Christa Kilpatrick

This self-proclaimed book dork was born and raised in Colorado. She attended Colorado State University and graduated with a B.A. in English in 2003. While obtaining said degree, she will admit that some great works of literature were read while drinking an Easy Street Wheat (and pretty much every beer from the early days of New Belgium and Odell)—thus beginning her habit of reading while drinking a good beer. She met and fell in love with Ryan Kilpatrick and spent a lot of time hanging out in Fort Collins craft breweries talking about how awesome it would be to own a brewery someday. 

In February of 2013 they decide to take the leap and write a business plan. But what to call the brewery? Christa, “hey let’s combine my love of books with your love of beer; we could call the brewery Fiction Beer Company.” (And yes, she takes full credit for conceptualizing the brewery theme.) The couple puts together an awesome team of investors and suddenly that dream from years and years ago becomes a reality.  Now open in the East Denver neighborhood of Park Hill Fiction Beer Company is here for all to enjoy.

Christa divides her time between being a mom to 2 amazing small humans and doing anything that needs to be done for Fiction Beer Company.

Beer is not just a passion it is an obsession! At the impressionable age of 21 he spent many an afternoon sitting at the New Belgium Brewing tasting room bar and waxing philosophical on the ins and outs of making beer, owning and operating a brewery (this was back in the day when you could easily find a seat at the tasting room bar). Ryan had taken the tour so many times he took to giving the tour to friends and family!

At the time, owning a brewery seemed  like something only the uber-rich could afford. Then the modern era of craft beer started to take off and the economic feasibility of a small brewery began to look more realistic. In the years since those afternoons at New Belgium, his love of all things craft beer continued to grow. All the while he had always wanted to try his hand at homebrewing. Being an avid cook he figured it wouldn’t be much different … you learn the basics, the flavors, the results of various experiments, and then start to combine those into unique and interesting recipes. 

Ryan brewed his first batch 1 month after moving into a house with a garage in South Park Hill to store his newly acquired brewing equipment. He has averaged a batch every three to four weeks since. Ryan began Formulating his own recipes began with the second batch. Nearly every homebrewer has had the thought to open their own brewery but for one reason or another they don’t take the leap. The idea had not seriously crossed Ryan’s mind until one evening Christa turned to him and said “We should open a brewery, seriously, let’s do it.”

The idea began to take hold and he started exploring the possibilities from a business standpoint. Ryan soon realized the time was not right and the preparations ceased. Three years later in February of 2013 they began to talk about it again and thought well let’s just write a business plan and then see what happens. And then, let’s talk to family and see what they think. And that lead to, let’s talk to potential investors and see if anyone is interested. And finally, let’s talk to a bank, look for a location, apply for a loan, file our TTB paperwork and before we knew it 10 months flew by and we had launched Fiction Beer Company in the East Denver Park Hill neighborhood—a combination of the things Christa and Ryan both enjoy: beer and books.