Beers to Look Out for at Collaboration Fest
Photo courtesy of Nikki A. Rae Photography
Hosted by the Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG) and presented by On Tap Credit Union, Collaboration Fest is the original collaboration beer festival that showcases the unique and cooperative culture of Colorado’s craft beer scene. At this Colorado Brewers Guild fundraiser, CBG members team up with independent brewers near and far, sometimes spanning multiple states and even continents, to create one-of-a-kind beers that highlight each brewer’s distinct brewing methods and styles.
The revered festival will take place on Saturday, March 25, 2023 at The Westin Westminster (10600 Westminster Blvd, Westminster, CO 80020). Tickets are currently on sale via Ticketsauce.
Below are some beers to look out for as you navigate the festival:
105 West Brewing Company & The Elizabeth Brewing Company
What: Amber
Story behind the collab: Good friends that live fairly close that wanted to brew a beer together!6 and 40 Brewery & Barquentine Brewing Company
What: Barrel-Aged Imperial Blonde
Story behind the collab: The brewers from 6 and 40 Brewery and Barquentine Brewing Company love to hang out at each others’ taprooms. Barquentine Brewing Company makes world-class Belgian style beers, while the mechanics at 6 and 40 Brewery are avowed hop heads. Double Dragons is a team up like the Lee brothers of its namesakes vintage Arcade Game: aggressively hopped with Dragon and Lotus hops, flavored with Hibiscus and Rose Hips, fermented with wild saccharomyces, then transferred into red wine barrels and aged on Prickly Pear and Dragon Fruit. The result is a bright pink ale sure to deliver a knockout.A Bit Twisted Brewpub & BBQ & Pub Pass
What: Pilsner
Story behind the collab: Pub Pass is a big fan of A Bit Twisted’s Ponytail Pilsner so they decided to amp up the Pilsner and flavor it with Pistachio.A Bit Twisted Brewpub & BBQ and The Elizabeth Brewing Company
What: Hazy IPA
Story behind the collab: This hazy IPA has more than 40 hops in it!Angry James Brewery & Dillon Dam Brewery
What: Juicy West Coast IPA
Story behind the collab: This is a neighborhood collab with Dillon Dam right up the street from Angry James.Angry James Brewery & Locavore Beer Works
What: Czech Pils
Story behind the collab: AJ, the owner of Angry James Brewery, grew up down the road from where Locavore Beer works is located. This past Christmas AJ was in there having a beer with the brewers at Locavore, and after a few tasty brews, they thought 'Hey! Let's do a colloab!' The rest is history.Baere Brewing Company and Mockery Brewing
What: Experimental
Story behind the collab: In reminiscing about the world of soda and all the things that make them happy about their existence Baere and Mockery happened upon their best idea to date, soda flavored beers! What’s not to like? This is the eighth time the brewers have collaborated together for Collaboration Fest so this beer is aptly called “Mocking Baered Ep. 8: A Bunch of Soda Jerks.”Barrel & Bottles Brewery and Mojave Brewing Company (NV)
What: American Light Lager brewed with oyster mushroom blend
Story behind the collab: Barrels & Bottles decided to collaborate with Mojave because they like to use unique ingredients in their beers. They brewed an American Light Lager using a local mushroom farmer and used 8lbs oyster mushroom blend. Adding a "vegas flare", the beer will be served with a flavored mushroom.Barrels & Bottles Brewery and OCC Brewing
What: Belgian Pilsner
Story behind the collab: Both breweries have a preference to make 'beer flavored beer' and wanted to experiment with Inland Islands Belgian lager strain. They used 100% Leopold floor malted pilsner malt and a variety of traditional noble hops. Also, OCC won Barrel & Bottle’s 1st annual Krispy King Lager competition.Bent Barley Brewing Company and Rotating Tap Comedy (sponsor)
What: Coffee Blonde Ale
Story behind the collab: This beer was brewed to taste different than it looks using laughter. Just kidding, using coffee from our neighbor Legends Coffee instead of laughter. Seriously. We didn't laugh even once when making this beer.Bent Barley Brewing Company and Wynkoop Brewing Company
What: Nut Brown Ale
Story behind the collab: This beer is a classic Nut Brown Ale, fermented using Wynkoop's house Hefeweizen yeast and aged on Roasted Chestnut Chips.Black Forest Brewing Company and Lost Way Brewery (NE)
What: American IPA
Story behind the collab: This collaboration began a few years ago when an owner of Lost Way Brewery was on orders to Colorado Springs and needed a place to workout and enjoy craft beer. He found Black Forest Brewing Company and the crew of Crossfit RailStop to be the perfect community to hang out with while away from his family and friends in Nebraska. Now returned home after what seemed like a never ending extension process, both brewhouses are teaming up to release a crisp IPA with YCH Veterans Blend and Nebraska grown Chinook.Broken Compass Brewing & Tres Litros
What: Red Rye IPA
Story behind the collab: Broken Compass and Tres Litros are joining forces to brew up a Red Rye IPA. A very unique, yet flavorful style of beer that you don't see on tap too often. The rye malt gives it a nice spice and toasty flavor, followed by a mouthful of pine and citrus notes from Idaho 7, Amarillo, Mosaic, and Cascade hops.Bruz Beer & Ska Brewing
What: Soured Belgian Wit with Meyer Lemon
Story behind the collab: Last year, Bruz Beers signed a distribution agreement for southwest Colorado with Ska's Distribution arm. Since then Bruz has been wanting to make a beer with Ska and found this to be a perfect time to play in the brewhouse. This collab incorporates Bruz Beers’ specialty - Belgian Beer with Ska’s specialty- kettle-soured fruit beer.Burly Brewing and Dads of Castle Rock (sponsor)
What: Dandelion, Oat and Chocolate Rye Stout
Story behind the collab: Burly Brewing has been an ardent supporter of its Castle Rock neighbors including the Dads of Castle Rock Community Outreach Charity (DoCR) which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for crisis response and people in need. One of DoCR's founding board members, Paul Myhill, (aka "Colorado Beer Guy") proposed a collaboration beer using the DoCR acrostic as the recipe formation guide: D for Dandelions; O for Oats; and CR for Chocolate Rye malt. The result is an intriguing Oatmeal Chocolate Rye Stout with Dandelions as an additional flavoring/bittering agent. Proceeds from sales helps DoCR in its mission to reach people in its community who are going through hardships and trials.Cabin Creek Brewing & Soulcraft Brewing
What: Thiolized Hazy Pale Ale
Story behind the collab: This beer is the first collaboration brew between the two breweries and marks the return of Cabin Creek’s former head brewer and now Soulcraft brewer, Michael Kida. This brew will be the first attempt at brewing a thiolized beer for both breweries.Cannonball Creek Brewing & Heritage BBQ & Brewing Company
What: West Coast Pale Ale
Story behind the collab: There is a long history of hoppy collaborations between Cannonball Creek and Mike Aubuchon. Mike was the head brewer at Pizza Port Carlsbad for many years and now runs the show at Heritage Barbecue and Beer. Collaboration fest was the perfect excuse for these old friends and like- minded brewers to create another hop forward and highly drinkable beer at Mike's new stomping grounds.Capitol Creek Brewery & Glenwood Canyon Brewpub
What: Italian Pilsner
Story behind the collab: The team at GCBP was eager to brew an Italian Pilsner so the brewers chose to highlight Tardif de Bourgogne from the Locher Family Farm located in the heart of the Tettnang hop-growing region.Cellar West Artisan Ales & La Cumbre Brewing Co.
What: Franconian Lager
Story behind the collab: La Cumbre's Jeff Erway and Cellar West's Zach Nichols are both big fans of small batch, German countryside lagers so they decided to draw on that inspiration. Similar to the rustic kellerbiers (fresh, unfiltered lager) from Franconia, Germany, this collaborative lager features premium Bavarian Pilsner & Vienna malts and Lórien hops. Deep golden-hued with bread-crust notes and hints of Spring wildflowers.Chain Reaction Brewing Company & Coal Mine Ave Brewing Company
What: Experimental Sour
Story behind the collab: Both breweries did some driving to create something unique.Cheluna Brewing Company & Dry Dock Brewing Co.
What: Fruited Kolsch
Story behind the collab: Sam from Dry Dock and Tomas from Cheluna drank through a couple of flights and came up with the brilliant idea of a hop forward kolsch that's heavily fruited with fruit that aligns with the profile of the hops used (Galaxy, H. Melon), resulting in a Watermelon, Blood Orange Kolsch.Cheluna Brewing Company, MobCraft & Raices Brewing
What: Fruited Wit, Fruited Cold IPA, Fruited Saison
Story behind the collab: These old friends decided to use almost every fruit they could find in the Latino orchid between a flight of beers. Think of this as an open air fresh fruit market flight.Cohesion Brewing Company and Monday Night Brewing (GA)
What: Polotmavý Ležák
Story behind the collab: This beer was a continued exploration of Czech lager styles, but in the spirit of collaboration, they added a twist. Polotmavý Ležák is the Amber lager style in Czechia, and they brewed a classic base example of this beer then aged it on medium toast French Oak to add some complexity to the brew. Double decocted and brewed with Colorado grown malt, this beer has some rich caramel, bready notes with a pleasant oaky finish.Crystal Springs Brewing & MainStage Brewing
Story behind the collab: The brewers are bringing back an IPA trend of yesteryear (the Grapefruit IPA, you remember that one right?) and combining it with a brand new "thiolized" yeast strain - Star Party. Will they blast off into a new dimension of fresh squeezed passionfruit and ripe grapefruit juice, with a classic, dry west-coast body? The answer can be found at Collaboration Fest.Crystal Springs Brewing Company and River North Brewery
What: Fruited Blonde Ale
Story behind the collab: This collaboration stemmed from Tom Horst's childhood memories of playing under his families Mulberry Tree, turning his feet purple all summer long. Neither River North or Crystal Springs had enjoyed a beer with Mulberry so we created a light Blonde base to accentuate the Mulberry flavors.Danico Brewing Company & Jade Mountain Brewing Company
What: Blue Sour Double IPA with Coconut and Pineapple
Story behind the collab: Nicole Harwood, co-owner of Danico Brewing Company has been obsessed with Jade Mountain since trying their tea infused beers in November 2021, and so when she, along with co-owner Dave Lotierzo, opened Danico they knew they wanted to collab with Sean Guerrero and Jade Mountain. Combining the traditional American pub style of brewer Chris Kennedy with the highly experimental and ingredient driven Sean Guerrero resulted in the blending of a hazy Double IPA brewed by Chris at Danico with a blue sour with pineapple and coconut brewed at Jade Mountain by Sean. It is a true collaboration of two wildly different brewers merging two wildly different styles to create something unique.Denver Beer Co. and El Rancho Colorado
What: Banana Hazy IPA
Story behind the collab: The brewers love bananas, particularly the banana flavors from weiss yeast (isoamyl acetate) and hops. So they decided to make a modern Hazy IPA brewed with Bananza yeast that pronounces delicious banana flavors. Queue this Banana Hazy brewed with Strata and Cryo Hallertau Blanc hops. Soft and juicy w/ a nice punch of Banana.Denver Beer Co. and Steep Brewing & Coffee Company
What: Imperial Rye Stout with Coffee and Caraway Seeds
Story behind the collab: Much like a weighted blanket, this beer provides a sense of warmth, safety and security. This dark masterpiece is brewed with a blend of rye and barley malts to create a uniquely sweet, malty and spicy backbone. It is then finished with an addition of caraway seeds and Steep Brewing and Coffee Company coffee for a flavor reminiscent of biting into a slice of pumpernickel bread. So whether or not you grew up visiting Schnitzer's Bakery or on your bubbe’s homemade loaf, you’ll be transported to a happy place with each sip and find safety in this pumpernickel brew.Downhill Brewing, Barnett and Son Brewing, Los Dos Potrillos Brewing
What: Donut Brown Ale
Story behind the collab: This collaboration represents the Parker community with three breweries and the local Donut House.Eddyline Brewery and Syndicate Brewing Co.
What: Double IPA
Story behind the collab: Eddyline and Syndicate share a similar vision of making great beers and enjoying the great outdoors.El Rancho Colorado and Barnett & Son Brewing Co.
What: Modern Pale Ale
Story behind the collab: What if Ken Grossman was a 21 year old vaping hype brewer? This modern take on a classic American Pale Ale is brewed with a thiolized Chico Ale yeast and brewed with massive amounts of Cascade and BRU-1 Lupomax hops. Tropical fruity hop flavors and intensely drinkable.Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company and Craftsman Brew Co.
What: Grodziskie
Story behind the collab: Eric Metzger (formerly of Casey Brewing Company) joined Craftsman just before the new year. Glenwood Canyon is constantly collaborating with Eric so they decided to do a special beer that neither has done before.Gravity Brewing and Guanella Pass Brewery
What: Cumber Sour
Story behind the collab: This collab was a reuniting with the previous brewer of Gravity, Taylor Kuck, and the current brewer, Scott Smith. In this collab, they brought old and new together to share each others collective experience with other breweries and then brewed it on a brew house we are both familiar with.Great Divide, Burns Family Artisan Ales and Hopsteiner (sponsor)
What: Nouveau Kölsch
Story behind the collab: A brew initiated by Hopsteiner, using two newer hops: Contessa and Akoya, showcased in a bright, otherwise classic Kölsch style. A beer to welcome; combining the skill of Great Divide's innovation team, the experience of Burns Family Artisan Ales, and new ideas from the Brewing Program at MSU Denver.Great Divide Brewing Company & Boneyard Beer (OR)
What: Dry West Coast IPA
Story behind the collab: This is the 2nd time Boneyard and Great Divide have collaborated for this festival. Boneyard head brewer, Tony Rau, used to be the head brewer at Great Divide and there are some additional connections. For this brew, they’re playing off of our two classic West Coast IPAs—Titan & RPM—and brewing a super dry IPA featuring Chinook, Riwaka, Citra, Pacific Sunrise & Idaho 7 hops.Great Divide Brewing & Drink RiNo
What: Belgian Strong Ale
Story behind the collab: Drink RiNo is the epicenter of RiNo Art District adult beverage producers. It includes breweries, winemakers, distilleries and cideries. Before COVID the group was quite active, sponsoring large-scale events such as Velorama as well as neighborhood scavenger hunts and bar crawls.Great Divide Brewing Co. and Dry Dock Brewing Co.
What: Dry-Hopped West Coast IPA
Story behind the collab: Denver first production brewery and Aurora's first brewery teamed up to brew a sessionable dry-hopped West Coast IPA featuring Idaho 7, Strata & Citra hops.Hello Brew Co. & Wild Provisions Beer Project
What: IPA and Saison Blend
Story behind the collab: The brewers took a beer that Wild Provisions has produced and mindfully brewed a West Coast IPA to blend with their Saison.Holidaily Brewing Company & Buck Wild Brewing & Taproom (CA)
What: Gluten Free Pastry Stout
Story behind the collab: An all gluten-free brewery collaboration by Holidaily Brewing Company out of Golden, CO and Buck Wild Brewing out of Oakland, CA. Both breweries came together to create a gluten-free mint cookie stout (using gluten free mint sandwich cookies from the leading sandwich cookie manufacturer, whose name we’ve promised not to say). Each brewery is making a slightly different gluten-free version for their taprooms. Holidaily will bring theirs to the festival, featuring the nameless cookies, cocoa nibs, and vanilla!Holidaily Brewing Company & Phantom Canyon Brewing Company
What: Coffee Vienna Lager
Story behind the collab: A Colorado-based collaboration guaranteed to make a guten tag (good day)! Holidaily Brewing Company (Golden, CO), Phantom Canyon Brewing Company (Colorado Springs, CO), and First Ascent Coffee Roasters (Crested Butte, CO) created a Guten Tag and Gluten(free) Tag Coffee Vienna Lager. There will be a gluten-free and non-gluten-free version of this recipe brewed at the respective locations.Iron Mule Brewery & Six Capital Brewing
What: Barrel-Aged Braggot
Story behind the collab: Cooking, brewing and whiskey are all passions at Iron Mule Brewing and Six Capital Brewing.Jade Mountain Brewery & WeldWerks Brewing Co.
What: Mochi Sour Ale brewed with Preserved Chinese Plums
Story behind the collab: Both these breweries have a reputation for brewing beers with unique ingredients and using unique processes—and this collaboration is a reflection of that. The beer is brewed with steamed glutinous rice and Chinese preserved plums to make a delicious sour ale that’s dry, sweet, sour and salty.Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery and Steeplejack Brewing Co. (OR)
What: Mushroom Saison
Story behind the collab: Shawn, brewer at Steeplejack, was once the Assistant Brewer at Jagged Mountain! Jagged Mountain wanted to brew a collab with him to celebrate his move to Oregon and his new brewing position. Brewed with 2-Row, Wheat, Munich, and Spelt to set the base and dry-shroomed with dried Lions Mane, dried Turkey Tail and a secret blend of wild Oregon mushrooms!Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery & Vicious Cycle Brewing
What: Sorbet Sour
Story behind the collab: Long before Nathan opened Vicious Cycle Brewing, he was a brewer at Jagged Mountain! The brewers wanted to brew a proper collaboration so they decided to brew up a Sour Ale with sorbet from Little Man Ice Cream.Joyride Brewing Company & Call to Arms Brewing Company
What: Hazy IPA
Story behind the collab: Joyride and CTA are not only close in proximity, but they have the same opening date as well, only one year apart (Joyride opened on 7/16/14 and CTA opened 7/16/15). Both breweries always enjoy playing with new hops and hop products, and they decided to brew a hazy IPA that would focus on unnamed, experimental hops and try to use cryo forms of those hops whenever possible. For this project, they'll be focusing on HBC 630 and HBC 586.Joyride Brewing Company & Westbound & Down Brewing Company
What: Cold Double IPA
Story behind the collab: Joyride and Westbound & Down have been collaborating for years - this project is their 7th collab together! Their mutual love of west-coast IPA has led them to further investigate the world of Cold IPA, this time turning it up and making a batch that's Double Cold. Strata, Simcoe cryo, Waimea, Mosaic Incognito, and Columbus cryo are just some of the goods added to this hoppy delight.Lakewood collaboration: 6 and 40 Brewery, Great Frontier Brewing Company, Green Mountain Beer Company, LandLocked Ales, Old 121 Brewhouse, and WestFax Brewing Company
What: Sour Patch Kids Sour Ale
Story behind the collab: Back for the first time since 2019, this neighborhood collaboration reflects the passion, friendships, and most definitely a little bit of the silliness representative of craft beer in Colorado’s fifth largest city.Launch Pad Brewery & Odyssey Beerwerks
What: Experimental dry-hopped Czech Pilsner
Story behind the collab: The Odyssey Beerwerks and Launch Pad crews met at the dearly departed Rails and Ales Festival about six years ago (they think) and owners of each brewery, Chris and Dave, hit it off right away. Some might even say they're a little too close. And the crews from each brewery just like hanging out together.Left Hand Brewing Company and Bruz Beers
What: Dark Czech Lager with flaked coconut
Story behind the collab: Bruz Beers brewmaster Charlie Gottenkieny and Left Hand Brewing Co. head brewer Gary Glass knew each other as homebrewers before either had started to brew professionally. They are excited for their teams to get together to brew on the Left Hand pilot system. The recipe for the dark Czech lager with coconut bridges expertise from both breweries. We hope you enjoy it! Both breweries liked Czech Dark Lagers. In looking to add another dimension of flavor and complexity, they decided that coconut would harmonize well with the Carafa, Chocolate and Bohemian dark malts in the beer. To give it a touch of citrusy fruit esters and a dry finish, they fermented it with a Norwegian Kviek yeast. It is smooth, rich, malty, complex and very drinkable.Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. & El Segundo Brewing Co.
What: West Coast IPA
Story behind the collab: West Coast Cartel is a series of IPAs brewed in collaboration with some of the best West Coast IPA brewers in the country. This iteration with El Segundo is dry hopped with El Dorado, Simcoe, Mosaic Cryo and Nelson Sauvin Cryo.Living the Dream Brewing Co. & New Terrain Brewing Co.
What: West Coast IPA with Botanicals
Story behind the collab: Both New Terrain and Living the Dream are known for very traditional styles with a blend of fun and unique flavors or ingredients. When the breweries started talking about Collab Fest they thought a super old school West Coast IPA was a great canvas to play around with fun hop and yeast combinations. They jazzed it up with the addition of Green Peppercorn, Rosemary, and Marjoram. A great blend of Citrus, Pine Resin, and Botanicals.Living the Dream Brewing and Payette Brewing Co. (ID)
What: Belgian Tripel with Local Honey
Story behind the collab: Both breweries are excited about this big traditional Belgian Tripel with the added character of local CO honey. Old school style with a little new school twistLone Tree Brewing Company & Platte Park Brewing Co.
What: Triple IPA
Story behind the collab: These two breweries have had a long lasting friendship but have never collaborated before. Both teams wanted to experiment with thiolized yeast which extenuates the intense juicy, tropical flavors and aromas from a hop forward IPA. This beer does just that with a triple punch of hops, flavor, and aromas with a kick.Los Dos Potrillos Cervecería and River North Brewing Company
What: Imperial Thiolized Pilsner
Story behind the collab: Los Dos Potrillos and River North connected over a couple tacos during the 2023 GABF Saturday Session. Members of both breweries used to work together in the early days of their brewing careers so the bond formed quickly. Los Dos specializes in clean lagers and River North specializes in just about everything, including huge ABV beers. Naturally, we wanted to make a high ABV Pilsner with exciting hopping techniques. This imperial Pilsner is mash hopped with Citra and late kettle additions of Nelson Sauvin and Medusa.Loveland Aleworks and Wiley Roots
What: Pastry Stout
Story behind the collab: This is the first pastry stout that has been brewed at Loveland Aleworks. Wiley Roots and Loveland Aleworks have been collaboratively working together since 2014, sharing information, buying supplies together and supporting each other. Kyle and Nick met at Wynkoop during the 2014 GABF over too many Irish Car Bombs.Mirror Image Brewing & Mountain Cowboy Brewing
What: Fruit Beer -Strawberry with Pepper
Story behind the collab: Across the Universe of Frederick, CO, Mirror Image and Mountain Cowboy, decided to help carry the weight and brew all together now. We get by with a little help from our friends as we come together just the two of us. We can’t buy love but we can make beer that we love. Here comes the sun in this delightful ale filled with strawberry fields and pepper to help that blackbird sing.Mountain Toad Brewing & Smiling Toad Brewery
What: Imperial IPA
Story behind the collab: Two toads! This Imperial IPA was inspired by those chocolate oranges often given as gifts around the holidays. With orange zest, orange-forward hops, and Voss Kveik yeast, as well as honey malt, chocolate malt and cacao, this big IPA is a chocolate orange in a glass.Mythmaker Brewing & Outworld Brewing
What: Honey Heather Norwegian Kornøl
Story behind the collab: Norwegian Kornøl is a type of Norwegian Farmhouse Ale brewed with corn and juniper. It is a "raw ale" meaning it will not be boiled prior to fermentation. Local honey is added to bump up the alcohol percentage and to round out the grainy mouthfeel, juniper flavors, floral heather flower flavors, and tropical flavors from the kveik yeast. Mythmaker and Outworld decided to brew together because they share a love for historical beers and putting a new spin on them.New Image Brewing Company and Cerebral Brewing
What: Cryo Fresh Hop Hazy West Coast IPA
Story behind the collab: Among their many common interests, the brewers share a knack for the cutting edge, so when the opportunity to blur style boundaries while experimenting with a brand new fresh hop product—they knew they couldn’t say no. They brewed an IPA that combines some of their favorite qualities from both hazy and west coast origins, constructed with hand selected Citra and Simcoe, dosed with Mosaic Incognito and finished with Peacherine and Cryo 301 Simcoe. With the dry and distinctive finish of a west coast IPA, combined with the dry hop saturated nose and mouthfeel of a hazy, this tropical fruit bomb is bursting from the glass with every sip.New Image Brewing Company and Offset Bier Company (UT)
What: Cryo Fresh Hop West Coast Pilsner
Story behind the collab: New Image has been spending a lot of time with Offset this winter, sharing beers and talking shop, but more importantly, skiing!!! After many an 80s themed apres night together along with their mutual love for nerding out about new hops, they decided to make a beer based on a classic ski movie that utilized frozen fresh hops. Blizzard of hhAAAps is an insanely drinkable, low abv hoppy beer that pulls zero punches on hop flavor, it’s really remarkable just how full flavored this little beer is. Packed with their favorite New Zealand and continental European hops, finished with Cryo 301 Simcoe, this is a can’t miss collab.New Terrain Brewing & Fritz Family Brewers
What: Italian Pilsner
Story behind the collab: The goal of this brew was to incorporate Cory's (Fritz) deep knowledge and skill set for brewing traditional lagers and the New Terrain team's vision for crafting unique and often style-melding brews into a contemporary version of a classic pilsner. This beer unites traditional brewing methods with contemporary techniques and similarly incorporates traditional German noble hops coupled with contemporary American hops to layer delicate flavors and aromas over a clean and crisp Italian pilsner malt canvas. Subtle, yet bold.Novel Strand Brewing Company & Cohesion Brewing
What: Altbier
Story behind the collab: This collaboration uses Novel Strand's Altbier recipe as a base, and incorporates techniques specific to Cohesion's brewing and fermenting processes, such as a single decoction and open fermentation. It is cold fermented and lagered for a few weeks to ensure it is smooth, crisp, and delicious.Novel Strand Brewing Company & Members of the Media
What: Unfiltered hoppy beer
Story behind the collab: This unfiltered hoppy beer combines several varieties of promising, exciting experimental hops from the Pacific Northwest, previewing some future flavors coming to the hop market!Odd13 Brewing & Streetside Brewery
What: New England Double IPA
Story behind the collab: Sam of Odd13 is great friends with Garrett of Streetside. When it came time nail down collaborators for 2023 Collabfest, Streetside was a no brainer and a NEDIPA was even more clear. Only one downside, this beer may have come from The Upside Down.Odell Five Points Brewhouse & Roadhouse Brewing
What: Mountain Style IPA
Story behind the collab: A simple story of mutual admiration and high fives.Odell Sloan’s Lake Brewhouse, 4 Noses Brewing, & Root Shoot Malting
What: Experimental Pale AleOdell Sloan’s Lake Brewhouse & Resolute Brewing
What: Maibock lager and IPA
Story behind the collab: Resolute is passionate about Lagers and Odell loves hops, so the breweries switched and Odell brewed a Maibock Lager and Resolute brewed an IPA.Old 121 Brewhouse & Banded Oak Brewing
What: Wellness Beer
Story behind the collab: With advances in AI technology, the brewers wanted to test the limits and see if AI knew how to craft a beer worthy of Collab Fest. Old 121 and Banded Oak worked together with Chat GPT to identify some of the newest trends in craft beer, which is how they landed on a Wellness Beer (beer that uses holistic qualities of ingredients in the final product). They then asked the AI to construct a recipe for a Wellness Beer and "The Bots Made Us Do It" is the final result of the recipe built by AI and brewed by Banded Oak and Old 121. They are excited to share this beer as an exploration of what AI can bring to the brewing scene and also test how sophisticated the technology really is.Oskar Blues Brewery and Vail Brewing Company
What: Double Cosmic New England Style IPA
Story behind the collab: They decided to use the Thiol producing Cosmic Punch yeast and Phantasm powder and an all star hop load to unlock intense tropical and citrus aromas and flavors in this Double Cosmic NEIPA. The collaboration was born between a deep connection to Garrett and Juice’s Maine upbringing. Just a couple of kids from Southern Maine brewing Dank NEIPAs in CO.Oskar Blues Brewery & Wasatch Brew Pub (UT)
What: Imperial Lime Salted Pilsner
Story behind the collab: From Park City Utah to Lyons Colorado the brewrs take pride at brewing high elevated beers so they decided to put a twist and create the biggest Lime Salt Pilsner they could!Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company & Elevation Beer Co.
What: Belgian Double and Belgian Quad brewed with maple syrup and sugar maple wood spirals.
Story behind the collab: OMF has been wanting to collaborate with Elevation Beer Co. for the last 10 years but things finally got rolling this past september while OMF was hanging out after the Salida 76 bike race. The breweries decided on the two styles because of the admiration and respect of brewing traditional Belgian beer which doesn’t get enough love.
Outer Range Brewing Company, Perennial Artisan Ales (MO) & Hopsteiner
What: Hazy IPA
Story behind the collab: When Hopsteiner reached out to work with these two renowned breweries to collaborate on a beer to showcase some new and exciting hop varieties, it seemed like a perfect match-up, bringing together some of the best in the industry to collaborate on a unique and flavor packed new beer.Peak View Brewing Company and Kodiac Brewery
What: Japanese rice lager with black squid ink
Story behind the collab: The goal is to create a visually stunning beer with a salty flavor profile that reminds drinkers of a cloudy day on the beach.Peak View Brewing Company & LCB (Local Craft Beer)
What: Hazy IPA with blueberries
Story behind the collab: Head Brewer for Peak View, Shane Vine, grew up in Tehachapi California. LCB has become a very popular brewery based out of Tehachapi specializing in Hazy IPAsPeculiar Ales & Call to Arms Brewing Company
What: Hoppy Pilsner
Story behind the collab: Two words. Chris! Bell! Peculiar was offered hops from Hollingbery and Son for Collabfest. The brewery immediately thought of CtA for this project. They landed on a hoppy pilsner featuring Vista and HBC 630 hops.Phantom Canyon Brewing Company and OCC Brewing
What: Biere de Garde
Story behind the collab: The brewers at OCC Brewing and Phantom Canyon are friends who share a love for Belgian styles of beer and in the spirit of experimentation decided to work together to produce a beautiful blonde Biere de Garde.Pikes Peak Brewing & Hopsteiner
What: American Pale Ale
Story behind the collab: Something old, something new! This collaboration showcases one of Hopsteiner’s newest hop varieties, Helios, a new, ultra-sustainable, super high alpha hop and meshed it into an American Pale Ale. Used in both its traditional pellet form and as Salvo, its most innovative format, which provides all of the hop's aromas in an efficient extract, adding no additional bitterness. The result is a celebration of the best of old and new!Primitive Beer & Novel Strand Brewing Company
What: SponTEAneous Sparkles
Story behind the collab: The collaboration between Primitive and Novel Strand is yet another wonderful excuse for friends to hang out and create that sweet, sweet funk juice, blending a classic 3-year assemblage of Primitive's Colorado Spontaneous beer with Funk Shwei, a new-age, one-of-a-kind "table fermentation" created by Novel Strand. Funk Shwei results from the combination of Iron Goddess (Taiwanese Black Tea grown at elevation in the Yunan Mountains) with Lychee and Brettanomyces. The union of Novel Strand's tea-infused fruited table beer with Primitive's mature spontaneous blend creates a delightful medley of low-alcohol funk, fruit, and fun. L'chaim!Primitive Beer and Purpose Brewing & Cellars
What: Barrel-Aged Sour BlendProst Brewing Company & Seedstock Brewery
What: Baltic Porter & Kolsch (2 offerings)
Story behind the collab: Both Seedstock and Prost focus on classic styles and wanted to showcase a few of their favorite styles—Baltic Porter, and Kolsch. Seedstock produced both beers at their Colfax location and the results are a dynamic Baltic Porter that has hints of chocolate, roast, and red berries and a kolsch is more of a nod to tradition, with delicate malt and yeast characteristics and subtle hop aroma and balanced mid palate bitterness.Prost Brewing & Station 26 Brewing
What: Landbier
Story behind the collab: In Germany, Landbier simply means country beer or beer of the land. Here in Colorado, these breweries hope it means a delicious German-inspired lager. This beer is made from the oldest German malting barley variety Isaria, which was officially approved for the beer production in 1924.Purpose Brewing & Cellars and Hello Brew Co.
What: Rice lager with sake yeast.
Story behind the collab: The brewers wanted to use Collaboration Fest as an opportunity to explore some new products and processes. Both have been curious about fermentation with Sake yeast in beer and decided to run with that idea. This ultimately resulted in a Sake yeast co-fermented rice lager, with plans to offer up a fun variant of the clean base for collab fest.Ramblebine Brewing Company & Base Camp Beer Works
What: Barrel-Aged Sour
Story behind the collab: This is a quick sour base aged for four months in Peach Street Distilling D'Agave barrels. The breweries then added mango and spices to create a cocktail-like sour ale.
Ramblebine Brewing Company & Old 121 Brewhouse
What: Baltic Porter with chocolate and mole spices
Story behind the collab: The head brewers went to brewing school together so they got together to collaborate. This traditional Baltic porter which was lagered for 8 weeks and then infused with chocolate and mole spices.Ratio Beerworks & Beachwood Brewing
What: West Coast IPARed Swing Brewhouse & Launch Pad Brewery
What: Belgian Wit
Story behind the collab: This Belgian style beer is unique because the brewers are adding lemon peel in the boil and green tea in fermentation.Resolute Brewing Co. and Inland Island Yeast Laboratories (sponsor)
What: Saison/Lager
Story behind the collab: This beer was inpired by pushing the boundaries of what is considered normal for a saison strain. Saison DuCrush is a saison brewed like a German Pilsner. Brewed with floor-malted pilsner malt from Denvers Leopold Bros and hopped with NZ Exp 9909, and then fermented at lager temps. The result is a crisp and crushable saison/lager hybrid.Rockyard Brewing Co. & Fair Winds Brewing Company (VA)
What: West Coast Style IPA w/ Butterfly Pea Flowers
Story behind the collab: This IPA is a twist on Fair Winds' flagship IPA, Howling Gale. The brewers added butterfly pea flower in the whirlpool and dry hop phase to give this IPA a purple hue.Rockyard Brewing Co. & Iron Mule Brewing Co.
What: Czech Amber Lager
Story behind the collab: Iron Mule and Rockyard have been staples of the Castle Rock craft beer scene for many years. Both breweries are minutes apart from each other and they wanted to collaborate on a classic style that neither brewery had produced in the past.Rule 105 Brewing & Vicious Cycle Brewing Co.
What: Belgian Blonde Ale
Story behind the collab: Mountains meets plains in this Belgian Blonde Ale collaboration flavored with pear juice and a healthy dose of Belgian Candi sugar. This beer is vicious with flavor but grounded in reality. Come get yourself a dose of Vicious Greality.Sanitas Brewing Company & Sunroom Brewing
What: Cold IPA
Story behind the collab: As the city of Englewood has continued to grow over the years, both teams knew it was missing the essential Colorado craft beer culture. As two breweries to open in the last year in Englewood, they have joined forces to celebrate with a collaboration brew. Cheers From Englewood Cold IPA has an assertive bitterness paired with a bold, clean finish. A sessionable brew to kick back and enjoy with friends Englewood.Ska Brewing Company & Cannonball Creek Brewing
What: West Coast Pilsner
Story behind the collab: This project has been a long time coming! Ska Brewing and Cannonball Creek have a mutual admiration for one another and needless to say they had a blast brewing together.Six Capital Brewing & Two22 Brew
What: Shitake Mushroom and Nori Doppelbock
Story behind the collab: Two fantastic Aurora breweries are expanding the umami essence that beers can bring. East meets West, Japanese Hops (Sorachi Ace), Japanese Shitake Mushrooms and Nori (Seaweed) can all be found in this classic German Beer Style.Snowbank Brewing & Mythmaker Brewing
What: Everything Bagel Rye Kvass
Story behind the collab: The everything bagel beer was inspired by several hours of brainstorming from brewers who like bad ideas. Once they realized it was actually a good idea, they got together again to find a way to make it work.Snowbank Brewing & Peace Tree Brewing Co.
What: Molasses Brown Ale
Story behind the collab: Dave, Dave, and Shaun have a combined history that involves making a lot of Hazy IPAs. So when it came time to figure out what to brew, the opposite of a Hazy IPA was the clear answer.Something Brewery and Bull Horn Brewing (WY)
What: Dark Cherry Almond & Yogurt Kettle Sour
Story behind the collab: Holden at Bull Horn was a regular at Something Brewfore before he started up his own brewery in Casper Wyoming. The two breweries decided to team up to see what they can learn from each other.Something Brewery & FlyteCo Brewing
What: Banana Cinnamon Vanilla Wafer Lactose Wheat ale
Story behind the collab: The brewers wanted to make something unique that brings out the strengths from both sides. Plus you always have to do something a little crazy for Collaboration Fest!Spangalang Brewery & Black Shirt Brewing Co.
What: Saison
Story behind the collab: Both breweries are unique, small scale, long standing breweries residing in the five points neighborhood. Now both under new ownership, they are ready to team up and brew some delicious craft beer.Storm Peak Brewing & Odell Brewing Company
What: Juicy Double IPA
Story behind the collab: Friends reunited! When friend and former OBC team member Kevin Kutras offered OBC and SPBC the chance to use some cool new hops, they couldn't say no. Featuring newly created Strata CGX from Indie Hops, this beer should be a tasty new foray into flavor town.Storm Peak Brewing and Stillwest Brewery & Grill (WY)
What: Chestnut Amber Lager and IPA
Story behind the collab : A chestnut amber lager brewed in the italian style. What a unique treat! 5lbs/BBL of italian imported and fresh roasted chestnuts were used for this brew. The Jackson Hole - Steamboat connection is as strong as ever.
Story behind the collab: Friends re-reunite for another collab—this time in Steamboat to showcase some cool new hops from Roy Farms in Yakima.Strange Craft Beer Company and Guanella Pass Brewing Company
What: Malt Liquor
Story behind the collab: A craft Malt Liquor brewed with rice and corn, then dry-hopped with Simcoe and Amarillo. 7.5% abv. The "Boyz" brewed this one to celebrate the continued friendships of our two breweries - Guanella Pass at the corner of 5th & Rose in Georgetown, and Strange Craft at the corner of 13th & Zuni in Denver.Strange Craft Beer Company, Brieux Carré Brewing Co. (LA), & Freetail Brewing Company (TX)
What: Hoppy Lager
Story behind the collab: Strange and Freetail have been collabing since 2011 and their StrangeTail series has been extremely popular. Freetail and Brieux Carré have been collabing for almost the same amount of time so it seemed logical that the three breweries should get together and create something that represents all three of the breweries. Hallertau Mittelfrüh is the main focus, along with Saphir and Riwaka, each hop chosen by one of the breweries.Summit County collaboration: Angry James Brewery, Broken Compass Brewing, and Outer Range Brewing Company
What: Oatmeal StoutSunroom Brewing and Over Yonder Brewing
What: Phantasm Lager
Story behind the collab: Jason and Jessie at Over Yonder have been wonderful friends, mentors, and resources over the last few years as Matt and Melanie made Sunroom Brewing a reality. Over Yonder is just down the road from Matt and Melanie's house, and Matt and Jason have been talking through recipes and brewery operations since Matt's homebrewing days. It's surreal and really special to be able to collaborate on a beer as fellow brewery owners this year.Telluride Brewing Company & Live Slow Brewing
What: West Coast IPA brewed with Thiolized yeast
Story behind the collab: The story that really kicks it off for Telluride Brewing and Alan at Live Slow comes from the Brewers Rendezvous about 10 years ago. Telluride’s Co-Founder Tommy and Art Director John were working the fest when a belligerent attendee stole their banner. John asked for it back and the guy punched him! John had to go to the hospital and Alan helped pack up all our gear! Over the years since they have all bonded over their love of solid Craft Beer and Bluegrass Music!The Post Brewing Co. and Bootstrap Brewing Company
What: Rye Lager
Story behind the collab: Nick with The Post and Colin with Bootstrap have been making and drinking lagers for a while now, so we decided to make and drink a lager together. With a toasty & spicy malt aroma, rich bready malt flavor, and an earthy and crisp finish, you’d think we committed a c-’rye’-me with this rye lager.Timnath Beerwerks & Rock Cut Brewing Company
What: (1) Helles aged on pressed Mourvedre grape skins, (2) Blended Barrel Aged Beer, and (3) American Barleywine
Story behind the collabs: 1. A reboot of a Collab Fest beer that they brewed together in early 2020, the brewers used Pevec pilsner malt from Troubadour and pressed Mourvedre grape skins from Snowy Peaks Winery to create this delicate elixir to help ease into the spring season. 2. A blend of two barrel-aged beers, one from each brewery. This beer brings together the contrasting profile of a deeply roasted, chocolate forward imperial stout with a layered showcase of Maillard and toasted malt flavors from the tripelbock, all dancing on top of the complex vanilla, oak, coconut, and subtle spice from each bourbon barrel. Approximately 60% imperial stout aged at Timnath for 27 months in a second use Old Elk Bourbon barrel, and 40% tripelbock aged at Rock Cut for 9 months in a first use Breckenridge Bourbon barrel. 3. Probably not considered "Life" by Lord Maris, this strong ale showcases the newly developed Munich Wheat malt from Root Shoot alongside a healthy dose of El Dorado, Simcoe, and Rakau hops.Tommyknocker Brewery, Grüvi & Sustainable Beverage Technologies
What: Non-Alc. Summer Citrus Italian Pils
Story behind the collab: Gruvi and Tommyknockers are two innovative Colorado companies that have partnered on several projects in the past and they both use Sustainable Beverage Technology to help us produce Non-Alcoholic beers. It seemed fitting for Gruvi and Tommyknocker to come together to collaborate on the first Non- Alc. beer project that we have ever heard of.Tommyknocker Brewery & Cyprez Taproom (Mexico)
What: Baltic Porter with Cocoa from Oaxaca and mole
Story behind the collab: Patricia from Tommyknocker is a Mexican brewer who inspired Tommyknocker to create a collaborative beer with Cyprez out of Mexico. Building bridges between Mexico and the United States, this beer represents one of the most famous dishes in Mexico—Mole.Uhl’s Brewing Company & Upslope Brewing Company
What: Unfiltered Hazy DDH Pink IPA
Story behind the collab: The brewers decided to play with color and came up with a plan to make a pink unfiltered hazy IPA that should have the color and look of Strawberry Nesquik. In addition to the color they decided to use berry and strawberry forward hops, Belma, Cryo-Pop, HBC-630 and Wai-iti to be used in the kettle and dry hopping. A combination of light sprinkling of hibiscus leaves and beet powder achieves the unique color.Uhl’s Brewing Company, Upslope Brewing, & Wild Provisions
What: Hoppy Dark Lager
Story behind the collab: The greatest heist of all time! Wort was brewed at both Uhl's and Upslope (Lee Hill), transferred hot into Wild Provisions' tank truck, blended into a clean room coolship for cold break, open fermented on Spanish Cedar, and lagered.Ursula Brewery & Danico Brewing Company
What: Ye Olde Birch Beer
Story behind the collab: Two of the closest breweries to DIA are teaming up to get a little weird by finding inspiration in a long forgotten beverage called birch beer. In addition to some more common adjuncts, the breweries will be utilizing the birch bark and sap in order to obtain this beverages' distinctive "wintergreen" flavor.Vail Brewing Company & Belleflower Brewing Co. (ME)
What: New England IPA
Story behind the collab: The brewers came together due to their love of NEIPAs and their connection to New England.Verboten Brewing & Peculiar Ales
What: Barrel-Aged Barleywine
Story behind the collab: The breweries came together in 2021 because of their mutual love of barrel-aged barleywines. This recipe is a big bold English-style barleywine that is then rested in Colorado small batch bourbon barrels for 18 months.Verboten Brewing & Liquid Mechanics Brewing
What: Munichwine
Story behind the collab: Wanting to make something unique, the breweries are using the same techniques to make a high alcohol barleywine, but mostly using Munich malts to create this style.Very Nice Brewing Company & BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse - Boulder
What: Porter Weisse
Story behind the collab: Both breweries have not brewed a Porter Weisse to date and thought it would be a unique offering in a sea of IPAs.WestFax Brewing Co. & Platte Park Brewing Co.
What: Maibock
Story behind the collab: Evan Beggs, Head Brewer for WestFax did his internship at Platt Park under Greg Matthews. They had a mutual interest in getting back together to make a more traditional beer style. They settled on a Maibock due to seasonality and clean drinkablity of the style.Wild Blue Yonder Brewing & Wandering Griffin Brewery
What: Belgian Brown Ale
Story behind the collab: The owner and head brewer, David Jennings, stopped by Wild Blue Yonder a few years ago. They stayed connected and decided to brew a fun beer for this festival featuring Wandering Griffin out of Ohio.Woods Boss Brewing Company and Fiction Beer Company
What: Australian Sparkling Ale
Story behind the collab: The brewers wanted to make something super clean and traditional and something that they had not done before. Bam! Australian Sparkling Ale! Some of the brewers had been to Australia before and remembered this style fondly and it’s one that you don't generally run across here in the Colorado.Wynkoop Brewing Co., Mirror Image Brewing Co, and Fermly Craft Beer Laboratory
What: Imperial Hazy IPA
Story behind the collab: An IPA to compete with the aroma of the vape haze lingering in the beard or wide-brimmed felt hat from the show at Red Rocks last night. In an effort to understand the rampant presence of Carhartt plaids and North Face Fleeces on the longest street in America, a scientific approach to the creation of this much-touted beer style was necessary. Putting their brewery beanies together, Mirror Image and Wynkoop, along with brewing laboratory Fermly, has collaborated to create Colfax Hipster.