My next set of blogs will chronicle my recent trip to Denver, Colorado, for the Great American Beer Festival. I can safely say I had a blast! This first blog will be a recall of my brewery tour of Fort Collins Brewing.

On our first day in Denver we had breakfast at one of the best spots in town, Lucille’s Café, serving mouthwatering Cajun style goodness. Our first course was delicious house-made beignets snowcapped with mounds of powdered sugar. Next, we had huge, saucer sized buttermilk biscuits baked a golden brown. For the main course I dined on baked Cajun seasoned salmon, creamy grits and eggs over medium. What a way to start the day!

Next stop was the brewery. This was a stark contrast to tiny hole-in-the-wall breweries tucked away in the thick of an industrial park. Fort Collins was a big and inviting with modern clean lines and huge bright tanks in the back. We walked in to see one of the brewers in their finely crafted tasting room. The bar was made out of broken bottles in resin--already a nice touch. The gentleman listed their beers du jour, and I decided on a sour doppelbock while two of my compandres got a mesquite smoke ale with lime added with an amazing aroma. 

Armed with our various quaffs we set out on the tour. The brewer explained that contract brewery New Planet was using the facility to make their gluten-free offering. He took us around to the ingredients room, the mash tuns, fermenters, bottling line and the huge self sustaining cold storage room, which automatically opened louvers at night to draw in the frigid outside air instead of generating electricity to keep it cool. Along the way we passed some large drums of sorghum syrup used for making the gluten-free ale. At that moment the bottling line was abuzz with hundreds of bottles zipping along to be condensed into a 24-pack; an apparatus gently placed the bottles into the waiting 6-pack packing.

The whole experience was delightful and we left with great beers in our bellies and smiles on our faces.

Adam Shugan, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits Beer Consultant

Follow him on Twitter @abcbeeradams