When Brett and Megan Hines moved to Colorado for graduate school in 2011, they immersed themselves in the New Age subcultures that were taking root in the state at the time. The Eastern Shore Maryland natives took up mountain biking, joined a CSA, volunteered at an organic farm, raised chickens, drank craft beer and eventually joined a home-brewing club, called Liquid Poets, to learn how to make their own. Brett even parlayed the hobby into jobs brewing for local labels.
But the deeper the Hineses delved into the world of ales and lagers, the more they realized that the industry was out of sync with their emerging environmentalist worldview.