By Jamie Mills

With momentum continuing to build, the 4th annual Collaboration Beer Fest will gift attendees with more than 75 unique brews this year.

Colorado Brewers Guild board members meet for their collab brew day.
Photo: Jason Van Houten

The March 25 Denver festival has moved from Mile High Stadium to the National Western Complex and will feature the efforts of 150-plus breweries from around the world.

There are 20 states represented this year, as well as collaborations with brewers from Finland, Sweden and Italy. Each beer is the result of a Colorado brewer teaming up with brewers from near or far and each beer is crafted specifically for this event, according to the Colorado Brewers Guild, which puts on the event. Brewers are allowed to pick whoever they want to pair up with and the style of beer that they want to produce. Brewery Rickoli, for example, worked with Colorado Plus Brew Pub and Taphouse to create a Red Wheat IPA for the festival. Both breweries are located in Wheat Ridge.

Attendees who are lucky enough to get tickets will hear stories of how the collabs came about and why certain styles were chosen.

“Collaboration Fest has surpassed all expectations from when we first started talking about the idea of this beer festival. There is no other beer tasting event like this in the country,” said Steve Kurowski, director of operations for the Colorado Brewers Guild.

The CBG collab was held at Strange Craft Beer Co. Photo: Jason Van Houten

“Brewers love to brew beer with friends, and by creating a collaboration they are able to push their own limits and experiment with new styles and techniques,” according to the CBG website.

In addition to unlimited beer, food vendors, live music and other entertainment is promised.

The festival runs from 3-7 p.m. March 25 for VIP ticket holders and from 4-7 p.m. for general admission. General admission tickets are $60 and come with unlimited tastings and a commemorative glass. VIP tickets are $85 and include an hour early entry, unlimited tastings throughout the event, commemorative glass and a VIP T-Shirt. Some collaboration beers will be available at the brewers taprooms, yet most are exclusively for tasting at the event only.

SPECIAL BREWERS GUILD BEER

As you enter collaboration fest this year, you will be greeted by a session pale ale brewed by Colorado Brewers Guild board members. Tim Myers, co-owner at Strange Craft Beer Co., and Colorado Brewers Guild board member, gave us a sneak peak at this year’s welcome beer.

The session pale features all Colorado ingredients. Malt was obtained from Colorado Malting in Alamosa, and the hops came from High Wire Hops in Paonia.

“The whole emphasis of the brew is the very late first hop addition,” Myers said. “(The hopping) lends itself to a mellow hop bitterness with a hugely disproportionate hop character. This will be an extremely hoppy but not bitter session pale at 4.2 percent ABV.”

Colorado Brewers Guild board members collaborate on a special welcome beer for Collabfest. Photo: Jason Van Houten

CBG collab malt & hop profile
DEETS FOR THE GEEKS

Malts:

400# - CMC Pale Malt
50# - CMC Crystal 20

15 Minute Addition

50 oz of High Wire CTZ
25 oz of High Wire Chinook

Whirlpool Addition

36 oz High Wire Cascade
36 oz High Wire Crystal

Collabfest Participants Include:

105 West Brewing Company and Chain Reaction
38 State Brewing and Backcountry Brewery
4 Noses Brewing Co. and Wibby Brewing
Alpine Dog and Mountain Toad
Barrels & Bottles Brewery, Golden City Brewery and Holidaily Brewing Co.
Beryl’s Beer Co. and Goose Island
Bierstadt Lagerhaus and Call to Arms Brewing Co.
BJ’s BrewHouse and Shine Brewing Co.
BJ’s BrewHouse and RedStone Meadery
BJ’s BrewHouse and Bryggeri Helsinki
Black Bottle Brewery and Blue Point Brewing
Bonfire Brewing and Casey Brewing and Blending
Bonfire Brewing and Breakside Brewery
Boulder Beer Co. and New Holland Brewing
Butcherknife Brewing Company and Mountain Tap Brewery
C.B. & Potts - Highlands Ranch and Dead Hippie Brewing
Call to Arms Brewing Co. and Spangalang Brewery
Cannonball Creek Brewing Company and Hogshead Brewery
Cannonball Creek Brewing Company and Left Hand Brewing Co.
CAUTION: Brewing Company and WestFax Brewing Company
Cerebral Brewing and Great Notion Brewing
Chain Reaction Brewing and Galveston Bay Beer Company
CO-Brew and Grandma’s House
CO-Brew and Southern Brewing and Winemaking
Colorado Brewers Guild Board: Strange Craft Beer Company, Ska Brewing, Left Hand Brewing, Funkweks, Odell Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing Company, Upslope Brewing Company, Renegade Brewing and Pagosa Brewing Company
Colorado Plus Brewpub and Brewery RIckoli
Comrade Brewing and Überbrew
Copper Kettle and Bruz Beers
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project and Omnipollo
Crystal Springs Brewing Company and BRU Handbuilt Ales and Eats
Declaration Brewing and Dark Horse Brewing Company
Declaration Brewing and FATE Brewing Company
Denver Beer Co. and Altitude Chophouse and Brewery
Diebolt Brewing Co. and Proper Brewing Co.
El Rancho Brewing Co. and Shine Restaurant & Gathering Place
Elevation Beer Company and Spangalang Brewery
Epic Brewing Company and Melvin Brewing
Epic Brewing Company and Telluride Brewing Company
Equinox Brewing and Coppersmiths Brewery
FATE Brewing Company and Reuben’s Brews
Fermaentra and Blue Moon Brewing Company RiNo
Fiction Beer Company and Ursula Brewing Company
Fiction Beer Company and Mystery Brewing Company
Florence Brewing Company and Bristol Brewing Company
Fossil Craft Beer Company and Lake Charlevoix Brewing Company
Fossil Craft Beer Company, Cerberus Brewing and Fieldhouse Brewing Company
Golden City Brewery and Nantahala Brewing Co.
Gravity Brewing and KettleHouse Brewing Company
RiNo Brewery Collaboration: Great Divide Brewing Co., Epic Brewing Co., Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Beryl’s, Our Mutual Friend, Zephyr, Ratio, Zephyr, Black Shirt, Crooked Stave and Mockery
Great Divide Brewing Co. and Maplewood Brewery
Grist Brewing Company and Tommyknocker Brewery
Grossen Bart Brewery and Verboten Brewery
Holidaily Brewing Company and Ghostfish Brewing Company
Horse & Dragon Brewing Company and Pinthouse Pizza Craft Brewpub
Horse & Dragon Brewing Company and Funkwerks
Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery and Vail Brewing Co.
Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery and ÜberBrew
Joyride Brewing Company and Little Machine Beer
Kannah Creek Brewing Company and Roaring Fork
Launch Pad Brewery and Ursula Brewery
Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. and Comrade Brewing Co.
Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. and Überbrew
Living the Dream Brewing Company and Pikes Peak Brewing Company
Living the Dream Brewing Company and Alter Brewing Company
Locavore Beer Works and Aquanaut Brewing Company
Locavore Beer Works and Goldspot Brewing
Lone Tree Brewing Co. and Platt Park Brewing Co.
Mockery Brewing and Molly’s Spirits
Mockery Brewing, Baere Brewing and Inland Island Yeast Co.
Nighthawk Brewery and Barnett & Sons Brewery
Odd13 Brewing and Kane Brewing
Odd13 Brewing and New Image Brewing
Odell Brewing Company and Georgetown Brewing
Odell Brewing Company and New Belgium Brewing Company
Odyssey Beerwerks and River North
Our Mutual Friend Brewing and Wiley Roots Brewing
Ratio Beerworks and WeldWerks Brewing
Renegade Brewing and Ozark Brewing Company
Rock Bottom Orchards and Pumphouse Brewery
Sanitas Brewing Company, Gunbarrel Brewing Company, Asher Brewing, Bootstrap Brewing and 12 Degree Brewing
Sanitas Brewing Company and Sixpoint Brewing Company
Ska Brewing and Boulder Beer
Sleeping Giant Brewing Company and Bosque Brewing Co.
Something Brewery and Blue Moon Brewing Company RiNo
Something Brewery and New Boswell Brewing Company
Station 26, EatDenver and the Colorado Brewers Guild
Station 26 Brewing Co. and Exile Brewing Company
Station 26 Brewing Co. and 4Hands Brewing
Steamworks Brewing Co. and Dry Dock Brewing
Summit County Collaboration: Breckenridge Brewery, Backcountry Brewery, Dillon DAM Brewery, Broken Compass and Pug Ryan’s Brewing
Strange Craft Beer Company and Freetail Brewing Company
The Brew on Broadway and Black Sky
The Post and Sleeping Giant
The Post Brewing and Dogfish Head
The Post Brewing Co. and Rubber Soul Brewing Co.
TRVE Brewing Co. and Cerebral Brewing
TRVE Brewing Co. and Burial Beer Co.
Two22 Brew and ÜberBrew
Upslope Brewing and Resolute Brewing
WeldWerks Brewing Co. and Great Notion Brewing
Westbound & Down Brewery and Powder Keg
Wonderland Brewing Company and Grateful Gnome
Wynkoop Brewing Company and Pikes Peak Brewing
Zwei Brewing Co, and C.B. & Potts - Fort Collins