Six Colorado breweries made it on the Brewers Association's list of top 50 craft brewing companies, based on sales volume in 2007.

New Belgium Brewing Co. of Fort Collins ranked highest on the craft brewing trade group's list, behind only top-ranked Boston Beer Co. of Boston and second-ranked Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. of California. All three had the same rankings last year.  read more »

Brewery
Date and time reviewed: Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:06:57 EDT

Overall Score: 90.0
Selection: 4.5 | Service: 4.5 | Atmosphere: 4.5 | Food: N/A

Reviewer: cghscamel

Odells is right around the corner from the better known New Belgium but that does not make it a lesser product. Each of the local breweries here in FC have their own identity and personality which is wonderful for the beer consumer.

Odells is a nice size brewery that is growing and trying to keep within its philosophy that smaller batch beer has something to say for itself rather than overloading the beer drinker. The have a constant menu of beers that are available for tasting along with a pilot tray that changes about every month. As other reviewers have mentioned, they are very active in the community with a a way for the customers to support local charities while enjoying their fine products. They had a great small batch variety beerfest last May on their property and I am waiting for the dates for this spring. Nice affair with beer and food at very reasonable costs. Live music made for an afternoon of why Colorado is close to paradise. Music is usually available one day a week at the tasting room. Tours are a couple of hours each day. Staff is very knowledgeable along with degee of friendliness that they are known for. Pretty nice to live here in FC where there are an abundance of breweries and brewpubs that compete with one another but at the same time support each other and get along fairly well. Give Odells a try and you will not be disappointed. Only issue ever is with parking since their front lot is limited, but I see now that they are encouraging parking on the dirt lot right behind the brewery. Well, there has to be some room for improvement.  read more »

Im one of those dwindling NEW BELGIUM BREWING partisans, dwindling at least in the sphere of craft-beer dorks, who see the wide availability and continued high drinkability of FAT TIRE as some kind of sacrilege. Having recently completed a round of trying out all of the key macro micros again, I believe that Fat Tire is the best of the bunch, beating my old favorite Anderson Valley Boont Amber and other 1990s studs like Pyramid Hefeweizen for sheer, good-time beer enjoyment.  read more »

The popularity of drinks festivals is immense. People pack events like the Great American Beer Festival because they are great places to sample a huge range of new brands and reacquaint one's self with old favorites. There are a number of events coming up that are worth attending. Here are just a few:

Whiskey Fest in Chicago, April 4: The folks at Malt Advocate bring together 200 of the world's finest, rarest, and most expensive, single malt and blended Scotch, Irish, Bourbon, Tennessee, Japanese, Welsh, Canadian and other whiskies from around the world for one night. General admission tickets for the event are $110 and you can get early admission VIP entry for just $150. Besides all of the whiskey, you will also find sipping rums, Tequila and beer. During the evening a number of seminars are held with distillery representatives taking guests through sensory experiences while providing history, humor and hard to find samples of great whiskey.  read more »

Colorado's New Belgium Brewing Company plans to offer its flagship Fat Tire Amber Ale this summer from something other than the tap or glass bottles: aluminum cans. via KRDO-TV Colorado Springs