David Hummer, co-founder of Boulder Beer Co., (Courtesy of Boulder Beer Co.)
Boulder Beer Co. will host a memorial service from 2-5 p.m. Wednesday at the brewery, 2880 Wilderness Place in Boulder, for co-founder David Hummer, who died Dec. 17 after a short illness.
Hummer, who was 80, is a legend in the world of Colorado beer — helping found Boulder Beer, the state’s first craft beer brewery, in 1979. At the time, only 42 breweries were operating in the United States. Today, there are more than 4,000, Boulder Beer is now considered the “oldest surviving craft brewery” in the country.
Hummer later described the creation of the brewery, “the most irresponsible thing I ever did,” according to a
David Hummer
Hummer was highly educated, receiving his PhD in astrophysics in England before moving to Boulder to teach the subject at the University of Colorado. In the late 1970s, Hummer was chairman of an astrophysics research institute at the University of Colorado and he also was an avid hombrewer — before it was a fad or even legal in many states.
Boulder Beer’s other founder, Randolph “Stick” Ware, said Hummer pioneered a home-brewing mash technique that is still used today. Instead of using the Blue Ribbon canned malt syrup extract for homebrewing, Hummer and his wife crushed the grains themselves, dumped them into a pot filled with hot water and strained out the wort to create a much more interesting concoction than many people were tasting in those days.
Someone said Hummer and Ware should start a brewery. And they did. The rest is history.
