Meet Ian Clark of BRU handbuilt ales & eats in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Clark.

Ian, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
BRU first started on a 1/2 barrel system in our garage in 2012. My home brewing passion had gotten a bit out of control with new recipes being crafted almost twice a week and my wife, Bryce, finally asked the question, “what are we going to do with all this beer?”. While I had been itching to open a restaurant, the red tape was holding me back and the idea of trying to sell my craft beer as a way to start small, prove myself, and then gradually go bigger started to become a really good idea, and eventually a reality.

Both Bryce and I held our day jobs (I was the Executive Chef at Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace and Bryce was working at the Sterling-Rice Group) but our evenings were consumed with starting BRU. Bryce doing the branding and design work, and of course helping me bottle, clean kegs, and anything else that needed to be done, while I brewed, and brewed, and brewed. The first batches went into bombers and kegs dropped off by Bryce’s father (the whole family was of course involved!) to local liquor stores and restaurants and became an instant hit.

This foundation helped BRU expand into a three barrel system in our garage and eventually move into BRU’s new home. After months of literally designing, building, tiling, painting, and staining just about everything by hand in the gastro brewery BRU officially moved out of the garage and into its current location (almost seven years now!)

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
If someone is a small business owner and they say it’s a smooth road, they’re probably lying to you. I don’t think our road has been bumpier than anyone else’s, but it’s a challenge. It’s a big transition when you go from leading a kitchen and at least having someone above you to help you set the vision, to being the leader. No matter how much prep you do. You also wear A LOT of different hats, I’m brewing one moment, cooking the next, signing checks the next. You have to be flexible, versatile, and able to turn on a dime.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
BRU is a Gastro Brewery in East Boulder serving deliciously crafted food + never filtered naturally carbonated ales. My beginnings as a chef help set us apart from other brewpubs in the country. I’m able to pair my knowledge of food and beer to make really complex beers that use food like our Obitus American Brown ale with roasted dates and caramelize sugar and dishes using the beer like IPA tomato sauce or ale sausage for our sourdough pizzas. We also don’t filter our ales and we naturally carbonate them. This makes them better for you and the bubbles in our beer are more delicate – like champagne. I’m also really proud of the space – we literally built the whole thing. My wife and I designed it, then we tiled, painted, stained, built the tables, the list goes on. When we say handbuilt we aren’t joking around!

What were you like growing up?
I was pretty introverted (still am). I was always interested in how things work, not just that it worked, but how it worked. I would constantly take things apart to understand them (not always putting them back together), it drove my dad crazy. I loved being outside, snowboarding, running, camping, skateboarding, just being in nature. I was also infatuated with the fact that I could make anything, I loved making all of my stuff.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bruboulder.com
• Phone: 720-638-5193
• Email: marketing@bruboulder.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/bruboulder
• Facebook: facebook.com/bruboulder
• Twitter: twitter.com/bruboulder

Image Credit:
www.bruboulder.com

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