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PHILOSOPHY

Early brews mimicked traditional English ales, but over time CooperSmith’s has incorporated elements of German and Belgian brewing. “At this point,” says head brewer Dwight Hall, “we’re brewing distinctly American beers, but we do not brew to style. We try and create harmony in the glass.” And CooperSmith’s isn’t just about beer; the bar carries one of the largest single-malt Scotch selections in all of northern Colorado, in addition to a good selection of blended Scotches and bourbons.

KEY BEER

There have been about seventy-five beers in the CooperSmith’s repertoire, with fourteen at a time on tap. Try the 6.8% ABV Punjabi Pale Ale, a slightly pungent APA (American Pale Ale), bittered with grapefruity Cascade hops. “It’s our best-selling beer,” says Hall. “It was originally inspired by the English IPAs, but it has evolved over the years and has its own distinct character.”

DETOUR

THE BIG ONE: ANHEUSER

BUSCH, FORT COLLINS

2351 Busch Dr. • Fort Collins, CO 80524-9400 • (970) 221-0922 www.bud

weiser.com

A tour of Anheuser Busch’s plant in Fort Collins is a stop I unironically recommend for all craft beer lovers. Blasphemy, you say? Not at all. In fact, this is a stop worth making for one simple reason: perspective. Touring this maze of robots churning out millions upon millions of identical beers is a look at beer making’s outer technological frontier. Take the “Beer-master” tour ($25) and you’ll see massive brewing kettles that look like something out of the movie Independence Day. You’ll gape at a canning line churning out Bud Light at a rate of 33 cans per second. Brewers are technical people by nature, and there are many who speak of factories like this with a begrudging reverence. They might not want to make beer the same way, but the sheer mechanical ingenuity is something to behold, even if the end result is akin to “wet air” as the famous 1987 Atlantic article, “A Glass of Handmade,” by William Least Heat-Moon attested so memorably.

And yet wandering through the futuristic forest of stainless tanks, myriad pipes, conveyor belts, and grated stairways you’ll taste something quite remarkable: unfiltered Bud Light. Yes, it’s made of 40 percent rice. Hop character: nada. But after the so-called beechwood aging (it’s real wood, I can at least tell you that much), and before filtration and pasteurization has rent the last of any remaining flaws asunder, Bud Light has an appealing flavor, surprisingly full bodied and slightly sweet. It’s a treat to try beer at this stage of the process. Germans and Czechs have been releasing beers in this state for eons, calling them by various names including kellerbier, zwickelbier, and, in the case of the fabled Mahr’s brewery of Bamberg, Germany, ungespundet hefetrub. For the record, I suggested that the manager pitch a commercial version of unfiltered Bud to her superiors. (I can see the commercials now.) But I’m not holding my breath. We don’t really need another ersatz-craft beer from corporate bean counters. But with Bud Light Golden Wheat suddenly a national brand, maybe Bud “Kellerbier” doesn’t sound so crazy, after all.

ODELL BREWING

COMPANY

800 East Lincoln Ave. • Fort Collins, CO 80524

(970) 498-9070 • odells.com • Established: 1989

SCENE & STORY

Odell was the second craft brewery to open in Colorado (after Boulder Brewing Company), starting with a little five-barrel brewery in a 1915 grain elevator. Early on, founders Doug Odell, Wynne, and Corkie Odell maintained a draught-only focus while struggling to keep up with demand. So they added a bottling line in 1996, which effectively supercharged the marketplace for their beer. Flash forward to 2011, and the brewery is currently making about 45,000 brewers’ barrels (or bbl.; one barrel equals 31 US gallons) of beer, sold throughout the middle of the country in nine states.

With live music every Wednesday, the sunny taproom (and outdoor patio) is one of the most popular destinations for beer lovers in Fort Collins. Best of all, success hasn’t spoiled the