Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ryan Evans. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Ryan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is measured in many ways. I like Bob Dylan’s approach on the subject “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do”. We took that approach to creating a work environment we all are proud of at Bruz Beers. Every team member here has made a conscious decision to leave another work environment to join ours. The reasons for leaving the other opportunities were vast, but mostly centered around not being happy and being treated poorly. Nobody at Bruz Beers wants to go back to that situation, so we created what we wanted out of a career and life. We wok hard and play hard. Our vacation policy is simple – we back each other up unequivocally, and make sure we all get to obtain our goals and dreams within the company as well as outside the company on our personal time. We crowdsource our ideas for the company from the team, creating successful events, beer styles, and environments that we are all behind. We work on continual improvement, never resting on our laurels, pushing the bounds to make our impact on the world even greater. At the end of the day, we have a company that we are proud to call our Bruz Family!

Ryan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Bruz Beers is Denver’s artisanal brewery dedicated to brewing traditional Belgian-style beers and innovative Belgian-inspired brews. From traditional Belgian styles to innovative Belgian-inspired creations, Bruz Beers is bringing a passion for excellence to Colorado’s beer scene.

I am a co-founder and CEO of Bruz Beers. A Colorado native, I have an MBA from the University of Denver and have extensive business experience – having held executive positions in several industries. I discovered Belgian beer while backpacking through Europe and couldn’t get them out of my mind. I returned from my travels with a thirst for Belgian beer and a love for Belgian culture.

I am an avid outdoor sports enthusiast, having climbed nearly all of Colorado’s “fourteeners” and am a lover of hiking, camping and backcountry skiing. I have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa with my wife and mom, and have been on Denali in Alaska three times, adding them to the list of famous mountains I have experienced. I still have another trip up Denali in me sometime soon!

I have two dogs, Cooper and Mr. Bentley, the Bruz Brew Dogs, and they are me and my wife favorite kids!

At Bruz Beers, we are lucky enough to make beer for our community. We focus on Belgian-style beers, and even take people on beer tours of Belgium. We offer classes on Belgian-style beers, and fully embrace the culture that is Belgian beer.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Our focus at Bruz Beers is on Belgian-style beer. We live, eat and breath it! Our laser-focus on a particular style has enabled us to create some amazing beers. We are very fortunate that we do not have to chase gimmicks and trends in the beer industry. Over the last few years, as people were putting their efforts toward cereal beers made with Lucky Charms and pastry stouts made with milk and frosting, we were able to continually improve upon our current offerings, making them even better. We are proud that we get to focus on making good beer, not the next trend like glitter beer!

We offer a number of educational opportunities to our customers that help cement us as the local authority on Belgian-style beers. We offer a monthly class titled World of Belgian Beers. This is a guided tasting by our Co-founder and Brewmaster, Charlie, of the major categories of Belgian beers. During this workshop, attendees have the opportunity to taste more than a dozen Belgian beer styles as they learn the history and characteristics of each. These courses typically sell out, and have become extremely popular.

Continuing the education, we offer a yearly trip to Belgium for a 10-day guided beer tour. We have taken over a hundred people on these tours, and they are extremely popular. 10 days of eating, drinking, and talking to people across Belgium – I know, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met Charlie Gottenkieny, our cofounder, while he was giving a class on Belgian beers. My wife Rachel had seen an advertisement in a magazine touting a class he was giving about Belgian beers – my favorite style of beer. We attended his course, and quickly realized he had the same passion we had about the style. After tasting several of his home-brewed beers, I had to let him know that they were fantastic and on par with what I fell in love with while backpacking Europe in college. The conversation started there, and three years later, we were opening up Bruz Beers together!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bruzbeers.com/
• Instagram: @bruzbeers
• Facebook: @bruzbeers
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanevans303/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bruz-beers-denver

Image Credits
credit Chis Austin for all photos. http://austinstudiodenver.com/