USA, CO: Salt Road Brewing set to launch in Fort Collins this coming spring

After five years as a German taproom, a sprawling brick building in Fort Collins Old Town's Old Firehouse Alley is officially changing allegiances — just ask the giant German flag mural that was recently painted over as part of its clean slate, The Coloradoan reported on December 16.

Old Town's former Prost Brewing taproom, 321 Old Firehouse Alley, is set to become Salt Road Brewing, a new brewery offering a range of world beer styles with a focus on Colorado ingredients, according to co-founder Scott Ficarra.

After getting into home brewing while living in California in the mid-1990s, and pursuing the hobby more seriously after moving to Windsor in 2011, Scott said his wife and Salt Road Brewery co-founder Kelly Ficarra encouraged him to pursue his dream of opening a brewery.

The couple started searching for vacant storefronts and buildings in Windsor, Greeley and Fort Collins about four years ago, Scott said.

"I never thought Fort Collins would happen," Scott said, adding that he's nervous about the brewery's placement due to Fort Collins' reputation as "such a high-end place for brewing."

"I kind of plopped myself into the middle of the big leagues," he added.

But after the couple's four-year building search proved fruitless — at least a dozen of their potential spaces fell through over things like code issues or construction costs — Prost Brewing vacated its longtime Old Firehouse Alley home early this year, clearing the space for a new tenant. The Denver-based brewery has since reopened its Fort Collins taproom across from Colorado State University.

Because the Old Town space was previously home to Prost Brewing, Scott said the building already had a lot of the infrastructure Salt Road Brewing would need, cutting down on a heap of construction times and additional costs. The Ficarras hope to open Salt Road Brewing in March or April, Scott said.

"It's been a long journey," said Scott, who is not only excited to bring his homebrewed creations to the masses, but also highlight local ingredients and a little history. Salt Road Brewing is named for the ancient network of trade routes, or "salt roads," that were used to move goods throughout Europe and Asia.

"They used to move beer along these routes, and there were farm breweries along this road that used what (ingredients) they had nearby," Scott said. "As a result, a lot of the beers we drink today were a result of using ingredients that were (in close proximity to these breweries)."

Drawing on that history, Scott said Salt Road Brewing is excited to brew world styles using a lot of area ingredients, especially Colorado malts that Scott said he'll use exclusively as his beers' base malt.

"Our focus is on producing world class beer with local ingredients," he said, adding that you can often find him brewing farmhouse ales, saisons and breitbiers. "Those really allow you to showcase what is nearby."

Scott said he hopes to open Salt Road Brewing this spring with at least 10 taps, ultimately ratcheting up to 12 to 16 different styles of beer on tap all the time.

As for plopping himself into Fort Collins' behemoth beer scene, Scott said he's warming to the intimidating location, especially after hearing from some of his soon-to-be competitors.

"The breweries in general and the brewery owners have been so incredibly supportive," he said. "We share the idea that we're stronger together and that more competition is going to make Fort Collins and Northern Colorado in general a tourist destination for craft beer."

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