How it all started

Wibby Brewing's Co-Founder, Brewmaster, and proud Boulder, Colorado Native, Ryan Wibby, was raised in a family of chemists & learned the science of beer making while furthering his studies at Ithaca College in upstate New York. This professor’s specialty course offering was Ryan’s "light bulb" moment. He immediately fell in love with intricacy of brewing and instantly knew his life’s calling was to start his own brewery.  

As Ryan began to follow his destiny, he knew he needed some real-world brewing experience. In 2007, his journey working as a professional brewer in several different breweries commenced. He gained experience at Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant in Lancaster, Penn.; Ithaca Beer Company in Ithaca, New York; and Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Ore. At all of these breweries Ryan eagerly performed every possible task. From brewing to packaging, working in the lab to washing kegs, recipe development to serving a pint to thirsty customers, he remained committed. While all these comprehensive experiences were valuable, Ryan still yearned for more. Craving in-depth beer knowledge, the solution was higher education in this field. 

Ryan was accepted to the VLB in Berlin, Germany. There, he completed the six-month Certified Brewmaster Course and four-month internship with the research institute. This is when Ryan had an epiphany moment and saw that there was great opportunity in the American craft beer market with the combination of traditional German brewing techniques and styles coupled with American craft beer ingenuity and creativity. This exciting synthesis creates delicious thirst-quenching beers in an area very few people had explored in brewing before. Wibby Brewing was founded with the intention to exclusively brew craft lagers that are innovative and unique, yet bare a traditional soul.  

After 2 years of writing a business plan, raising capital, and scouting a location, Wibby Brewing opened its doors Labor Day Weekend 2015 at 209 Emery St in Longmont, Colo. The brewery and taproom are situated on the former truck maintenance facility of the historic Butterball Turkey plant. The renovation of this industrial building has brought new life to a part of town, which was formerly underserved. The vast, light-saturated biergartens have allowed Wibby Brewing to host concerts and festivals in their dynamic performance and event spaces. Wibby Brewing has become a significant community partner as we host and raise funds for several local charities throughout Boulder County, converting many ale drinkers to the Wibby craft lager revolution along the way!