Collaboration Fest Beer Stories
Photo courtesy of Nikki A. Rae Photography
Presented by On Tap Credit Union, Collaboration Fest is the original collaboration craft beer festival that pairs Colorado Brewers Guild member breweries with independent brewers near and far to create unique collaborations. This year the festival takes place on Saturday, April 19, 2025 from 2 to 6 p.m. at The Westin Westminster .
A record-breaking 180+ participating craft breweries, which include 31 out-of-state craft breweries and one brewery from Mexico, will be pouring 130+ collaboration beers.
Below are some beers to look out for as you navigate the festival:
Bent Barley Brewing and Lone Tree Brewing
Beer name: Zusammenator
Beer style: Doppelbock
Story behind the collaboration: Zusammenator is a play on the German penchant for naming Doppelbock-style beers with "ator.” The German word for together/collaborate is Zusammen, so...Zusammenator. This collaboration allowed some old friends and some new friends to come together to make a beer all can enjoy. Alles Zusammen!
A Bit Twisted Brewpub & BBQ and Monolith Brewing
Beer name: Smoked Pulled Pork Stout
Beer style: Experimental Stout
Story behind the collaboration: For this collaboration, smoked pork shoulder from A Bit Twisted will be tossed into the whirlpool portion of the brewing process. The breweries will be using smoked grains from Troubadour Maltings located in Fort Collins. This will be the same collaboration recipe as last year, but instead of using smoked brisket they will be using smoked pork
Coal Mine Ave Brewing Co., Chain Reaction Brewing Co., and Wild Sky Brewery
Beer name: Uncommon Link
Beer style: Raspberry Jalapeno Popper ale
Story behind the collaboration: Chain Reaction inspired the ventures of the people of Coal Mine and Wild Sky. Friends and their journeys continue to add links
Elevation Beer Co. and Salida Brewing Co
Beer name: Uncouth Spunding
Beer style: Munich Dunkel
Story behind the collaboration: A love of dark lagers and classic styles brought this beer to life
Grossen Bart Brewery and Bootstrap Brewing
Beer name: Pure Luck Weizenbock
Beer style: Weizenbock
Story behind the collaboration: Dan at Grossen Bart and Colin at Bootstrap have previously worked together. Now, the friends are blocks away from one another so Collaboration Fest was the perfect opportunity to brew a beer together. So they winged a Weizenbock off the hip, Pure Luck!
Mad Macks Brewing and Iron Rail Brewing (KS)
Beer name: Orxata Cream Ale
Beer style: Cream Ale
Story behind the collaboration: Horchata is a fine balance of cinnamon, sweet, cream. This will bring Horchata to beer life
Odell Five Points Brewhouse and Firestone Walker (CA)
Beer name: Wandering Don IPA
Beer style: American IPA
Story behind the collaboration: Firestone is brewing a larger batch of this collaboration at their place for a national release in May. Odell saw this as a great opportunity to brew a small batch version for the fest
Phantom Canyon Brewing Company and Carver Brewing Company
Beer name: DeGens Double IPA
Beer style: Double IPA
Story behind the collaboration: DeGens Double IPA is a bold and flavorful brew made entirely with West Slope Colorado ingredients, highlighting the best of local agriculture. What truly sets it apart is the brewers’ commitment to regenerative agriculture, using ingredients that not only enhance the beer’s quality but also support sustainable farming practices. This means every sip contributes to healthier soils, stronger ecosystems, and a more sustainable future for Colorado craft beer. This collaboration is special because it brings things full circle—one of Phantom Canyon’s team members began their brewing career at Carver Brewing and has a deep personal connection to Durango and its craft beer scene. Partnering with Carver felt like a natural fit, not just for the shared passion for locally sourced ingredients and sustainability, but also for the strong personal and professional ties between our breweries. DeGens Double IPA isn’t just another hoppy beer—it’s a love letter to Colorado’s West Slope and the hardworking farmers who make craft brewing possible. We want people to know that local sourcing and sustainability can go hand in hand with bold, delicious flavors
Primitive Beer and Brewery Novalis (NY)
Beer name: Human Construct
Beer style: SponSponBingBong Finished in Earl Grey Gin Casks
Story behind the collaboration: Human Construct is Primitive’s Golden Blend, a multi-year ensemble with a weighted average age >34 months at bottling, finished in Earl Grey Gin Casks from The Family Jones Distillery. Longtime friends Brewery Novalis in NY came out to select specific barrels for this collaboration. The brewers chose to blend puncheons of extra mature spon from batches that utilized high hopping rates and extra long marathon boils (>12hrs boil time) to match caramelization flavors of burnt honey, toasted orange peel, and toffee, to meld with finishing cask notes reminiscent of bright and lively candied lemon, spicy black tea, and undertones of cedar and smoke. When you bring fellow blenders of SponSponBingBong together, magical mixtures emerge, as arbitrary boundaries are just a Human Construct!
Primitive Beer and Cohesion Brewing
Beer name: Stable of Stars
Beer style: SponSponBingBong Dry Hopped with Žatec Saaz
Story behind the collaboration: Primitive Beer presents Stable of Stars, a very special collaboration with their best friends Cohesion Brewing Company. Departing from Primitive’s traditional recipe, they brewed a 100% malted barley and Czech Saaz hopped wort for inoculation in our koelschip and two years of barrel maturation on lees. Stable of Stars was dry hopped with Czech Saaz cones prior to packaging and conditioned with fresh barley wort at a weighted average age of 24 months. Inspired by a unique spontaneously fermented all-barley beer released by our favorite Lambic producer in the city of Brussels and directed by the beautiful lucidity of Czech Pale Lager, Stable of Stars is a great addition to any gathering, even if there's no, like, cute restaurants in the neighborhood
Prost Brewing and Templin Family Brewing (UT)
Beer name: Wet Hop Pilsner
Beer style: Pilsner
Story behind the collaboration: For this brew, the brewers used wet hop Spalter Select hops from a farm in Germany. The process will be open fermented, horizontally lagered, naturally carbonated and polish filtered. Templin Family Brewing and Prost both specialize in traditional brewing and this was an excellent opportunity to showcase that shared love for a clean complex lager bier
Telluride Brewing and Good People Brewing (AL)
Beer name: Moe's Original GoodRide Lager
Beer style: West Coast Pils
Story behind the collaboration: West Coast Pils brewed with Cryo-Columbus, Krush and Nectaron. This is a celebration of Telluride Launching distribution in Alabama, Western Georgia and the Panhandle of Florida!
Two22 Brew and A Bit Twisted Brewpub & BBQ
Beer name: Stone Cold Steve Aspen
Beer style: Aspen Wood aged Steinbier Lager
Story behind the collaboration: The collaboration grew from a conversation over a Two22 “Old Cluster Fuggle” Barrel Aged Barleywine one evening. The brewers thought the “Hot Rock” technique would be interesting and using Aspen wood for aging
Vicious Cycle Brewing Company and Rule 105 Brewing
Beer name: Hop-tato
Beer style: Potato Lager
Story behind the collaboration: Neither brewer has ever brewed a potato lager, so they figured Collab Fest is a great time to try something new
Zwei Brewing Co. and Mythmaker Brewing Co.
Beer name: KirschRauchHellerBock
Beer style: Rauchbier
Story behind the collaboration: Custom Cherry wood smoked Malt used in a classic Hellerbock