Colorado's Best Craft Breweries on the Front Range

December 9, 2014

There were 269 craft breweries and brewpubs in Colorado and 50 to 60 in planning stages throughout the state as of October 2014. Spanning from Fort Collins to Pueblo, the Front Range is the hotbed of Colorado’s craft beer business where more than half of the state’s brewers produce their beer.

It’s home to institutions like Boulder Beer Company, the state’s first craft brewery (circa 1979). In Denver, the state’s first brewpub, Wynkoop Brewing, was founded by geologist-turned-governor John Hickenlooper in an effort to revitalize the city’s downtown. The Front Range became the stomping grounds for iconic brands like New Belgium Brewing’s Fat Tire Amber Ale and the first-ever craft beer to hit a can, Oskar Blues Brewery’s Dale’s Pale Ale.

These days, Front Range continues to be one of the country’s craft beer industry frontiers with new breweries and brewpubs opening at a rate of more than one each week.

Many of these newer Front Range breweries are niche breweries, focusing on specific beer styles, specialty ingredients, and elevated food menus to distinguish themselves. Funkwerks, Inc. in Fort Collins, for example, specializes in saison. Hardly the first in the region to brew Belgian-style beers, Funkwerks is one of the breweries that brought saison into popularity in the past few years.

“It was one of those styles that was on the fringe when we opened in 2010,” said Funkwerks co-owner and head brewer Gordon Schuck, whose flagship saison has won two Great American Beer Festival medals. “I like the creativity with saisons,” said Schuck, who also brews rum barrel-aged saison and imperial saison as part of the brewery’s year-round offerings. “Spices, wild yeast, everything is game, so I think saison really inspires people to take the ball and run with it.”

The Funkwerks name is a nod to the funkiness associated with Belgian yeast strains and effervescent farmhouse ales and provided an excellent excuse to paint the exterior of the brewery bright green. East on Lincoln Avenue past Odell Brewing Company and The Fort Collins Brewery, Funkwerks is hard to miss. Dogs are welcome on the patio and humans are encouraged to bring their empty beer bottles back for the brewery’s homebrewer bottle exchange.

Another brewery that brings the funk in Fort Collins is Black Bottle Brewery, where at any given time the brewers are isolating ten or more yeast strains for experimentation in their off-the-wall beers. From sours to imperials, and Belgian-style ales to barrel-aged beers, Black Bottle keeps it interesting. The brewery’s beer names – such as There Goes The Neighborhood Rye Saison, Just A Minor Threat Imperial IPA and The Last Unicorn – warn you what you’re getting into: the unexpected. From the experimental brews, the stuffed squirrel decorations in the tap room, or the occasional piñata hanging from the ceiling, a visit to Black Bottle Brewery is more than ordinary.

Just southeast of Fort Collins in Windsor is a one-of-a-kind hop farm, homebrew supply shop and craft brewery. Gardeners by trade, Amanda and Pat Weakland opened the Windsor Gardner store and then decided to plant hops when their son got interested in homebrewing and eventually opened High Hops Brewery. To date they are growing 50 hop varieties and are creating some of Colorado’s most hop-forward beers. Visitors often enjoy The Hop Shot, a beer of their choice steeped with fresh hops via French press.

Another niche brewery along the Front Range is Hogshead Brewery in Denver, where world traveler and head brewer Stephen Kirby is making traditional English-style ales and serves many of them on cask. Kirby’s vision was to open a local neighborhood space where people could have what he calls “A proper pint of beer” served on cask and “in perfect condition with those tiny little bubbles and that 50 degree temperature.”

Relatively youthful Tim Myers (left) is considered the grandfather of nano brewing in Colorado. Ian Clark of BRU (center) began operations with a three-barrel system in his garage. Scott Witsoe of Wit’s End (right) followed the trail blazed by Myers.

Some other niche breweries worthy of a visit are Asher Brewing, an all-organic beer company in Boulder; TRVE in Denver, which specializes in sour ales and constantly blasts metal music; and another Denver newcomer Prost Brewing, which as the name suggests specializes in German-style beers. These niche breweries are creating destination spots along Colorado’s Front Range and adding a variety of hues to Colorado’s colorful cast of brewing characters.

In addition to niche breweries, another trend on the Front Range is the development of the nanobrewery, which in Colorado can be attributed to Boulder’s garage breweries and Denver’s Strange Craft Beer Company. Two notable Boulder breweries, Crystal Springs Brewing Company and BRU Handbuilt Ales & Eats, were incepted in the garages of their owners. They got started brewing three barrels at a time or less as glorified homebrew projects and have both since opened new tasting rooms. BRU is a brewpub, with a restaurant that is changing the way Colorado thinks about pub grub. The owner Ian Clark, a formally trained chef before adding brewing to his repertoire, has crafted a local, seasonal menu that incorporates bread made from spent grain, vinegar made from BRU’s beer, and multiple flavors of beer-infused ice cream.

In Denver, Tim Myers at Strange Craft is thought of as the grandfather of the state’s nanobrewery movement. He got his start brewing one barrel at a time with a brewhouse made out of a hodgepodge of used dairy and brewing equipment. As a “museum of used brewing equipment,” said Myers, Strange has been a resource for others who have started with a small brewhouse.

A short bike ride from Strange in Denver’s Valverde neighborhood, Wit’s End Brewing Company, launched by Scott Witsoe, is another brewery that got its start one barrel at a time. “Seeing Tim at Strange starting on his one-barrel system with his success closed the deal for me,” said Witsoe. “I thought, ‘It is possible. If it works I get to live my dream for the rest of my life... Plus this beard wouldn’t do well in corporate America.’” This year, three years after Wit’s End’s debut, Witsoe upgraded to a seven-barrel system and took home both a World Beer Cup and a GABF gold medal for his Jean-Claude Van Blond Belgian-style blonde ale.

Beyond niche and nanobreweries, Colorado’s Front Range can also take credit for some of the state’s best brewpubs. BRU leads the craft beer and culinary food trend in Boulder, while currently battling for the bragging rights to Colorado’s best beer-cheese soup are two breweries further south: Castle Rock’s Rockyard Brewing Company and Colorado Springs’ Phantom Canyon Brewing Company. In Denver, there is less traditional and farm-fresh fare to be found at the Lowdown Brewery + Kitchen that just opened this year.

Finally, worth mentioning and worthy of any must-visit Colorado beer list is one of the state’s newest and most talked about breweries, Cannonball Creek Brewing Company in Golden. Just south of Boulder on Highway 36, this standout brewery has taken home GABF medals each year since its opening in 2012, and the Black IPA alone is worth a visit.

The Front Range of this colorful beer state may be utterly soaked in beer, but not yet saturated. “People ask me if I’m worried about that,” said Myers, shaking his head no. “The most important point of this burgeoning movement is bringing back the neighborhood brewery. Look at a map of Denver’s different neighborhoods – there are a lot of neighborhoods in which people have to travel three or four miles to get a beer. At my house it’s seven miles... We have a long way to go.”

Front Range Founders

Known for industry innovations like the first small-batch beer in a can and the first-ever nitro beer in a bottle among many other feats, these iconic companies are the founders of beer tourism in Colorado.

Boulder Beer Company
2880 Wilderness Place | Boulder, Colorado 80301
(303) 444-8448 | www.boulderbeer.com

The state’s first craft brewery, opened by a duo of homebrewing science professors from the University of Colorado, holds the 43rd post-Prohibition brewing license issued in the country. After more than three decades in business and a lot of change along the way, Boulder Beer is now best known for two of its beers: the classic Buffalo Gold Golden Ale, first brewed in 1989, and the unfiltered Hazed & Infused Dry-Hopped Amber Ale, which both recently hit cans.

Odell Brewing Company
800 East Lincoln Avenue | Fort Collins, Colorado 80524
(970) 498-9070 | www.odellbrewing.com

Slow, steady growth has been Odell’s game since its inception 25 years ago. The family-owned brewery was the first in Fort Collins. Even with its 11-state distribution footprint and status as one of Colorado’s top producing breweries, Odell still pays homage to its roots by supporting local homebrew clubs, nonprofit organizations, beer festivals, andother events. Odell’s packaged, flagship beers are mostly English-style ales, but the seasonal and small-batch releases prove they’re still just homebrewers at heart. From aging in absinthe barrels to using mint as hops, Odell has a wild side that can be experienced in small batches in the brewery’s recently expanded taproom

New Belgium Brewing Company
500 Linden Street | Fort Collins, Colorado 80524
(970) 221-0524 | www.newbelgium.com

Often noted as one of craft’s largest and most sustainable breweries, not to mention one of the country’s best places to work, New Belgium Brewing is just as remarkable as it’s cracked up to be. The tour is worth waiting in line for – it concludes with a grown up-size slide that plops visitors into the taproom where they can sample the brewery’s rare Lips of Faith beers and seasonal varieties that can’t be found outside of Fort Collins.

Breckenridge Brewery
471 Kalamath Street | Denver, Colorado 80204
(303) 573-0431 | www.breckbrew.com
Future Location
6775 S. Santa Fe | Littleton, Colorado 80120

Founded by ski bums, this brewery opened as a tiny pub in Breckenridge in 1990. It’s grown into one of Colorado’s top producing breweries, with facilities in downtown Denver and south Denver. In the summer of 2015, Breckenridge will open its new south Denver production facility on a 12-acre plot where they’re currently building an 85,000-square-foot, $35 million brewery and farm-to-table restaurant.

Left Hand Brewing Company
1265 Boston Avenue | Longmont, Colorado 80501(303) 772-0258 | www.lefthandbrewing.com

One of Colorado’s most award-winning breweries is also the pioneer of nitro beer in a bottle. In 2011, the Longmont brewery introduced a bottled nitrogen version of its milk stout, which was arguably the most popular milk stout in the state already.

Oskar Blues Brew & Grill
(original location)
303 Main Street | Lyons, Colorado 80540
(303) 823-6685 | www.oskarblues.com
Brewery: 1800 Pike Road | Longmont, Colorado 80501

Oskar Blues Brewery became famous in 2002 when founder Dale Katechis, for whom the legendary Dale’s Pale Ale is named, decided to accept a strange offer he received by fax from a Canadian company proposing a small canning line for sale. The story goes that once Dale and his crew stopped laughing about putting craft beer in a can, they decided to actually do it.

Wynkoop Brewing Company
1634 18th Street | Denver, Colorado 80202
(303) 297-2700 | www.wynkoop.com

Colorado’s original brewpub was opened by beer-loving Governor Hickenlooper (in 1988, long before his term in office) in an attempt to revitalize the ghost town that once was downtown Denver. Ithelped do just that. More than 25 years later, Wynkoop still occupies the historic J.S. Brown Mercantile Building and is often noted as one of Denver’s best pool halls

Avery Brewing Company
5763 Arapahoe Avenue | Boulder, Colorado 80303
(303) 440-4324 | www.averybrewing.comNew Location
4910 Nautilus Ct N. | Boulder, Colorado 80301

Famous for its Hog Heaven Barley Wine, Avery Brewing Company is not afraid to go bold. From producing the state’s first packaged IPA to some barrel-aged beers that have inspired a cult following in the state, this Boulder brewery has made a name for itself as one of Colorado’s most beloved breweries.

Great Divide Brewing Company
2201 Arapahoe Street | Denver, Colorado 80205
(303) 296-9460 | www.greatdivide.com
New Location
3403 Brighton Blvd. | Denver, Colorado 80216

Those who’ve been to Denver or who love barrel-aged imperial stout have probably heard of Great Divide. Launched by mechanic-turned-brewer Brian Dunn at an old dairy plant near Coors Field, Great Divide is Denver’s longstanding urban brewery and the creator of Colorado’s original strong ale. First brewed in 1995, the 8.5 percent ABV Hibernation Ale readied consumer palates for the robust, 9.5 percent ABV Yeti Imperial Stout and its oak-aged, coffee-infused, chocolate and Belgian-style siblings.

Dry Dock Brewing Company
15120 E. Hampden Avenue | Aurora, Colorado 80014
(303) 400-5606 | www.drydockbrewing.com
2801 Tower Road | Aurora, Colorado 80011

Dry Dock Brewing Co. was the first brewery in Aurora. It began as a small, speakeasy-style bar next door to its sister business, The Brew Hut homebrew supply shop. Less than a year after its opening, Dry Dock gained national attention when it won a World Beer Cup, and would go on to win four more World Beer Cups, 21 GABF medals, and 40 awards at the Colorado State Fair. Dry Dock is one of Colorado’s top producing breweries, made possible by its production facility, North Dock, where guests can sample beers in the Canoe Room.

Front Range
Micros and Nanos