Tommy and Megan Bibliowicz of 4 Noses Brewing Co.
More than 125 Colorado breweries are taking part in the 2014 Great American Beer Festival (GABF), running Oct. 2–4 at the Colorado Convention Center. Among them is Broomfield-based 4 Noses Brewing Co., owned by University of Denver alumnus Tommy Bibliowicz (BSBA ’10).
A true family affair, 4 Noses was started by Bibliowicz along with his father and brother and his wife, Megan (BA ’10), now a student at the Sturm College of Law. His mom helped write the business plan.
Not content to rely on taproom traffic, Bibliowicz devoted 80 percent of the brewery’s square footage to production space. The brewery already has beers on tap at some 25 local restaurants and bars, and Bibliowicz hopes to start canning within a few months.
In advance of the GABF, we talked with Bibliowicz about his business and his thoughts on the festival.
Q: You have been to the Great American Beer Festival before as a beer lover, but this is your first time as a brewery. What is your main reason for going? Is it exposure, marketing or something else?
A: It is exposure, and definitely with the judging, it’s bragging rights. It’s always a nice marketing tool, but the culture in Colorado is so pro-beer, and the Great American Beer Festival is one of the biggest events Colorado has as a state — not just beer-wise, but in general. It’s an incredible festival, and just the chance to be a part of it and spend some time there is a really cool thing to be able to do. The marketing is certainly part of it, but being part of what we consider to be one of the greatest events in the country is probably a bigger draw.
Q: You were a finance major at the University of Denver — how did that lead to a career in brewing?
A: I was definitely into the craft-brewing scene in Denver; I just wasn’t into brewing myself. It wasn’t until I got home after college when my dad started to teach me how to homebrew. The two of us got really involved in it and started to really enjoy it, and it grew into a little more than just a hobby.
Q: What happened between your graduation in 2010 and opening the brewery in 2014?
A: I moved back to New York to pursue finance. I had met my wife at DU, and we got married shortly thereafter. We moved back to New York, and at a certain point we said, ‘New York is not the place for us anymore. This is not where we belong. We belong in Colorado, we love Colorado, we miss it, and we’re going to do everything we can to get back.’ So we quit our jobs, packed up our stuff and moved back to Colorado. Megan went to law school, I got accepted to UC Davis to continue my education in brewing, and at that point we put together a business plan and tried to get this thing up and running.
Q: How does your finance degree help in the operation of the brewery?
A: A lot of it had to do with the actual initial planning of the business, getting everything set up. Certainly the business major helped a lot with that and has continued to help with day-to-day financial operations. Not only am I doing the brewing, but I’m also handling the business side, all the taxes, so everything from my basic understanding of financial planning to some of the accounting I took, everything like that has been a huge help from the actual perspective of day-to-day operations.
Q: It sounds like you’re busy but happy.
A: We’re really lucky to be able to pursue something that we’re passionate about. I loved my job in New York, it was great, but at the end of the day you’re in a cubicle and you’re typing on a keyboard. There’s just something amazing about creating a product and watching people enjoy it. It’s a fun life.