John Scarffe, Nederland. Gilpin County residents Ginger Baer and Sandy Hollingsworth gathered with the owner and employees of the Knotted Root Brewery, 250 N. Caribou Street in Nederland, to brew a special beer on Friday, September 13, 2019. During a fund-raising event on October 3, and as long as the brew lasts, a portion of the proceeds for sale of the new brew will go to the new nonprofit Mountain Paws Pet Care Fund. 

“Residents in the Peak to Peak area are forming the nonprofit to raise funds to help take care of pets who have a sudden onset of a critical need, to help the owners and to prevent euthanasia or surrender,” Baer said. Five local residents have been working on this, and they are applying for 501(c)(3) status. They plan to cover the Boulder County mountain area, Gilpin County and Coal Creek Canyon. 

“This is a whole community effort,” Baer said. “It has been very well received from the people I’ve talked to.” She also was affiliated with Dani Dillon at the Nederland Veterinary Hospital, and Roxanne McConnell with the Peak to Peak Animal Hospital, so she is collaborating with the two hospitals. “It truly is a community effort.”

Baer moved to Rollinsville 10 years ago. Her husband Steven has lived in the area for 30 years and used to own a business in Nederland. 

Baer served as CFO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado and Easter Seals in Colorado. After working in accounting, she went to work for the Nederland Veterinary Hospital.

“I saw how many people can’t pay their bills. I saw there was a real need for this in the community,” Baer said. 

Now retired, she is working on a passion of hers. She and Steven have three dogs, and they have little doggy cemetery on their property with seven dogs. “They don’t live as long as us, but they will stay with us forever,” Baer said. 

The group began creating the fund this spring to serve the Peak to Peak region. To complete the application for 501(c)(3) status and officially become a Colorado charitable association, so donations are tax deductible, they must pay a $250 fee. The nonprofit also wants to have a website, and that costs money to build and maintain, Baer said. 

They plan to kickoff fund-raising with a potluck on October 3, at Knotted Root Brewery from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., where the first glass of the new beer will be poured. On September 7, 2019, at a fund-raising event for Nederland’s Carousel of Happiness, Knotted Root Owners Chris Marchio and Chris Klein put up an auction item for a hands-on brewing experience. 

Sandy Hollingsworth put up a bid for the brewing experience and won the bid for the nonprofit organization. Hollingsworth and Baer are friends and both volunteer as master gardeners.

“We have no other nonprofit for animal care,” Hollingsworth said. “We love animals, and we love the land.”  She also said it’s important to support small businesses in the area, so this also supports Knotted Root Brewery.

Marchio said that this is a great opportunity for us, and we hope to have more of these. The brewery is doing very well, so far, he said. The work on Boulder Canyon hasn’t helped. 

Marchio also is a dog lover and has his 11-year-old dog Asa at the brewery every day. “We’re a dog friendly brewery,” he said.

When they gathered on Friday, September 13, at the brewery, they began the brewing process for the special brew, as yet unnamed. They start by mixing Simpsons Malt with a chocolate malt in the grain mill, which grinds it and crushes the husks. 

Hollingsworth said this is going to be a really dark beer, and Employee Jordan said it will be a sweet, dark beer with hints of chocolate and honey. This is the first dark beer the brewery has made.

The malt then goes up a tube to a huge metal vat, where Jordan heats it to 153 degrees and then mixes oats with the malt. “I’m just making oatmeal,” Jordan said. 

Marchio said the process extracts the extra sugar and makes the yeast happy. He explained that all of the containers and hoses have been sterilized. 

The mixed malt and oats will brew for an hour, and then will be moved to the next kettle, where it will brew for three hours, before going to another container, where it will brew for two weeks and then will be ready.

At the end of the day, the group decided to name the charity beer in honor of Eddie Money who passed on September 13. The name is “Take Me Home Tonight.”

Beginning on October 3, they will have the special brew throughout the month as long as the brew lasts. 

In the meantime, to make a donation to the Mountain Paws Pet Care Fund, send an email to Mountainpawspetcare@gmail.com.

(Originally published in the September 26, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)