Ancient Mountain Heart Sits There

Josh Lange, owner of Mountain Heart Brewing sat down with us for an engaging conversation on community-building and business-owning, in Carbondale.

First off, can you give us a brief recap on how Mountain Heart came to be? Can you share some of the vision?

“Back in the day, I went to Colorado Rocky Mountain School and then stayed to work some labor-types of jobs in Aspen for a couple of summers. I have a big part of my roots and heart here, and have a 5 year old son, so we moved back in 2022. I found out about the opportunity to own/run a brewery through my son and I being loyal SiLo customers, and having a conversation with (then owner) Lacy, when she mentioned a brewery was for sale next door.  I believed there was a need for a solid community brewery to support our mountain town culture, so I went for it!

I found my way to some kind of success by starting a juice company in my early 20s, which to date has been my most successful business venture. It has helped fund Mountain Heart. Starting a brewery seemed within my realm of beverage possibilities, but mostly I wanted to create community space for people to gather.

I chose the name Mountain Heart with inspiration from the original Ute name for Sopris, which translates to “ancient mountain heart sits there.” The name embodies what we are trying to accomplish as a whole.”

In such a tight-knit, small-town setting, what are some ways that you engage with locals to foster a sense of connection and community? What role do you think your brewery plays in the overall identity of the Valley?

“Well, we live in a place where people are super active, super healthy and very family oriented. What I have learned is that a lot of people don’t actually drink beer, which is really bad for a beer business, haha. But people love what we’re doing, and for me it’s trying to create a culture around a business that is doing something meaningful for the community, more than just beer. 

So I think that’s what Mountain Heart is all about, it's the overall culture of what we’re trying to create for our community, and it’s really wrapped up in how we live. My family, and our existence and lifestyle, revolve around trying to accomplish something special in the Roaring Fork Valley. 

One way that we engage is with our tap truck, it's a fun all-terrain vehicle that stands out at events. We sponsor the Mountain Fair backstage and the Fashion Show to support our local creative excellence. Overall, we try to do the right things. Because I come from an event background, we'd actually love to do more events. I feel like that we have a great possibility of doing something special with that. Last summer we were part of Basalt’s Wednesday concerts with our tap truck — it was very successful. That’s the kind of momentum we need in order for our business to work and unfortunately that’s not something that’s happening here, in Carbondale. So we'd like to change that soon!”

How can Carbondale support Mountain Heart in being a thriving local business?

“What we really want is a space in the Carbondale core, so we can have our own events, and have some outdoor space to spread out a bit. That’s part of our overall vision. Our property works well for production, not as well for retail. A lot of folks don’t make it over there; it’s off the beaten path and doesn’t draw many tourists. In order for us to actually be able to have a business that’s sustainable beyond just selling cans of beer, we need space. Our brewery space is a great little pocket for our local Mtn Heart posse, but we’ll never be able to pay our large operating cost. Like I said before, it's not just about the beer, it's about community and it's about space where people can gather. If you visit our Carbondale brewery/taproom, there's toddlers, there's dogs, people talking, friends hanging out, and I feel like we need more spots where our community can gather.

I’d love to throw out a call to the community to rally behind us on finding a space in the Carbondale core. I’m hopeful that someone will read this who knows of, or has access to, a space we can rent or consider purchasing. Some of the commercial properties are being bought up by big money that we can’t compete with, and that’s a bit frustrating. There are currently cool spaces available that are just sitting vacant. Why not allow someone to either rent it and create this vision I'm speaking of, or buy it at a fair market value. Fingers crossed.

In our first year, we donated an enormous amount of beer to everyone who asked for it. They were all for great nonprofits and causes for sure but we can't do that anymore. Right now we're in a place where we need to be very mindful of what we are a part of and what we have to take a  pass on in order to not overspend and get into trouble. “

Congratulations on opening a new space in Basalt. Tell us more about that.  

“Thank you. Introducing coffee has always been part of the overall vision for us. Our space feels great, it's comfy and functional and serves multiple purposes. Basalt is great as part of our overall community in the Roaring Fork Valley, so we feel lucky to also be a part of it. It’s a taproom to drink our beer, a coffee shop with local pastries and our own roasted coffee, and our hand made sandwiches made to order. Our hours are big (coffee bar 7a to 6p and taproom and deli 11a to 6p). We want to reprogram what the possibilities of life are here, come and enjoy a coffee late, or get a beer or sandwich all day.

It’s a really, really great space. Now we need a similar spot in our home town. Carbondale has such potential to have a beautiful, amazing space for us, and we’ll find it eventually, but we’re not there yet.”

Where can folks stay up to date on all things Mountain Heart?

You can follow us on social media at @mountainheartbrewing, @mountainheartcoffee, or at mountainheartbrewing.com