SaltFire Brewing Co.
Address: 2199 South West Temple Street
Telephone: 385-955-0504
Website: saltfirebrewing.com
District: South Salt Lake
“Why am I working for somebody else’s dream and not my own?” That was the question Ryan Miller, owner of SaltFire Brewing Co. kept asking himself as he crisscrossed the country doing software support in the early 2010s. A self-described punk rock rebel raised by scientists in Idaho Falls - his father a nuclear physicist, his mother a paleontologist - Ryan had taken a far different path.
After earning his bachelor’s at Westminster College and a graduate degree in Environmental Resource Management from Arizona State, he settled into the world of GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping and software engineering. But the spark of something else had long been brewing.
“I was an avid home brewer in college,” Ryan shared. When he moved back to Salt Lake City in 2003, he picked it up again. Traveling exposed him to the emerging craft beer scene, and those encounters with brewers and brewery owners made him think seriously about shifting course. By 2016, he had secured a location in South Salt Lake, and two years later, SaltFire Brewing Co. officially opened its doors.
The space reflects Ryan’s intention to create something warm and approachable. With mesquite wood lining the bar and back bar, and deep blue accents that have become SaltFire’s signature color, it feels more like a gathering space than an industrial brewery. “We wanted a space that was warm and inviting instead of cold, bright stainless and marble,” he explained.
SaltFire produces about 1,000 barrels of beer annually, with a 10-barrel system that allows for both experimentation and consistency. Their lineup ranges across styles - IPAs, Pilsners, stouts, and more - but what sets them apart most is their commitment to oak-aged sour beers. “We were the first brewery in Utah to get a foeder,” Ryan said, referring to the large oak barrels used to ferment and mature sour beer over months or years. “We actually have two now.”
These “real sours,” as some call them, are distinct from quicker kettle sours and require a delicate balance of wild yeast strains and time. It is a labor of love, and while the national craze for sour beer has somewhat cooled, SaltFire continues to nurture their aging beers next door, careful to keep them separate from their “clean” beer to avoid cross-contamination.
Community involvement is also central to SaltFire’s mission. Trivia nights, a monthly bike club meet-up, vinyl-spinning Thursdays, and First Friday art events bring people together. The brewery also partners with nonprofits by offering space for meetings and gatherings. They sponsor a high school cyclocross team - trophies from their wins now decorate the brewery - and participate in city-wide music events. “We’re pretty active in the South Salt Lake community,” Ryan noted.
While the brewery serves simple food options, they also host food trucks and focus primarily on their beer and taproom experience. SaltFire distributes both high- and low-point beer across the state, including local bars, restaurants, and grocery stores like Harmons.
Ryan credits much of his brewing knowledge not only to decades of home brewing, but also to the generosity of others in the industry. “A lot of my education just came from picking the brains of all the breweries and brewer owners I visited around the country,” he said. That openness inspired him to build SaltFire into the kind of place where the beer speaks for itself. “I do not spend a lot of time in front of customers,” he admitted. “I prefer to take a back role.”
That said, Ryan’s fingerprints are everywhere - from the beer recipes to the branding to the decision to pursue sour beer long before it was trendy in Utah. He listens to his own tastes when developing new brews. “Usually, it’s whatever I have in my hand that I like best” But he also keeps an eye on what excites his customers, a loyal crowd of locals and ski-season tourists alike. "At the end of the day," he reflected, “I love the independence of being a small business owner,” Ryan said. “Not that you do not work so hard.”
