If you’re a beer lover, you’ll love Fort Collins. Every day is Oktoberfest. The northern Colorado city’s on the cutting edge of the hand-crafted beer industry. According to David Edgar, former director of the Boulder based Brewers Association, it’s been there almost since the beginning. In Colorado, that was the late 1980s. “The industry has grown beyond what anyone might have predicted,” he says. Including brew pubs, there are over 10 brewers of hand-crafted suds in town. A new micro-brewery, Black Bottle, is slated to open early in 2012.
Here’s a roster of Fort Collins craft-brewers with tasting rooms:
The big draw is New Belgium, makers of Fat Tire. Started in 1991, it’s the number three craft brewer in the country behind Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) and Sierra Nevada. The brewery operates with sustainability in mind. The goal is to minimize the impact on the planet. Walking their talk, they sponsor the annual Tour de Fat, a bike event which was held in 13 cities around the U.S. this year. The 90 minute free tour of their brewing facilities includes complimentary tastes of their brews. Advanced reservations for the tour are essential, especially on weekends which are sometimes booked up to three months in advance. You may luck into a last minute spot if there’s a no show. Otherwise, just head for their tasting room and sample the brews. You can also browse for a souvenir hat or other Fat Tire logo item.
Odell Brewing Company has the second largest presence on the beer scene here. Founded in 1989, their signature brew is 90 Shillings Ale. They offer a tasting room and free tours to visitors. Tours are first come, first served. You can sign up half an hour prior to the starting time. Weekends can be busy. Come during the week if you can. It’s quieter. On Wednesdays from 4 to 6pm, the tasting room offers live music. The brewery’s Small Batch Festival, held on the last Saturday in May, celebrates their small brewing origins. Odell produces a number of their small batch brews especially for this event and their hand crafted classics are on tap, too. Beer is available for sale at the event as is food from local vendors. Entertainment, supplied by local musicians, is free.
Fort Collins Brewery opened in 2003 and has already moved to larger quarters. Their two signature brews, Chocolate Stout and Major Tom’s Pomegranate are available in stores all over the U.S. They have a tasting room that sells tastes of their signature beers and other beers currently in production. Free tours are offered on Saturdays on the hour from 11am to 6pm. Get there early as no reservations are accepted. What makes Fort Collins Brewery stand out from the other micro-breweries in town is their onsite restaurant, Gravity Ten Twenty, opened in 2010. It was a smart move. Beer tasters get hungry. The concept here is fine food, fresh and local when available including all natural, Colorado grown meat. All food is prepared to order; no nukes or heat lamps in this kitchen. House beers are used for marinating and cooking and offered as selected beer pairings with your meal.
Equinox Brewing Company is a small-batch production brewery. About 95 per cent of what they make is sold through their “tap house.” The remaining five per cent goes to local restaurants delivered via their ecologically correct Keg Trike. Tastings are offered seven days a week. Besides tasting trays, they sell beer in European measures: Imperial Pints (20 ounces) and half-pints (10 ounces). It’s more of a hang-out spot than the other micro-breweries. They offer live music and have board games to pass the time while savoring that brew. Owner Colin Westcott opened Hops and Berries, a home brewing supply store next door in 2006. The brewery opened right next-door in 2010.
Funkwerks arrived on the Fort Collins brewing scene in December 2010. Owners Brad Lincoln and Gordon Shuck met in brewing school in Chicago. They picked Fort Collins for their business because, according to Lincoln, it’s the perfect location for a small niche brewery. At present, they focus on production of a single style of beer: Saison (Belgium, farmhouse-style ale). Their signature label, Saison, named for the beer style, won a Silver Medal at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival, quite a feat for a newbie. The brewery also produces other Saison-style brews. The pair brings their commitment to a healthy lifestyle to their brewing. They source organic ingredients whenever feasible.
Pateros Creek Brewing Co. is a true mom and pop operation. Cathy and Steve Jones opened their small tasting room, which seats about twenty, in June 2011. The former home-brewers specialize in “session ales”, smooth, easy drinking brews with an alcohol content of less than 6%. Their flagship product, Cache la Porter, is an English brown porter (ale). All their beers are named after local history and landmarks.
Look for the opening of Black Bottle Brewery in early 2012. Owner/brewer, Sean Nook, a Colorado native, is passionate about his craft. He says one of the things that will make his brewery unique is a menu of tapas and small plates to go with the beer. He calls himself “edgy” and says his beers don’t adhere to traditional brewing rules. “We do not color inside the lines,” he jokes. Stay tuned. Sean Nook, a man who calls both his personality and his beers “BIG,” is a force to be reckoned with.
If you’re a cerevisaphile (a fancy name for beer lover) and plan on visiting northern Colorado, put Fort Collins on your itinerary and sample your way around town.
Sidebar:
The end of June brings the Colorado Brewers Festival which has been attracting beer aficionados for almost 25 years. About thirty Colorado breweries set up and sell their wares. In addition, there’s music from Colorado bands covering diverse music genres.
The town overflows with suds lovers every October before and after the Great American Beer Festival held in Denver each year.
Take advantage of the Bike Library, a loaner service set up by the City of Fort Collins. You can pick up a bike in Old Town Plaza and pedal your way from one craft-brewer to another.
Where to Sample the Goods
New Belgium Brewing Company
500 Linden Street
(970) 221-0524
http://www.newbelgium.com
Odell Brewing Co.
800 East Lincoln Avenue Map
(970) 498-9070
http://odellbrewing.com/
Fort Collins Brewing Company
1020 East Lincoln Avenue
(970) 472-1499
http://www.fortcollinsbrewery.com/
Equinox Brewing Company
133 Remington Street
Fort Collins
(970) 484-1368
Funkwerks
1900 E Lincoln Ave, Unit B
970-482-3865
http://www.funkwerks.com
Pateros Creek Brewing Co.
242 N. College Avenue
(970) 484-7222
http://www.pateroscreekbrewing.com/
Black Bottle Brewing
Phone: (970) 217-9163