Odell Brewing

About Odells:
Doug Odell’s passion for crafting great beer started in his kitchen in Seattle. After the demand for his home-brew grew, Doug-along with his wife Wynne-searched for a good location to take Doug’s passion commercial. They moved to Fort Collins to be closer to Doug’s sister, Corkie, who quickly joined forces with them in opening the brewery in 1989.

After brewing and kegging his beer, Doug would deliver it, pick up empties, and make sales calls out of his old mustard-colored Datsun pickup. Our original brewery was located in an old grain elevator built in 1915, and was the second microbrewery to open in the state of Colorado. This brewery employed four floor levels to gravity-feed its beer from a 15-barrel brew kettle into open fermentation tanks, through cellaring and into draft kegs, the only package then offered.

During the first five years, the popularity of our hand-crafted ales grew so much that we needed a larger facility to meet the increasing demand. Thus a whole new brewery, with the current 50-barrel brewhouse, was built in 1994.

After a 6 year commitment to an all-draft product, we began bottling beers in 1996. A 10,500 square foot addition was needed to accommodate the addition of the new Krones bottling line. In 1997, the five barrel pilot system (one tenth the size of our main brewing system) was brought in to give the brewers a place to create and innovate in small batches. The Odell brewers are still creating new recipes, trying out different yeasts and practicing new techniques on this system, with the best results ending up on draft in the Tap Room.

We have invested significantly over the years to research new hop exposure processes, searching for ways to deliver the optimal flavor and aroma profiles to our selection of beers. The result, our delectable 5 Barrel Pale Ale, hopped in 8 stages with 6 different hops, and our newest member of the family, IPA, hopped in 7 stages with 6 different hops.

Today, Odell Brewing Co. also offers five different keg sizes and half-gallon draft jugs (available only at the brewery). Come visit us anytime, on Lincoln Avenue just three quarters of a mile east of downtown Fort Collins.

We currently produce at an annual rate of approximately 40,000 barrels. Odell beers are available in bars, restaurants, and liquor stores throughout Colorado, and in Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Missouri.

Contact Info
Odell Brewing Co.
800 East Lincoln Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80524
Phone: 970-498-9070
888-887-2797
Odell Web Site

 

New Belgium Brewery

About Us:
We’ll set the scene.
1989. Belgium. Boy on bike. (Ok, make that a young man of 32).

As our aspiring young homebrewer rides his mountain bike with “fat tires” through European villages famous for beer, New Belgium Brewing Company was but a glimmer in his eye. Or basement. For Jeff Lebesch would return to Fort Collins with a handful of ingredients and an imagination full of recipes.

And then there was beer.

Jeff’s first two basement-brewed creations? A brown dubbel with earthy undertones named Abbey and a remarkably well-balanced amber he named Fat Tire. To say the rest was history would be to overlook his wife’s involvement. Kim Jordan was New Belgium’s first bottler, sales rep, distributor, marketer and financial planner.

And now, she’s our CEO.

Electrical engineer meets social worker; ideals flourish

The other side of the New Belgium story isn’t as romantic as bicycling through Europe, but it gives testament to our dedication and hard work. And it goes like this: Jeff, an electrical engineer by day and tinkerer by nature, builds a homebrewing kit in his basement out of repurposed dairy equipment. His Belgian inspired brews garnered enough praise from friends and neighbors that Jeff and Kim take their basement brewery commercial in 1991.

Kim, social worker by day and mother to two always, began the marketing process by knocking on their neighbor’s door. Anne Fitch was that neighbor and her watercolors are the artwork we continue to use on our labels today. With labeled bottles and local encouragement, the first Belgian-style beers brewed in the United States were officially for sale.

What else continues today? The ideals that Kim and Jeff built New Belgium Brewing Company on, from their basement operation to our first brewery in a railroad depot to our current sustainable home on 50 acres.

Contact Us:
New Belgium Brewing Company
500 Linden Fort Collins, Colorado 80524 USA
1-888-NBB-4044 or locally at 970-221-0524
New Belgium Web Site

 

Boulder Beer

About Us:
In 1979 two CU professors applied for and received the 43rd brewing license issued in the United States creating the Boulder Beer Company, Colorado’s first microbrewery.

Contact Us:
Boulder Beer
2880 Wilderness Place
Boulder, Colorado
303-444-8448
303-444-4796
Boulder Beer Website

 

Revolution Brewing

About Us:
We are a family-owned and family-run business. We believe in good beer, good cheer and local pride. We dream of growing all our own ingredients locally and currently purchase all we can as close to the brewery as possible.

We started a brewery because we love to brew. The brewery is Mike’s second home — and you’ll generally find him there brewing something. Our beer is brewed daily to provide the freshest flavors and widest variety we possibly can.

At Revolution Brewing we hand-craft our beer in small batches in and for the community of Paonia, Colorado. We are focusing on a quality revolution. About making it great…one beer at a time.
‘Cause after all, fresh is good. Come join the revolution.

Contact Us:325 Grand Avenue
Paonia, CO 81428
(970) 527-3304
Revolution Brewing Website

 

The “Piaget” Beer Gauge

About:
When your local pubs say they are selling you a pint of beer, you should get a pint (i.e., 16 oz). Not 12 oz or even 14 oz, but 16 oz of beer. A “pint” is a standard U.S. liquid measure, or precisely 16 oz of liquid.

As it turns out, the majority of the volume in a standard US pint glass is in the relatively small height in the top part of the glass. In fact, if a beer is poured to within about 1/2 inch from the top, 13% of the beer is GONE. If the beer is poured to about one inch from the top of the glass, an astonishing 25% of the beer is missing from your pint.

Contact Information:
Three Phase Designs, LLC
306 29th Street
Boulder, CO 80305
USA
email: thebeergauge@yahoo.com
Phone: 303-499-9776
The Beer Gauge Web Site