Colorado and National Breweries “Collaborate” to Create One-time Brews for Beer Festival in the Mile High City

DENVER – Dec. 30, 2014 – More than 40 historic craft beers will be available on March 21, 2015 – and March 21 ONLY – when the Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG) and Imbibe Events host the second annual Collaboration Fest.

“The concept of Collaboration Fest is simple: two or more independent, award-winning breweries will collaborate together to create one beer, which will only be available at one place for one day,” said Imbibe co-founder Casey Berry.

The inaugural Collaboration Fest in 2014 created some historic pairings including a beer produced by all-female brewers and a memorable collaboration between Colorado’s Ska Brewing and Nynashamns Angbryggeri out of Sweden. Creating buzz already this year is a pairing from Denver’s TRVE Brewing Company and Orange County’s The Bruery that is a German-style wit, fermented with two kinds of wild yeast currently being aged with Lactobacillus in Chardonnay barrels.

Fitting the “champion” status of these beers, the 2015 Collaboration Fest will be held in the home of the Denver Broncos – Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

“The brewing industry is pretty tight, and a lot of brewers know each other either from previous jobs or by reputation, so they relish the chance to work together on these one-time creations,” said Steve Kurowski, director of marketing for the Colorado Brewers Guild. While more than 40 breweries from around Colorado are participating, several are collaborating with breweries outside the state, and some even outside the country. A few of these participants include: Stone Brewing and Mission Brewing Company (San Diego), Freetail Brewing Co. (San Antonio), DC Brau (Washington D.C.), Cigar City Brewing (Tampa), and Beavertown Brewery (London), among others.

“From Laurel & Hardy to Lennon & McCarthy, unusual collaborations have produced some memorable results, which is why VISIT DENVER is collaborating in this event,” said Richard Scharf, president & CEO of VISIT DENVER. “Beer is in Denver’s DNA, and we want to help support an event that will draw brewers, beer enthusiasts and visitors from around the nation to The Mile High City. This is an opportunity to taste one-of-a-kind, short-term creations that will be here for four hours, and then gone, in sort of the ‘Snapchat’ of the brewing industry,” Scharf said.

Current collaborators include:
· All Summit County Collaboration – The Bakers’ Brewery, Breckenridge Brewery, Backcountry Brewery, Dillon Dam Brewery, Broken Compass Brewing and Pug Ryans Brewing Company
· BJ’s BrewHouse – Boulder and Vindication Brewing Company
· Black Bottle Brewery, Zwei Bruder Brewing, Scrumpy’s Cider, Verboten Brewing and Trinity Brewing
· Boulder Beer and Cigar City Brewing
· Breckenridge Brewery and Starr Hill Brewery
· Big Choice Brewing Company and Wonderland Brewing
· Big Choice Brewing Company and 4 Noses Brewing
· CAUTION: Brewing Company, Hall Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing Company and Renegade Brewing
· Copper Kettle Brewing Company and Strange Craft Beer Company
· East Side Nano Brewers – FATE Brewing Company, BRU Handbuilt Ales and Wild Woods Brewery
· Epic Brewing Company and Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company
· FATE Brewing Company and Cannonball Creek Brewing Company
· FATE Brewing Company and Lost Highway Brewing Company
· FATE Brewing Company and Mission Brewing Company
· FATE Brewing Company and Yak & Yeti Brewing Company
· Front Range Brewing Company and Crystal Springs Brewing Co.
· Front Range Brewing Company, Echo Brewing Company and Gravity Brewing
· Kokopelli Beer Company and Pateros Brewing Company
· Lady Collab – Bootstrap Brewing, Strange Craft Beer Company, Wynkoop Brewing Company, Big Choice Brewing, Barrels & Bottles Brewing, CAUTION: Brewing Company
· Left Handing Brewing Company and Backcountry Brewery
· Odell Brewing Company and Beavertown (London)
· Oskar Blues Brewery and DC Brau Brewing Company
· Oskar Blues Brewery and Perrin Brewing Company
· Renegade Brewing Company and AC Golden
· Rockyard Brewing Company and Pagosa Brewing Company
· Sanitas Brewing Company and Dillon Dam Brewery
· Sanitas Brewing Company and Renegade Brewing Co.
· Sanitas Brewing Company and Wild Woods Brewery
· Sanitas Brewing Company, Renegade Brewing Co., Dillon Dam Brewery and The Bakers’ Brewery
· Ska Brewing and Stone Brewing
· Strange Craft Beer Company and Freetail Brewing Company
· TRiNiTY Brewing Company and Epic Brewing Company
· TRVE Brewing and Ska Brewing
· TRVE Brewing and The Bruery
· Twisted Pine Brewing Company and Blind Tiger Brewery
· Wit’s End Brewing Company and Colorado Cider Company
· Wit’s End Brewing Company and Strange Craft Beer Company

More collaborations are being added.

Denver has repeatedly been listed as one of the great beer cities of the world and is home to the world’s largest single brewing site (Coors Brewery) and the largest beer festival on the planet, the Guinness World Record-holding Great American Beer Festival, held in September with more than 600 breweries offering 3,000 different beers for tastings. “Colorado, The State of Craft Beer,” features some 38 breweries in just the City & County of Denver, more than 150 in the area between Denver, Boulder, Longmont and Fort Collins. On average, a new brewery opened in this area every other week in both 2013 and 2014.

Tickets are available for $50 (general admission) and $75 (Collaboration Fanatic VIP), and can be purchased at CollaborationFest.com. Use code VISITDENVER to get $10 off each ticket through January 4 (deal ends at 11:59 p.m. MST).

Make a weekend out of it! Take in Denver’s local beer culture with a craft brewery tour, enjoy a beer-paired dinner during Colorado Craft Beer Week (March 21-29) or taste your way through Denver’s beer scene with the Denver Beer Trail passport as your guide. Go to VISITDENVER.com to book great hotel deals for your weekend getaway in The Mile High City.