The new Mountain Tap Mobile is expected to make its way to parties, wedding receptions and rehearsal dinners this summer. (Rendering courtesy of Mountain Tap Brewery)

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Rich and Wendy Tucciarone, owners of Mountain Tap Brewery on Yampa Street in downtown Steamboat Springs, believe the best way to reach more customers is to take what they offer on the road with the new Mountain Tap Mobile.

“We are very determined to never close our doors to the public, to the locals,” Wendy said. “Those are our primary customers, so we don’t want them to come up at the door and see a sign that we are closed for a private party. That said, we turn away thousands of dollars every summer from people who want to do buyouts of the brewery.”

So to find balance, the couple put their heads together and started asking people who came into the brewery a question: “If we could bring Mountain Tap to you, would you be interested?”

“It was pretty overwhelmingly, ‘yes,’” Wendy said.

Rich said that response is what sparked the idea of building a 16-foot, heavy-duty trailer with a 3,500-pound pizza oven inside. The trailer is being built by Steamboat Precision and Colorado Custom Campers, and the Tucciarones expect to have Mountain Tap Mobile up and running by April.

“It was kind of a subset of our original business plan,” Rich said of Mountain Tap Mobile. “We had a couple of potential opportunities in the wings, and we decided to vet which ones would make the most sense.”

He said the trailer will carry tables, a condiment station and an outdoor bar where people can be served. Customers who book the Mountain Tap Mobile can elect to have food, beer or a combination of both. Rich said they can also pick the beer they want to be served.

The move will allow the brewery to provide its food and beverages at rehearsal dinners, wedding parties and other events at outdoor locations across Routt County. Rich said Mountain Tap Mobile may also be parked on the brewery’s patio during busy times in the summer to serve more customers.

Mountain Tap Mobile has been designed to fit in with many of Steamboat’s outdoor venues.

“We have designed it to look like a Yampa Valley barn to really kind of depict the area around here … A lot of these clients are people who are here to get married — whether it is to have a rehearsal dinner or weddings or just throw a party — because they want to experience the mountain lifestyle,” Wendy said. “Our goal is to provide that experience with the food and with the beer and something that gives a nod to the Routt County heritage.”

Mountain Tap Brewery has been open at 910 Yampa St., Suite 103, for the past three years.

It offers locally brewed beers, including Passionate Pedal, Local’s Lager, Current IPA and 10 other choices. Mountain Tap beer is also served at Steamboat Resort, The BARley Tap and Tavern and the Sheraton Steamboat Resort.

To reach John F. Russell, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatPilot.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966.

John F. Russell is the business reporter at the Steamboat Pilot & Today. To reach him, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatPilot.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966.