{"id":65808,"date":"2019-06-30T05:03:10","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T11:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/chainless-brewing-opens-on-north-main-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2019-06-30T11:03:10","modified_gmt":"2019-06-30T11:03:10","slug":"chainless-brewing-opens-on-north-main-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/chainless-brewing-opens-on-north-main-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Chainless Brewing opens on north Main in Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Sliders
Sliders are matched with beer at Chainless Brewing on north Main Avenue.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Chainless Brewing, Durango\u2019s newest brewery (and the seventh if you count the two that have left), came together through a lot of hard work and also a bit of luck.<\/p>\n

Lucas Ratcliff and Jason Hughes, the head brewer and executive chef of the brewery, respectively, found out about each other\u2019s ambitions almost by accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been home brewing for years, and Lucas was the service manager out at Nissan of Durango and Jason was a client of his,\u201d said Corrin Oxnam, Chainless\u2019 general manager and Ratcliff\u2019s wife. \u201c(Hughes), in passing, said he wanted to open a restaurant and Lucas, in passing, said \u2018I want to open a brewery.\u2019 About two weeks later, Jason was at the casino, playing the slots, and won $57,000. And here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Executive
Executive Chef Jason Hughes, left, Head Brewer Lucas Ratcliff and General Manager Corrin Oxnam lead Chainless Brewing on north Main Avenue.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Hughes said he was looking at restaurant locations when he found out Ratcliff and Oxnam wanted to start a brewery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went in to get my car serviced and was telling (Ratcliff) about Guido\u2019s, which I was looking to rent and take over,\u201d Hughes said. \u201c(Ratcliff) said, \u2018We\u2019ll, I\u2019m looking to do a brewery.\u2019 Next thing you know, I was driving away and there was this space that I wasn\u2019t going to be able to use for cooking, and I thought, \u2018How am I going to make that rent? And that was that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe light bulb went off as I drove away, of course, and I called him instantly, and I said, \u2018Lucas, what do you think about coming to check out this place with me and seeing if this will work for your space for a brewery.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Guido\u2019s location downtown didn\u2019t work out, but as the trio began to secure the brewery\u2019s present location at 3000 Main Ave., the former location of Durango Brewing Co., Hughes began meeting with investors and people who could provide equipment to the budding business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go to link up with someone to find some equipment for the brewery \u2026 and he says he\u2019s going to be 30 minutes late. I go to (Sky Ute) Casino, put in $200 and \u2013 it\u2019s a machine, granted, that I\u2019ve been playing because it was going to hit \u2013 and it happened to hit on me. Over 50 grand later, here I am,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n

Hughes says he wants to invest some of the earnings back into the community in the form of scholarships and the like if Chainless is successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing into this money is a blessing for me, so I want to pass that blessing on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Home brew to head brewer<\/div>\n

Ratcliff, whose background is largely that of an auto mechanic, first learned how to brew while living next to Snoqualmie Brewery just outside of Seattle.<\/p>\n

\"Chainless
Chainless Brewing is now open on north Main Avenue. The brewery is themed around bicycling, and visitors who cycle to the brewery get $1 off their first pint.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI kind of got in with those guys, and I started brewing beer with them and they taught me how to brew,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Afterward, he brewed at home but didn\u2019t seek training or formal schooling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my first real big system that I\u2019ve ever brewed on \u2026 and it\u2019s going fabulous so far,\u201d Ratcliff said. \u201cIt\u2019s like that dream story \u2013 the home brewer becomes the brewery owner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ratcliff said that because of his obligation to his family, he couldn\u2019t afford to take a pay cut to work as an intern at another brewery and work his way up through the brewing world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI figured I\u2019ll start my own company and this is how I become my own head brewer, and so far, it\u2019s working fantastically,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m really happy with the way the beers are turning out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oxnam said the name Chainless emerged as a play on having a rough time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you break your chain out in the middle of nowhere on your mountain bike, you\u2019re kind of up s\u2014 creek without a paddle. So what do you need after you go chainless? A beer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beer, bites and bicycling<\/div>\n

In addition to a place for beer and food, Oxnam said the Chainless crew would like for the brewery to serve as a hub for the cycling community.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne reason why we stuck with the biking theme was that it\u2019s huge in our community and we felt like there was a void there,\u201d she said. \u201cEverybody supports them, right? But nobody airs the races on the TVs at their bars. We want to show bicycle races.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chainless also plans to host its own cycling events.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all bicycle enthusiasts, so we\u2019re going to be sponsoring bike races and group rides from here,\u201d Ratcliff said. \u201cWe really want to promote cycling in this town. We love it. It\u2019s healthy and fun and the kids love it. It\u2019s good for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

To encourage people to bike to the brewery, Chainless is offering $1 off the first pint of anyone who rides up.<\/p>\n

Even the food is made with cyclists in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be a health-conscious place because we want people to bike here and leave feeling better,\u201d said Hughes, who has been a chef for about 20 years, including at restaurants such as Steamworks Brewing Co.<\/p>\n

He said the brewery currently has burgers, salads, Southwestern-style food and specialty items, such as blackened chicken. Chainless\u2019 beers make their way into items such as the beer cheese spinach artichoke dip and beer queso.<\/p>\n

Hughes said Chainless will eventually serve brunch, but he wanted to start off with a small menu.<\/p>\n

ngonzales@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Head Brewer Lucas Ratcliff on Chainless\u2019 beer selection<\/h4>\n

Reckless Red Lager:
\n \u201cIt\u2019s a kind of medium full-bodied red lager. Not many people lager a red, so it\u2019s kind of a unique idea. \u2026 It\u2019s kind of a neat style to play with.\u201d
\n Chin Split Porter:<\/em>
\n \u201cYou get a lot of the coffee notes and bitterness \u2026 and those little chocolatey tastes at the end. Clean finish. Real full body. Lots of calories in that one \u2013 it\u2019s a meal in itself.\u201d
\n Clipless Wheat:<\/em>
\n \u201cThis can be paired with an orange or a lemon, or anything like that. The ladies love those ones. It\u2019s a really nice, clean summer drinker.\u201d
\n Grip Slip IPA:<\/em>
\n \u201cA nice, classic, bitter American IPA. It\u2019s got quite a bit of bitterness to it, a lot of aroma, a lot of back flavor. I used a little bit of pine in there to give some earthiness to it.\u201d
\n Br\u00fat-al IPA:<\/em>
\n \u201cThis one\u2019s my favorite. This is one I\u2019ve been working on for a long time. This is a Brut IPA, which is just attenuating it way down the scale to get that dry, champagney finish. \u2026 You still get a lot of those aromas, a lot of that floral and fruit taste out of the Citra hops in there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

restaurant and brewery planned as hub for cycling community<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[582,13,28,445,450],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-65808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-craft-beer","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter-lead","tag-restaurant-and-catering"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65808"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=65808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}