Picture this: three Coloradans—Geoff McFarlane, Dan Brown, and Jed MacArthur—stumble out of the 2015 winter fog in Idaho Springs. They’d fumbled into a former Buffalo Restaurant & Bar, decided trivia nights weren’t nearly enough, and turned that historic space into the now-iconic Westbound & Down Brewing taproom. There, a young brewer named Jake Gardner, once wrangling tanks at Hogshead, joined them to dream in hops and malt.
They started small—but smart. By 2021, they had swallowed up Endo’s Lafayette brewery, turning it into a polished production facility and pizza-surrounded brewpub. A year later came a taproom in Denver’s Dairy Block, and then the big leap: in late 2023, they scooped up Aspen Brewing Company and Capitol Creek Brewing in Basalt, expanding their brewery posse into the Roaring Fork Valley.
In six years, they’ve grown by a jaw-dropping 1,835%, quadrupled production, and spread their beer into nearly 300 bars and 320 retail spots, from Whole Foods racks to mountain-top taprooms. All while raking in medals at GABF (including Gold for Select IPA), a World Beer Cup nod, and being crowned “Best Brewery in Colorado” in 2023.
And somewhere in this well-oiled, hop-scented machine is Kevin Lind, Westbound & Down’s sales whisperer and beer diplomat, the guy who can walk into any taproom, flash that easy “trust me” grin, and suddenly your pint glass is full of something gold, cold, and suspiciously addictive. He’s the conductor, ensuring these Westbound beers don’t just leave the station — they arrive everywhere worth drinking them, including Peaks & Pints’ Tuesday Westbound & Down Flight. And riding shotgun on this mission into Western Washington is Matt McLaren of Orcas Distributing, the quiet assassin of beer logistics, the man who worked with Lind to slip these Colorado beauties past the Cascades and into our eager hands, like a smuggler of pure, liquid joy.
Peaks & Pints Tuesday Westbound & Down Flight
Westbound & Down Brewing Italian Pilsner
4.9% ABV | Italian Pilsner
This is the beer that winks at tradition, straightens its cufflinks, and then skateboards through the piazza. Westbound & Down’s Italian Pilsner is elegance with a sly grin — Italian-grown pilsner malt as the crisp, biscuity backbone, laced with Hallertau Blanc, Saphir, and Saaz for a hop bouquet that flirts shamelessly with lemon blossom, fresh-cut herbs, and a kiss of green grape. It’s bright, clean, and dangerously easy, the kind of beer that disappears in three sips and leaves you wondering how soon you can make that “accidental” refill happen. If sunshine had a soundtrack, this would be the house band.
Westbound & Down Juice Caboose
7.2% ABV | Hazy IPA
If a fruit cart in a tropical back alley suddenly sprouted wheels, caught a beam of Colorado sunshine, and decided to barrel down the tracks screaming “ALL ABOARD,” you’d have Westbound & Down’s Juice Caboose. This hazy IPA is Idaho 7, Mosaic, and Strata in full carnival mode — pineapple slipstreams, Cara Cara orange glow, mango Hi-Chew sweetness, and just enough lemon zest snap to keep you from tumbling off the ride. The bitterness is soft, like a whispered suggestion, but the aroma? It’s a whole floral-tropical riot pushing its way out of the glass. Drink it and you’re riding first class in the haze car, windows down, wind in your teeth, fruit juice on your lips, wondering if this train even needs a destination.
Westbound & Down Select IPA
6.7% ABV | West Coast IPA
Winner of the 2023 GABF gold medal for West Coast IPA, Select is Westbound & Down’s manifesto on how to do the style properly — a shimmering glass of clarity, citrus, and spine. Mosaic, Simcoe, Citra, and their cryo cousins form a hop cabal that smells like tangerine zest tangled with ripe peach, strawberry flirtation, and a sly hint of melon, all anchored by just enough dank pine to remind you it’s still a West Coast beer. The bitterness is deliberate, like a well-placed barb, and the finish is so clean you might suspect it was laundered. This isn’t a beer that shouts; it’s a beer that stands perfectly still until you notice you can’t stop looking at it — and then you’re hooked.
Westbound & Down Brewing Westbound IPA
7% ABV | West Coast IPA
Westbound IPA is the westbound train you didn’t know you were boarding until the doors clanged shut and you were already hurtling toward a citrus sunrise. It bursts with pineapple, mango, and those indulgent Cara Cara oranges, before a sly undercurrent of grapefruit rind bitterness slides in to remind you who’s driving. A whisper of dank pine grounds the fruit, all balanced on a crisp, dry frame that keeps the ride smooth. Not a palate-wrecking hop grenade — more like a well-tuned engine humming toward forever, built for long rides, high views, and that moment when you realize you never want to get off.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
