Spring44 Distilling sits in Loveland, Colorado, founded by Jeff Lindauer, a former tech entrepreneur who traded Silicon Valley for the Rocky Mountain foothills in 2009. The name comes from Colorado’s 44 natural hot springs, and Lindauer built his distillery around the idea that local water makes all the difference. He sources water from a specific aquifer 44 feet below ground, filtered through ancient granite formations. The 12,000-square-foot facility houses custom copper stills and focuses on vodka and gin production, though they’ve expanded into whiskey aging programs. Lindauer didn’t just want to make spirits—he wanted to prove that Colorado’s high altitude and pure water could create something genuinely different from what you’d find on the coasts.
The journey wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Lindauer spent years perfecting his vodka recipe, obsessing over the distillation process and water filtration systems. He brought in master distiller expertise but kept tight control over the philosophy: let the local terroir speak through the spirits. The facility includes custom-built stills designed specifically for their production goals, and they’ve invested heavily in water purification technology that most craft distilleries skip. The team remains small but focused, with Lindauer still heavily involved in day-to-day operations and product development decisions.
What you’ll find here is a clean, modern operation that takes itself seriously without the pretension. The tasting room feels more like a high-end bar than a rustic barn, which fits their premium vodka focus. You can see the production floor through large windows, and the staff knows their stuff when it comes to explaining the technical details of distillation. They’re particularly proud of their filtration process and happy to walk you through why they think Colorado water beats everything else. The atmosphere is professional but welcoming, and you’ll leave understanding why they’re so obsessed with that underground aquifer.
