LOVELAND, Colo. — A new Loveland distillery is looking to become the Samuel Adams of craft distilling by using Colorado Rocky Mountain spring water to make vodka and gin.

Spring44, Northern Colorado's newest distillery, will start production locally in March and open a tasting room to the public in May.

Co-founder Jeff Lindauer, 50, said he is looking to make an impact in the $3.4 billion premium spirits market that is 98 percent import now.

"It occurred to me that there was an interesting white space to build a great American brand and that is what we intend to do. We have a world-class team on board," Lindauer said.

Part of that team includes Spring44 board member Tim Wolf, former CFO of Coors Brewing Co. Lindauer already has started outsourcing production of his vodka, honey vodka and gin to Oregon while he starts installation of the bottling line in the Loveland facility Tuesday.

The 7,000-square-foot Loveland distillery, at U.S. 287 and Carpenter Road, will have an annual production capacity of 250,000 cases and is projected to create about 250 jobs by 2014.

The heart of Spring44 lies in a spring in Buckhorn Canyon near Pennock Pass on 160 acres of land owned by Lindauer's family.

The remote piece of land surrounded by national forest is accessible by four-wheel-drive vehicles, and Lindauer uses a modified Ford F-250 pickup called "Tinker Bell" to transport the spring water to the distillery.

Considering an 80 proof bottle spirit is 60 percent water, arguably one of the most important ingredients, Lindauer started exploring using his pure water in some sort of spirit and Spring44 was born.

"I think 98 percent is too much to cede to foreign (premium spirits) when we have access to the best raw goods," he said. "Colorado has a rich history of distilling. It's the best water on the planet Earth."

Lindauer said he did his homework on the industry, spending three years in development with a master distiller from Denver before hitting the market in June 2011.

Spring44 is touted as "ultra premium vodka" made with water from 9,044 feet up in the Colorado Rockies. Lindauer plans to expand with other spirits but declined to disclose what those might be.

"We got way out over our skis in terms of our ability to produce and had to outsource production at first," said Lindauer.

Spring44 is available in Colorado, Florida, New Jersey and New York. Spring44 gin is an official sponsor of the New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden.

"We are proud that Spring44 has chosen the New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden for their first-ever sports marketing partnership," said Greg Economou, EVP of revenue performance, MSG Sports, in a prepared statement.

"Our passionate and loyal Rangers fans proudly represent New York, and this marketing partnership will provide Spring44 Gin with valuable brand exposure as they look to further build presence in this market."

While Lindauer declined to disclose the cost of the new distillery, he said he has invested "millions" of dollars into Spring44 and has dedicated the past three years to the business.

Lindauer said his home right now is an airplane, and while he is living his dream, he is working six days a week and pouring everything he has into this distillery.

Lindauer formerly was the CEO of SkyTel pagers and worked with MCI on the consumer end of the business.

Spring44 joins a growing number of distilleries in Colorado, including Dancing Pines and Overland Distillery in Loveland.