Two Reasons I Love Fort Collins

I was treated to another visit from my good friends Monte & Aubrey this weekend, as they did their best to distract me from painting the rest of my house and preparing it for miss liz's big move in tomorrow, and did a fine job of it at that.


Their strategy? A pair of brewery tours. Curses, my only weakness!

So, we piled into the mini and found our way to the New Belgium tasting room (pictured) and the Odells Brewery, each about a mile apart and only 2 miles from my house.

The tour at New Belgium was great, and they have some amazing facilities. Once in the tasting room, you get to select four of the brews they have on tap (for free!!) and enjoy. For the sake of lists and rankings, of both of which i am fond, i shall share what i partook from worst to best:

(4th) La Folie Wood Aged Sour Brown Ale

And they weren't lying. Smelled like vinegar or turned cider, very very tart and almost hard to drink. Almost like drinking a sweet-tart, to be honest, that was how it puckered your whole mouth. Interesting taste, but, i had difficulty finishing the sample.




(3rd) Mothership Wit Organic Wheat

The wheat beer was my first love, but this version of it wasn't really my cup of tea. Firstly, the aroma smelled of Urine. Seriously! Taste was crisp and lemony at first, but over the whole draw grew linear and simply ok, not that great. I prefer the unfiltered wheats.




(2nd) Abbey Grand Cru

Mmm.. Phenomenal! A dark belgian with a robust woody taste and a super smooth finish. Un-purchasable, sadly, so i will have to return for another free tasting.





(1st) Lips of Faith Belgian Stout

If i had to pick, this was 3/4 Belgian ale, 1/4 Stout. Winner of the day's tasting, had a lighter taste than it looked and finished with a little zip to boot. wunderful.





Our next stop was the Odell's Brewery, and i enjoyed a tasty Easy Street Wheat as we were taken around their plant. Surprisingly, Odells is roughly only a quarter the size of New Belgium, but still makes some of my favorite beers. They had a nice patio and a book fare next weekend that i may simply have to attend.

All in all, it is safe to say that if you ever come to visit us in the Fort, you won't be too hard pressed to get me to tag along to these wonderful places. I mean, if i had to.