[ethinson]

I'm sure this is a no-brainer, but if you're in the Denver/Fort Collins area and haven't been to New Belgium I would highly recommend it.  90 minute tour with good samples. Get to learn a lot about how they got started and how they do what they do.  Highlight of the tour was getting to go into the sour aging room, which they refer to as the Foeder Forest and drink La Folie next to the barrels it was aged in.  Room smells like red wine and whiskey. It was pretty incredible. Not surprising based on their distribution footprint, their bottling line is MASSIVE. Pretty nice if your a tech/equipment geek.  Plus you get to taste samples of whatever they are bottling at that moment, so you're tasting 5 minute old beer.

One word of caution, you do have to book the tour in advance, probably well in advance for Saturdays.

Also, side response to the lower post about Denver spots, replying way too late for his trip, but definitely check out Hogshead if you're a fan of English style beers.  They had about 6 on cask and 5-6 on CO2.  The ESB was incredible, and the English IPA was a nice subtle, earthy, nice change of pace compared to NW style (which I love, don't get me wrong). We almost skipped it since it was the last place on our second day but I'm glad we didn't.  It ended up as some of the best stuff we had that day.

[Iliff Ave]

Did you visit Odell when you were in FTC? I don't know about the tours but the beer is definitely better. I still haven't made it up the road to either but will make it at some point.

Hogshead is solid for sure.

[reverseapachemaster]

For the New Belgium tour you sometimes have to book a month or two away, even during the week. It is a pretty fun tour.

When I travel to Denver a trip to Fort Collins is almost obligatory. We normally drive up and hit Fort Collins Brewing for lunch. They have a very average reputation but they do some solid brewery-only beers and seasonals. The food is good. It's two buildings down from Odell which also does a large range of taproom-only beers. My wife likes Horse and Dragon so we usually swing in there. Funkwerks is typically the last destination for maximum saison love. These are all within ten minutes of each other.

Fort Collins has a number of other breweries and solid bars but we're fairly ritualistic about our visits now. Equinox is hit or miss for me on UK beers. Zwei does a solid job with lagers. Many of the newer/smaller breweries I haven't been to yet.

[juggabrew303]

I'm sure this is a no-brainer, but if you're in the Denver/Fort Collins area and haven't been to New Belgium I would highly recommend it.  90 minute tour with good samples. Get to learn a lot about how they got started and how they do what they do.  Highlight of the tour was getting to go into the sour aging room, which they refer to as the Foeder Forest and drink La Folie next to the barrels it was aged in.  Room smells like red wine and whiskey. It was pretty incredible. Not surprising based on their distribution footprint, their bottling line is MASSIVE. Pretty nice if your a tech/equipment geek.  Plus you get to taste samples of whatever they are bottling at that moment, so you're tasting 5 minute old beer.

One word of caution, you do have to book the tour in advance, probably well in advance for Saturdays.

Also, side response to the lower post about Denver spots, replying way too late for his trip, but definitely check out Hogshead if you're a fan of English style beers.  They had about 6 on cask and 5-6 on CO2.  The ESB was incredible, and the English IPA was a nice subtle, earthy, nice change of pace compared to NW style (which I love, don't get me wrong). We almost skipped it since it was the last place on our second day but I'm glad we didn't.  It ended up as some of the best stuff we had that day.

Your telling me the slide at the end of the tour wasn't the best part? 


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[ethinson]

Did you visit Odell when you were in FTC? I don't know about the tours but the beer is definitely better. I still haven't made it up the road to either but will make it at some point.

Hogshead is solid for sure.

Yes, we did go to Odell as well.  It was quite good.  We got two different flights and it was all nice but the 90 Shilling Scottish blew everything else off the table. 

I wish we would have made it to Fort Collins brewing as well, which is right next door, but we did the NBB tour on our last morning there and we were literally on our way to the airport (with a couple more stops along the way).

[ethinson]

Your telling me the slide at the end of the tour wasn't the best part? 


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The slide would have been the best part if I weren't so tall.  I kept getting stuck and mostly had to inch worm my way down.  But on that note, the way they treat their employees and have a fun work environment was one of the best parts of the tour.  It really makes me appreciate what they do. 

[juggabrew303]

Your telling me the slide at the end of the tour wasn't the best part? 


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The slide would have been the best part if I weren't so tall.  I kept getting stuck and mostly had to inch worm my way down.  But on that note, the way they treat their employees and have a fun work environment was one of the best parts of the tour.  It really makes me appreciate what they do.

Ha that's too funny, glad you had a great time. Probably the best tour in CO


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