Fort Collins, CO

Beer flows like wine in Denver, and it makes me hoppy - har. We decided to go to Fort Collins, because we really love New Belgium beers and we thought a brewery tour would be fun. Trouble was they were closed on Mondays. It's a good thing Fort Collins makes up the beer triangle with Boulder and Denver, and is known as the Napa Valley of Beer so there was not shortage of breweries to tour. The first order of business, though, was food. We didn't have anything in particular in mind, but Stuft caught our interest. You get to build your own burger from a varied list of ingredients. We chose wisely and put together some good combinations. Our burgers were really tasty. We were told the parmesan garlic fries were the best in Denver, they were tasty, but definitely not the best. Especially since we seemed to get the bottom of the bag with mostly bits and pieces. Service was top notch, all around we were pleased.

With our hunger satisfied it was time to quench our thirst. We went to Odell brewing and stayed for the brewery tour. We had time to kill beforehand so we tried two flights: the pilot and the classic tray. The classics didn't strike the right chord with us, but the pilot selections were more on point. It was the Five Year Ryed Double Rye IPA that made us swoon. Now that was a seriously good beer. We immediately debated on ways to smuggle some back with us, but it's not bottled and a growler seemed risky so we left empty handed, but the tour provided us with loads of knowledge.





Odell's has a great facility. Every detail is well thought out - they even kept future growth in mind. They give back to the community and they do their best to leave the smallest footprint possible. They don't pasteurize their beers so we're not likely to ever see them in Vegas, but I appreciate what they're doing. The have a great pilot program for research and development; they're able to make small batches and really let their creativity run wild. It's tempting to go to Colorado State and get a degree in brewing, it seems like a career I'd enjoy. Not likely to be something I'd pursue, but it is likely we'll return to Fort Collins to see what else they're brewing.