Introducing Troy Higgins at a party would take some planning. Where to start? ICU Nurse at Children’s Primary Hospital in Salt Lake? Finance guy from Manhattan? Or Head Brewer at Park City Brewing?
He would probably choose the latter. After earning a finance degree and working in New York and Philadelphia, “transitioning to nursing school and the ICU developed my science acumen,” Troy says. “Brewing combines art and science.”
“I was always bummed to leave Utah when my travel nurse contracts ended,” he recalls of working at Children’s Primary. “As I skied up PCMR one morning with a friend, the sun rose as we approached the top and illuminated Park City and beyond. That was my ‘This is the place for me’ moment.”
Park City’s magic struck again when Troy stopped for a beer at Park City Brewing. “The bartender, Nicole Kelly, remembered me pouring her a beer in little Girdwood, Alaska, two years before,” he remembers. “I had spent that summer at a brewery there.” Soon after, Troy eagerly accepted the Head Brewer position from owner Elias Fairman. “Fulfill my passion for brewing and live in Park City? Yes, please!” he laughs. He dubbed his Kimball Junction brewing rooms ‘The Lab.’
“Working alongside an awesome team makes it easy,” Troy says of life in The Lab. “Having the creative autonomy to push boundaries is a dream.” Many of his creations are scaled up to be available on draft, but “the main goal is to create new small batch recipes constantly.” And he encourages audience participation. “If you have an idea for a beer style or seltzer flavor, let me know, and we can make it happen.”
After hours Troy is usually “somewhere outdoors - skiing, hiking or camping,” places where some of his best brewing ideas arise. “I love manipulating variables to produce a sensory outcome,” he says of his art and science. “It’s a wonderful thing!”
