Today, March 21, is the first day of Colorado Craft Beer Week. Last year, the Colorado Brewers Guild took over this week-long celebration of the state’s beer and immediately involved Colorado’s 200+ breweries, craft beer-savvy restaurants and bars, and local organizations to host events in beer week’s honor. More than fifty special tappings, seminars, parties, beer dinners, and other events went on in its very first year.
“Craft Beer Week in Colorado is a somewhat recent phenomenon,” says John Carlson, the executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild. “Colorado brewers have been hanging out with one another informally since the late 1980s. It’s our pioneering spirit that forms the glue. Lately, we have been stepping up our game and really put on a statewide celebration during Colorado Craft Beer Week.”
One year later, Colorado Craft Beer Week has doubled in size and gained some serious stakeholders, including Colorado’s lawmakers. Liberal alcohol legislation in the state and the “craft-conscious” Governor Hickenlooper (who was one of the original founders of Wynkoop Brewing in 1988) have helped to put craft beer on the political map. And now, it’s on tap.
As of today, Colorado Governor’s Mansion is the first official governor’s residence in the country with its own draft beer system. The mansion will host a special ribbon-cutting gathering tonight, pouring the first pints of the new drafts and launching Colorado Craft Beer Week.
photo.JPGAnother first for Colorado is the Collaboration Festival that takes place tomorrow at Denver’s Curtis Hotel (pictured at left, Pink Boots Society's brewing day for their collaboration beer). This keystone Colorado Craft Beer Week event will feature more than thirty-five Colorado collaboration beers, each one created by at least one Colorado Brewers Guild member, with other participating breweries coming from as far away as Nynäshamns, Sweden.
“Collaboration Fest was created to showcase the camaraderie between craft brewers near and far,” says Colorado Brewers Guild Manager Steve Kurowski. “The idea of working with another brewer to create a special beer just for this event is truly unique. I'm pretty sure this is the only event of its kind in the country and probably the world.”
Dave Thibodeau, Ska Brewing’s president and co-founder, also weighed in on Collaboration Fest. “You know that moment at a music festival when one of your favorite musicians joins another great band on stage? I think that's what excites people about collaboration beers in general, and this is the only festival in the world where you’re going to see dozens of those kinds of beers all in one place at one time.”
image002Colorado Craft Beer Week also includes the New Kids On The Block party, an eighties dance-off serving beer from breweries that have opened within the past two years, as well as Hops and Handrails, a rail jam and beer festival at Left Hand Brewing.
“Living in the state of craft beer [the Colorado Brewers Guild’s tagline], we feel responsible to spread the good word about our brewers and beer. We do that during Colorado Craft Beer Week. Look for it to be something special no matter whether it’s in Durango, Denver, Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, Boulder, Louisville, Pagosa Springs, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Telluride, Ridgway, or Longmont. It’s got a regional twist but it’s all good.”