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7 – DAY

Denver to Boulder/Longmont; Aspen for Aspen Brewing Co., Woody Creek Tavern and the J-Bar; continue on through Ouray to Durango

Fort Collins

NEW BELGIUM

BREWING CO.

500 Linden Street • Fort Collins, CO 80524

(970) 221-0524 • newbelgium.com • Established: 1991

SCENE & STORY

Maker of the craft brew smash Fat Tire Ale, New Belgium is the largest craft brewery in Fort Collins and the third largest in the United States. As the story goes, Jeff Lebesch started the brewery with his then-wife (and current company CEO), Kim Jordan, after discovering the incredible array of beers lovingly and idiosyncratically produced in Belgium while touring that country on his mountain bike in 1989. No visit to Colorado’s breweries would be complete without a tour here (it’s popular, so plan to reserve two to three weeks ahead), followed by beers in the airy, sleek taproom, the “Liquid Center.”

While the nave-like brewing hall feels like a cathedral, with creamy, colorful tile work around the bases of the kettles, the beating heart of this operation is in an unassuming corner of a storage warehouse behind the taproom, where sixteen massive fouders—French oak fermenters—stand in a tower of amber-hued wood and iron bands. There, New Belgium ages ales into vinous liquids for later blending, some exuding aromas that are the products of alcoholic compounds called esters. Though fruit is not always present, the beers aged in this way can exhibit aromas of pineapple and tangerine, as well as chewy red wine–like tannins, and a flavor like sour cherries.

New Belgium has been a pioneer in introducing Americans to the Belgian styles called Flanders Red and Oud Bruin (“Old Brown”) of which the crowning example is generally thought to be Belgium’s Rodenbach Grand Cru, reddish ale aged in huge oak vats and later blended with younger beer to round out the acidic flavors created by prolonged exposure to wood. New Belgium’s Belgian head brewer, Peter Bouckaert, worked for Rodenbach for years, and he’s considered a true master of barrel aging. This is not how all New Belgium beer is brewed, but it’s how the best and most interesting ones are matured, sometimes with additional fruits in the tanks.

PHILOSOPHY

Outside magazine has named the employee-owned company one of the “Best Places to Work” in the United States, and it’s easy to see why. There’s a sense of institutionally mandated fun here: the Tour de Fat is an annual bike festival celebrating zero-emissions commuting, with a concert on a solar-powered stage and beer served in compostable cups. There’s a company climbing wall and foosball table, a slide from the second to first floors, and even an on-site dirt bike track. All employees earn a new cruiser bike after one year at the company; after four more they’re taken to Belgium to follow in the founder’s footsteps.

KEY BEER

Fat Tire Amber Ale, a biscuity tasting brew of light to medium body, made New Belgium a national player, but the company’s more adventurous, smaller release concoctions, such as La Folie, New Belgium’s version of Rodenbach, are the ones to seek out. Now marketed through the brewery’s Lips of Faith line, La Folie is a landmark, polarizing beer—it’s uncompromisingly tart, with a bracing flavor profile that can sucker-punch the unprepared. But to the initiated, it’s nothing short of nectar.

COOPERSMITH’S

5 Old Town Square • Fort Collins, CO 80524

(970) 498-0483 • coopersmithpub.com • Established: 1989

SCENE & STORY

Next to posters from the Denver Beer Festival going back to 1990, the décor at the easygoing CooperSmith’s, located in downtown Fort Collins, includes a photo of a pub regular posing on Mount Everest’s summit—sure evidence you’ve arrived at a sturdy corner of the universe. The exposed brick walls, wooden booths, and a historic, dark, polished bar only reinforce that sense of solidity. Menu options are no less impressive: the High Plains Barbecue Brisket Sandwich is delicious, with zingy spice. There’s also a pool bar across the walkway from the original pub, with twelve tournament-size