Tap Handle #417: Yak and Yeti

July 30, 2014

Tap Handle #417: Yak and Yeti

Tap Size: 9.5"
Rarity: Very Rare
Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

Yak and Yeti holds the distinction of being the first (and so far only) brewery or brewpub to seek me out in order to have their tap featured on the blog. Adam Draeger, the head brewer of Yak and Yeti, offered me one for purchase and I was more than happy to oblige. The tap features a yak being bench-pressed over a yeti's head, with the yeti standing on a block of ice and wearing a small sign, where a label can be attached to identify the variety of the beer. This tap is very rare...according to Adam, only 100 were made, so be prepared to pay rare tap prices to obtain it on the secondary market.

Click through to read more about Yak & Yeti and to see more photos of this unique tap...

Yak and Yeti was founded in Arvada, Colorado in 2008 by Dol Bhattarai. Bhattarai was originally from eastern Nepal, and began his culinary career in India. He honed his cooking abilities apprenticing in of the world-class restaurants located in the metropolitan city of Delhi. Not long after, he worked as the main chef in an internationally recognized Indian restaurant in Dubai. Coming to the USA and settling in Boulder Colorado, Bhattarai worked at the Taj Restaurant in Boulder for about five years before launching his own family-flavored restaurant, Yak and Yeti.

The location of the Yak and Yeti has quite a unique history. In 1864 Eli Allen, who was a postmaster, built a one-story frame house with a board floor and cellar. His son inherited the house and began upgrading it, but when he died unexpectedly the house remained unfinished. In 1894 Elias W. VanVoorhis and his wife Cora bought the home and completed construction. Cora's sister, mother, daughter, and uncle Ned lived in this house, and Uncle Ned used to take refuge from all the women in what is now known as the tower room. Cora died in the 1940′s from injuries suffered in a fall down the stairs. The ghosts of Cora and Ned are said to still roam the halls, but both are said to be friendly. Betty, Cora's daughter, cut down the trees, modernized the house, subdivided the 33 acre homestead and sold the lots, then turned the big house into apartments. Over the years, the house became run-down, and increasingly in need of major repairs, and at one point was to be demolished. However, in 1997, a group of investor/contractors bought the property and spent three years of their own labor restoring it and converting it into The Cheshire Cat, an English restaurant and brewpub. The property, including all the brewing equipment, was later purchased by Bhattarai.

When Yak and Yeti first took over the building, they were not a brewery and Bhattarai nearly sold all of the brewing equipment. Yak and Yeti had been operating a successful restaurant in Westminster, and was simply looking for a second restaurant location. After considering the possibilities of running a brewery, he decided to keep the brewing equipment and to hire a brewer. Adam Draeger has been the head brewer for the Yak and Yeti Brewpub since 2011. A Wisconsin native, he did his undergraduate work in Engineering Physics. After a decade of engineering and homebrewing, he decided to change careers and studied at Siebel Institute in Chicago, IL and the Doemens Academy in Munich, Germany where he received his International Diploma from the World Brewing Academy.

Yak and Yeti brews 6 year round beers and several seasonals, as well as unique sodas. In 2010 they won a gold medal for their Himalayan IPA at the Great American Beer Festival, a won a silver medal there in 2013 for their Chai Milk Stout. It is also a full-service restaurant, featuring the cuisine of India, Nepal, and Tibet. Their original restaurant is located in Westminster, Colorado.

Yak and Yeti's award-winning Chai Milk Stout is a spiced stout, their flavored version of a milk stout. The Chai tea spices are the Yak and Yeti’s own blend, and make it a perfect dessert drink.