Downhill Brewing

Skier Jake Minturn was flying through the trees of A Basin when he emerged onto the High Divide Terrain Park and slammed directly into snowboarder Doug Hyndman, who was bombing the hill. “We took each other down. It was basically a yard sale,” says Minturn.

“Neither of us was hurt, but we exchanged a few not-so-nice words.” Later, at the lodge, Minturn saw Hyndman again and apologized for his part in the collision. The two got to talking about beer since they were both wearing Colorado brewery apparel, and by the end of the day, they’d decided to open a brewery together.

But rather than start from scratch, Minturn, who has managed the taprooms at Joyride Brewing and Copper Kettle, and Hyndman, the former brewery operations director at Dry Dock in Aurora, have purchased Elk Mountain Brewing, which was founded in Parker in 2010 by Tom and Marcia Bell. The name Downhill Brewing, is a nod to the way they met on the slopes and to give the brewery a ski and snowboard theme.