Fort Collins
Northernmost among Front Range towns is Ft. Collins, viewed by many as the Austin of Colorado. Actually, because of the number of breweries here, it’s more like the Portland of Colorado. With fewer than 145,000 residents, there are already eight breweries. (Nine if you’d like to count the A-B one off I-25). But inarguably, the best known is New Belgium (500 Linden), home of Fat Tire Amber Ale and dubbed the best place to work (depending on which magazine you read, but I’d way rather work here than Google). To take a tour of one of the most sustainable/eco-friendly breweries in the world, book in advance as they fill up. Or just hang out in the taproom called the Liquid Center where you can sample their usual lineup as well as the latest from their Lips of Faith series. Among the most recent is Tart Lychee, one of my favorite sour beers of all time.
Two blocks away and having opened two years earlier is Odell Brewing (800 E. Lincoln Ave.). Visiting is compulsory not just to see where staples like 90 Shilling Scottish Ale hail from, but to get to procure mouthwatering rarities like Friek (half raspberry-infused Framboise, half cherry-imbued Kriek) and perchance a bottle from their Woodcut series, complex ales aged in new oak barrels when most barrel-aged beers mature in spent spirit or wine casks.
One of the nice things about Ft. Collins is how easily you can ride your Fat Tire cruiser everywhere, but to visit the Fort Collins Brewery and the brewpub they launched on site, Gravity 1020 (1020 E. Lincoln Ave.), just stroll down the block. If you haven’t sampled their beers like Major Tom Pomegranate Wheat Chocolate Stout. Go in on a Tuesday night and you can order a flight of their house cupcakes. Each week brings new flavors. Makes me wonder if they’ve done an Imperial Chocolate cupcake.
Among the newer brewers in town, Sparhawk mentioned Equinox Brewing (133 Remington St.), where you can enjoy their mostly British and German styles in their beer garden. Incidentally, it’s situated in Old Town across the road from Coopersmith Pub (# 5 Old Town Square) in the square. It features the casual “pub side” and the hyper-casual “pool side” (as in billiards, not sippin’ pool-side in your flippy-floppies). The range of beers they brew enables you to order interesting and complementing pairings such as the watermelon salad with What A Melon ale (a light blonde tinged with fresh watermelon) or the Mesa Verde burger topped with green chilis to go with their Sigda’s Green Chili ale that works way better than many a chili beer out there. Not too spicy, but bold enough to sate ardent chili fans.
And perhaps saving the most beer-geek ballyhooed brewery for last, Sparhawk brings up Funkwerks (1900 E Lincoln Ave., Unit B), the Belgian-inspired brewery well-regarded for their flagship Saison and sure to delight visitors at their taproom (tucked into the Ft Collins Brewery’s initial location) with any of their even more exotic beers, mostly but not entirely in the Saison style (including Southern Tropic, an Imperial Saison).
When brew-hopping around Ft. Collins works up your hunger, head to Choice City Butcher & Deli (104 W. Olive St.). Owner Russ Robinson has developed a true beer-geek/foodie destination perfect for laying that early morning foundation; I look forward to the corned buffalo hash with creamy potato pancakes as much as anything on their 20 taps, which are always guaranteed to feature something you won’t likely find elsewhere. But it’s perhaps their variety of Reuben sandwiches (five of ‘em) including, naturally, one with buffalo.
It’s a 65-mile haul back to Denver from Ft. Collins, so first and foremost make sure you have safe transportation, and secondly, use the time wisely and sleep. After all, you’ve only got 72 hours to soak up all the fest has to offer so make efficient use of that hour-and-a-half drive.
