What is a “whistle pig”?

Ohhhh, so like the little guy of Caddyshack?!

Though Gophers are apart of the Marmot Family, they are a different creature from a Yellow-Bellied Marmot, or a Whistle Pig.
Whistle Pigs are a large-sized rodent characterized by it’s short, stocky legs and large claws. Whistle pigs also have stout bodies, large heads, and big front teeth. These, along with it’s thick coat, make these little guys the perfect mountain dweller.
Believe it or not, marmots are a part of the Squirrel family. In fact, marmots are the largest member of the squirrel family and can range in size between 17 to 28 inches in length. For us here in Colorado, though, we’re more likely to see something more in the middle.
The Rocky Mountains are home to the Yellow Bellied Marmot which can size anywhere on that 17-28 inch scale, but those you’re most likely to see will be at higher elevations, making them a little smaller than 28 inches, males being larger than females.
Marmots are not without community either! Whistle Pigs live in colonies upwards of 20 members, typically with one dominant male, his breeding partners, and their offspring. They like to live in areas without much vegetation, and spend their summers digging burrows with openings near rocks or other covers as to not be obvious to predators. These burrows also provide cool places to hide out from the harsh sun during those long summer days. and a safe place to nestle down for their 8 month hibernation.

So why are they called Whistle Pigs anyway?

Good question! Upon seeing a predator, the yellow-bellied marmot lets out a warning whistle to alert others in the area and then promptly hides in a nearby rock pile until there is no more threat.

So why the name “Whistle Pig Brewing Co.” then?

All great names have a great story! This one starts about 2 years before opening our first location in 2016. Co-owners Eric Merrell and Rob Beers have been friends since high school. They both picked up the hobby of home brewing sometime in the late 00’s. Soon, their homes began to run out of space, and their wives out of patience for the occasional exploding bottles and ever sticky kitchen floors. So, Eric and Rob were left with a decision: throw in the towel, or go all in. So they did what any pair of best friends do after they’ve had a few… They hatched their master plan.
Fast forwards a few months, and the pair had tentatively landed on the name “Colorado Compass Brewery” for their dream. Soon after, they were invited to participate in the Sam Adams “Brewing The American Dream” program. In order to attend, they needed to register their brewery, and have a licensed name.
This is where their plan caught a snag. See, “compass” has a lot of presence in the Colorado craft beer scene (Broken Compass Brewing and Compass IPA to site just a couple). So there they were, a few weeks out from an amazing opportunity, and no name to get on the list.
Rob and Eric enlisted the help of another friend from high school who had experience with copywriting, graphic design, and branding. The three being friends, their “branding meeting” ran much more like a hang out session. A few ideas would be thrown out, they’d discuss, and then slowly drift into reminiscing, sharing stories, and just general bullshitting.
They knew they wanted something notably Colorado as they had experienced it. Rob threw out “Whistle Pig Brewing!”
The others pushed back a little, laughing about how much of a mouthful it was, and wondering what kind of “story” they could build off such an off-the-wall name.
Rob, being the masterful story teller that he is, begin to share his experience as a 14-year-old transplant from Chicago, experiencing Pikes Peak for the first time.
Rob’s brother was training to join the coast guard, and invited Rob to join him one day on a hike up to the summit of Pikes Peak. Able 3/4 of the way up, Rob (being no where near as acclimated to these sorts of activities as his brother at this point) began to experience altitude sickness and a bottoming out of his blood sugar.
Concerned and probably a little irritated, Rob’s brother handed him his canteen, a PBJ, and some trail mix. “I’m going to go to the top, and see if I can get us a ride to the bottom. Stay here, eat those, drink some water, and make your way to the road when you feel up for it.” and headed off.
Rob planted himself on a rock and absently drank some body warm water our of the warn leather waterskin. When he no longer heard his heartbeat in his ears, he slowly unwrapped the sandwich, took a bite, and let his hand rest limply on his knee.
Sitting there, chewing and completely zoned out, Rob felt a little tug on the sandwich in his hand. Looking down, he saw a marmot, one hand on his knee, the other on the sandwich, tugging it towards his mouth. Though Rob made a tired attempt to pull the sandwich away from the little guy, he held tight. So Rob did the next logical thing: offered out the sandwich to share a small bite.
The marmot obliged and losened his grip on the snack, though still resting his other paw on Rob’s knee. Rob took a bite and offered it back. The pair continued this way. Sharing the sandwich bite for bite until it was gone. Not even 5 seconds after the meal had been consumed, the whistle pig scurried away without so much as a “thank you”, leaving Rob to wonder if it had been a hillusionation brough on by the lack of oxygen, or if he had just bonded with the cute little chunksters that reside above treeline on Pikes Peak.

After telling this story, Rob and Eric went a few rounds, giving each other a hard time, and trying to pull a name other than Whistle Pig out of the story. All the while, their third friend hadn’t said much since before the story began.
Finally, the two could not avoid it anymore. They had barely enough time to register their name and enroll for the Brewing the American Dream course. They had settled on Whistle Pig Brewing. As soon as they committed, their friend said “Thank god! I created this as soon as Rob said “Whistle Pig”, and showed them what would be come our original, round Logo.