening outside, watching live music, where this kid can run around and not spend a dime. We started this event last summer, 2017 before we were even open before we were making beer and before we had any income.

We know that anyone can open a brewery, but what sets us apart is our want and ability to root ourselves in the community and support as many people in our community as we can.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Right now, we have no idea where we’re going to be even in a year. Our town is growing quickly and we plan to grow with it. We hope to consistently see an increase in business and demand for our product, but also that we can become a staple in the community so that we see as an important partner within it.

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