Wiley Roots Brewing Company: Uniquely and Meaningfully Crafted

Malteurop Celebrates Craft Breweries During American Craft Beer Week

American Craft Beer Week takes place May 10–16, 2021. This annual nationwide event celebrates small and independent craft breweries throughout the U.S. Malteurop (MMC) has joined forces with a few of these phenomenal breweries, highlighting their stories of strength and camaraderie during a time when struggles are common, but support and community continuously shine through.

About Wiley Roots Brewing Company

Meet the creator behind Wiley Roots Brewing Company, Wiley himself, Kyle Carbaugh, CEO and Director of Brewing Operations, which in his words, really just means Jack of all Trades.

Kyle originally started brewing at the encouragement of his wife to find a hobby over a decade ago when he was working as a CPA in Denver. Acutely aware that there are 168 hours in a week, and he was working about 90 of those, Kyle began questioning what he is was doing this for. In 2008, deciding that it was time for a change, around the same time he was exploring his homebrewing hobby, the idea for Wiley Roots was formulated.

Homebrewing at first in his kitchen, Kyle’s rapidly growing hobby had him expand into all grain brewing in the basement and then move everything to his parents’ old horse barn in Greeley. This is what would become the roots of the brewery.

Transitioning from a CPA to a brewer was no easy task. The work week went from 90 hours to 110 hours as he managed to work both professions for about a year and a half. Now, back to his normal work week of 90 hours, Kyle realizes that he spends a lot of time working; however, his enjoyment and passion for the fun of beer trumps crunching numbers any day of the week.

His story of how the brewery came about is one of hard work and perseverance yet it is the story of the name that reminds us to have fun while doing so.

“My nickname growing up was Wiley and I got it from my aunt. I was a precocious and hot tempered redheaded child. Very difficult to handle. So much so that the story goes: My mom called my aunt and said, ‘I need two hours away from this kid. Can you watch him?’ After two hours, my nickname was set. ‘You have got a wiley one on your hands.’ And it stuck.”

Originally started in 2013 as Wiley Brewing Company, the Roots came into the name when Kyle and his wife, Miranda, wanted to remember their roots two-fold: moving back to Greeley from Denver and going from corporate life to something more rooted in their passions and community.

A Passion for Brewing

When his wife encouraged Kyle to get a hobby she had no idea where that hobby would eventually take him. However, Kyle might have known something was brewing from the beginning. After making a successful first batch he was excited to make his second… turns out his second wasn’t so good. Horrendous, in fact, as Kyle described it.

But that was the beginning of the end of his CPA career and the start of his brewing one. “This is going to be a fun pursuit to figure out why the first batch was good and the second wasn’t, and how do we make more of the first and less of the latter.”

His passion for brewing stems from creating and figuring out mistakes and passing it through the lens of others, making it interesting for everyone, not just himself. The ability to create art in terms of beer and get creative in what can be made is what keeps beer alive and fun for Kyle.

“There’s a level of creative process that goes into that. Where my mindset really gets to strive for the things I’m passionate about, making it interesting for others.”

The Future of Craft Beer

Kyle sees the future of craft beer as a moving target. In terms of what people are drinking today there’s a great deal of polarization. People either want clean, crisp, and drinkable beers such as lager, or they are on the complete other end of the spectrum where everything is complex and every flavor is amplified.

Then there’s the seltzers, the non-alcoholic beers, and the low calorie, low ABV beers coming into the market with more and more force. Kyle believes that as a brewer you need to be able to handle all of the above without losing your identity in the craft beer scene.

“You need to be able to handle those under-currents without losing your identity and having a voice and having fun and making it interesting.”

Interesting and Fun Brews Always on Tap at Wiley Roots

At Wiley Roots their flagship beers are more known as their rotating taps, not true flagships.

While their primary focus is on their slush beers, fruited sours, and mixed cultures, they also offer lagers, hazy IPAs, stouts, pastry stouts, and barrel-aged options. Kyle and his team strive to make their beers interesting and meaningful no matter what is being brewed.

When Wiley Roots first started there was a focus on what Kyle called “something beers” meaning something for everyone: something light, something dark, something malty, something hoppy. While he felt that this was a great way to start, there was still something missing. He felt it didn’t deliver when it came to creating interesting beers. And that’s when they leaned more into the mixed culture side of things.

“We used to take making beer so seriously with our approach to beer and came out of that initial season thinking, ‘Let’s just go back to making beer fun.’ And that’s where slush was born and a number of tongue and cheek approaches such as the County Fair Cobbler where we award ourselves a blue ribbon every time we come out with that beer. Let’s have fun. Let’s make ourselves laugh. At the end of the day that’s what everyone is looking for when they drink beer.”

Accomplishments and Achievements at Wiley Roots

While they have won several medals for their beer one of their greatest accomplishments is the expansion of their brewhouse. Taking years to complete from conception to fruition, Wiley Roots’ new 30 barrel brewhouse will allow them to create more of the fun and interesting beers they love to brew including those pioneering frozen beer slushies.

Along with their recent expansion Wiley Roots has been honored in the past with the title of “Colorado Brewery of the Year” by the Colorado Sun and recognized as one of the “Breweries Who Made the Biggest Moves” by PorchDrinking.com.

But we can’t forget about those medals. Those are nothing to scoff at. Their beers have won several GABF medals including Silver in 2018, Gold in 2017 and 2015, and Bronze in 2013. They’ve also won a Silver in 2017 at the Mazer Cup International mead competition.

And their most important distinction? Their Blue Ribbon County Fair Cobbler series awards, of course. If you can’t create your own awards then you’re not having enough fun!

COVID-19 Challenges Faced Head On

Wiley Roots has built themselves on a foundation that allows them to take a measured approach to everything they do to make sure things are sustainable.

Even then, when the pandemic hit they had to find a way to pivot just as every brewery had to do. Because they already had a canning line, it wasn’t a daunting task, but attempting to determine where the beer needed to go and when still proved to be a challenge.

“We pushed things out to wholesale because we weren’t planning on people coming to the taproom because things were shut down. We held a little bit for the taproom and we could not have been more wrong about that. It’s probably the best wrong decision, the best way of being wrong. We started selling out of beers through wholesale within hours and selling out of beers in the taproom in a day or two.”

It was the not knowing that took them from a sustainable pace to working 18-hour days, seven days a week, for quite a while to keep their beers in their customers’ hands.

That therein is where a huge part of the problem lies. “The piece we’re really not talking much about either as an industry or the overall business climate is the mental health impacts that have been prevalent. All of a sudden the landscape changes overnight and we had to adapt and react quickly. That has had a huge impact on people’s mental well-being. It’s kind of the yin to the yang. On the positive side of this we’ve seen some tremendous growth, and on the opposite side of this everybody’s completely worked themselves to the ground.”

Moving Forward with Support

But with support Kyle believes we can get through this. “We’ve got to cut everybody some slack.” There has to be continued conversations about balancing all the stresses of the changing landscape. And along with that support from each other and outside agencies that focus on caring for self.

On the business side of things, Kyle and his team have found positives in the fact that they already had a way to package their beer. They are also grateful for their customers that continued to purchase their beer. They realized that their push for distribution also worked as an advertising strategy, getting people into the taproom to try those beers that were only available there. “We grew both wholesale and taproom sales despite the restrictions from the pandemic.”

And their vendors have made a huge positive impact as well by offering flexibility and support. Known for their slush beers, Kyle has been quite impressed with the Source of Nature gals, aka, the Fruit Ladies. They kept the fruits coming their way all throughout the pandemic allowing Wiley Roots to make the beers their customers have to come to expect and love.

The Latest and Greatest Beers Brewing

Speaking of beers being loved, at Wiley Roots, it’s slush season! So bring on the Passionfruit Orange Guava Slush and the Strawberry Daiquiri Slush, with more surprises from the Fruit Ladies still in the queue.

Brewing for American Craft Beer Week

There are more surprises brewing for American Craft Beer Week as well. Stay tuned as Kyle and his team dream up all types of fun, interesting, and meaningful beers for your palate.

Getting Personal with Beer

All beer lovers have a unique relationship with beer, and this includes the beer they love to drink. Yes, it’s true, most beer lovers love the beer that is currently in front of them. But if asked they will also have a style they love just as much and Kyle is no different.

“It’s the beer that’s in front of me. I can appreciate so many beers for what they are. I really like barrel-aged imperial stouts but there are days when I just want something that I can put two or three back and not have to take a nap. I’m really enjoying my light lagers too.”

Then there’s the fun task of defining who you are through a beer. Kyle’s personality stands out with his answer.

“I would be a Rauchbier because I’m smoky and kind of spicy at times… and I’m an acquired taste.”

A craft brewer definitely lives a craft beer lifestyle but believe it or not, there are things outside of beer, and for Kyle those things involve family. He adores his wife, his bulldog, and relishes the quiet time he gets every once in a while outside of the brewery, including mustard.

Mustard? “My wife is always encouraging me to get hobbies outside of whatever I’m doing outside of my profession. Which is funny because that hobby last time became my profession. So, I’m like, ‘Do you remember what happened last time you encouraged me to get a hobby?’ This is a dangerous proposition.’ I ended up taking up making mustard, different kinds of stone ground mustard.”

Do I see a mustard beer in Kyle’s future!?

Thank You!

Kyle’s desire to create beer that is interesting and fun for the multitude of lenses that every individual views the world through is something we can all learn from. Understanding that each of us comes from different backgrounds carrying different perspectives can create space for us to thrive, instead of just survive.

Kyle says it beautifully, “Let’s have a good time. Let’s laugh and enjoy the product that’s in front of us. Be kind to one another. It’s a crazy time to be alive, but we’re all going to make it through this and hopefully better for the wear.”