Derek Heersink is leading the climb back for 14er Brewing.
The founder and owner of Alamosa’s Spare Keg Brewerks says the reason was simple.
“It’s a great brand for Chaffee County, where there’s more 14ers than anywhere in the country,” he said. “So it was pretty much a marketing move.”
14er’s brewery and taproom in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood closed in November 2024 after an eight-year run. Heersink said he bought the company’s naming rights and recipes from 14er co-founders Andrew Kaczmarek and Nate Francescato earlier this year.
Heersink, a barley farmer, started Spare Keg in 2017. In July, he and his wife opened a coffee shop-taproom hybrid called Herks Werks in Poncha Springs, a small town near Salida.
Heersink said he’ll start production of 14er beers in the coming weeks in Alamosa, and sell it at his brewery there. But he said he’s making the brand the centerpiece of his Poncha Springs spot.
Heersink estimates that hop lovers will be able to get such 14er favorites as the Maroon Bells tropical ale or key lime pie cream ale by Christmastime. He also plans to release new beers under the 14er name, like a chile drink or a Mount Princeton pilsner.
With the new label, Heersink expects in 2026 to double the 300 barrels Spare Keg brewed this year. He wants to sell to more bars and restaurants in the high country while doing smaller canning production as well.
“My goal is to have 14er beer wherever there’s a 14er mountain,” he said.
The move caps a year of expansion for Heersink and Spare Keg, which went by Square Peg until 2021. He said he pared back on wholesale distribution, instead focusing on opening Herks Werks with his wife, whose family recently closed a coffee shop in Alamosa that they ran for 20 years.
Heersink also opened a food truck at the location called Meatwerks, which serves goat tacos and lamb gyros. He said having more attractions at a taproom rather than just beer is a necessity in a down craft industry. Even amid the excitement, Spare Keg is winding down operations at its outpost in Creede, leaving it with the Poncha Springs and Alamosa locations.
“In the beer industry, you can’t just do beer anymore,” he said. “So with the beer and food, we’re making it more of an experience. We didn’t necessarily want to get into those things, but you got to, to keep going.”
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