Monday, August 12, 2019
7 Days, 7 Thoughts on the Fort Collins Area Beer Scene
Family vacations are family vacations first and foremost. But when said family vacation is to the Fort Collins area, well, one really has to dabble in the local beer scene to feel they've been there, right?
I took that trip in late July and early August this year, and I managed to hit eight breweries in seven days in Fort Collins, Loveland and Cheyenne. What follows, then, is a series of thoughts on what is happening in this elevated scene.
1) Purpose Brewing has become one of Colorado's star beer makers
Tucked into a shopping area on the south side of town, former New Belgium brewmaster Peter Bouckaert's now-2-year-old project isn't a natural stop on a brewery-row tour, like his old place is. But the limited range of beers he has on tap at any one time — there were five available on a recent Thursday — are as of high a quality as any in the state, laced with experimentation (and barrel aging) and unable to be defined by style. The Smoeltrekker #13 walked right up to the line of sourness but balanced it with a dark body and somewhat woody fell, making it a complex masterpiece.
2) Equinox Brewing is the overlooked genius in this town
Too often overlooked because of its taproom-focused model, downtown brewery Equinox is, at this point, a can't-miss on a trip to Fort Collins because of its mastery of a wide variety of styles. Nothing was more pleasing on this trip than its Liquid Fuel New England IPA, which brought out the tropical nature of the style with a more subtle smoothness that made you want to drink more and more. But from its classic Space Ghost IPA to its cookie-reminiscent Smorter Porter, everything was accessible and still eye-opening.
3) Intersect Brewing is not a lot of radars — but it should be
We went to this brewery in southwest Fort Collins at a friend's suggestion because of its family-friendliness. (That play area you see my daughter in is in the brewery's taproom.)
But our diverse crowd — see the range of ages and sexes in the picture at the top of this page — found a ton to be pleased with there, from a fruity and tart blackberry gose to a rich milk chocolate stout. And if you need conversation starters, all of the beers are named after songs.
4) Do not forget about the excellent work Grimm Brothers Brewhouse is doing
Twenty minutes south of Fort Collins in Loveland, the traditional German brewery has earned a reputation for its spot-on pilsners, dunkels and alt biers, and it deservedly has the longest-running streak of Great American Beer Festival medals of any Colorado brewery. But its experimentation truly puts it in the top segment of Colorado brewers, from its sweet-but-wonderfully-constructed Hare's Bride imperial hefeweizen to Old Brown Shoe, a bourbon-barrel-aged brown ale that soaks up the whiskey flavor in surprising harmony with the big beer. It may have started all-German, but its range now is wide and impressive.
5) Accomplice Beer Co. shows good beer spreads across the border
Located in the Old Cheyenne Depot just 20 minutes across the Colorado-Wyoming border, Accomplice has some distinct merits. Its historic location is just a place that you want to sit and enjoy a beer, and it offers a pour-by-the-ounce system that lets you try whatever you'd like. While none of the beers jumped out as eye-opening, the range from IPAs to pilsners to a Belgium wit offered a variety of decent options, enough for everyone in your party to find something to enjoy.
6) Crooked Stave's Fort Collins taproom is a nice addition to downtown
The Exchange is a family-friendly enclosure downtown where your kids can run around and play cornhole while you enjoy offerings from restaurants, a winery, a distillery and Crooked Stave. The selection of beers is no less wide-ranging than what you will find at the brewery's showroom in The Source. And being able to slowly sip on an excellent Nightmare on Brett Sour Cherry while you wait in the long ice-cream line at Old Town Churn is a gift in itself.
7) Odell Brewing is best when it spreads its wings to a variety of flavors
No trip to town is complete without a stop at Odell for the chance to see what kinds of experiments and one-offs it's cooking up on its pilot system. Last Saturday, however, was two days after IPA Day, and the brewery took that holiday to heart in a big way, as almost everything it had on tap aside from its regular selections was a hazy, a brut, an imperial or some variety of a hop monster. None were as tasty, however, as a regular Odell IPA, and the lack of options made a visitor pine for the days when everything from a kolsch to a creme brulee stout could be found there boasting of the variety that has made this brewery deserving of the national accolades it receives.
I took that trip in late July and early August this year, and I managed to hit eight breweries in seven days in Fort Collins, Loveland and Cheyenne. What follows, then, is a series of thoughts on what is happening in this elevated scene.
1) Purpose Brewing has become one of Colorado's star beer makersTucked into a shopping area on the south side of town, former New Belgium brewmaster Peter Bouckaert's now-2-year-old project isn't a natural stop on a brewery-row tour, like his old place is. But the limited range of beers he has on tap at any one time — there were five available on a recent Thursday — are as of high a quality as any in the state, laced with experimentation (and barrel aging) and unable to be defined by style. The Smoeltrekker #13 walked right up to the line of sourness but balanced it with a dark body and somewhat woody fell, making it a complex masterpiece.
2) Equinox Brewing is the overlooked genius in this town
Too often overlooked because of its taproom-focused model, downtown brewery Equinox is, at this point, a can't-miss on a trip to Fort Collins because of its mastery of a wide variety of styles. Nothing was more pleasing on this trip than its Liquid Fuel New England IPA, which brought out the tropical nature of the style with a more subtle smoothness that made you want to drink more and more. But from its classic Space Ghost IPA to its cookie-reminiscent Smorter Porter, everything was accessible and still eye-opening.
3) Intersect Brewing is not a lot of radars — but it should be
We went to this brewery in southwest Fort Collins at a friend's suggestion because of its family-friendliness. (That play area you see my daughter in is in the brewery's taproom.)
4) Do not forget about the excellent work Grimm Brothers Brewhouse is doingTwenty minutes south of Fort Collins in Loveland, the traditional German brewery has earned a reputation for its spot-on pilsners, dunkels and alt biers, and it deservedly has the longest-running streak of Great American Beer Festival medals of any Colorado brewery. But its experimentation truly puts it in the top segment of Colorado brewers, from its sweet-but-wonderfully-constructed Hare's Bride imperial hefeweizen to Old Brown Shoe, a bourbon-barrel-aged brown ale that soaks up the whiskey flavor in surprising harmony with the big beer. It may have started all-German, but its range now is wide and impressive.
5) Accomplice Beer Co. shows good beer spreads across the border
Located in the Old Cheyenne Depot just 20 minutes across the Colorado-Wyoming border, Accomplice has some distinct merits. Its historic location is just a place that you want to sit and enjoy a beer, and it offers a pour-by-the-ounce system that lets you try whatever you'd like. While none of the beers jumped out as eye-opening, the range from IPAs to pilsners to a Belgium wit offered a variety of decent options, enough for everyone in your party to find something to enjoy.
6) Crooked Stave's Fort Collins taproom is a nice addition to downtown
7) Odell Brewing is best when it spreads its wings to a variety of flavors
Labels: Accomplice Brewing, Crooked Stave, Equinox Brewing, Fort Collins breweries, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, Intersect Brewing, New Belgium Brewing, Odell Brewing, Purpose Brewing & Cellars
