Nationally-recognized craft brewery in Fort Collins, CO known for its saisons and sours. Small, but packs a punch!
The Safari Club was a night club in Fort Collins from 1962-1982 that apparently sold liquor under the table during Fort Collins' dry years.
Horse & Dragon is one of the more recent additions to Fort Collin's craft brewery scene.
Fort Collins Brewery was founded in 1992 and originally named H.C. Berger Brewery. The brewery was originally owned by Sandy and Karen Jones. Four years later, in 1996, the Joneses sold the brewery. For the next 6 years, the brewery went through a string of new owners until being purchased in 2004 by Tom and Jan Peters. Although it had started as a lager house, the brewery eventually added other beers styles such as ales. In 2010, the brewery expanded considerably, including moving to a 50-barrel brew house space and adding a restaurant called Gravity 1020. The brewery prospered for a few more years including adding a new beer lineup and a canning line. At its peak, the beer shipped to 17 states and employed 50 people. In 2017, the brewery sold yet again to Red Truck Beer Co. its current owners. Red Truck, founded in 2005 and based out of Vancouver, Canada, recognized that Fort Collins was the “epicenter” of craft brewing and therefore there was a market for them within the city.
This is the current location of Odell Brewing Company. Odell started in a 1915 grain elevator just down the street from this location.
In 1978 craft brewing became legalized in the U.S. causing a wave of craft brewing to spread. In Fort Collins, Jeff Lebesh and Kim Jordan began their homebrew. By 1991 they had founded New Belgium brewing; famous for its Fat Tire Ale. New Belgium represents the growing trend of craft brewing in Fort Collins, and that trend only grew from then on. Now Fort Collins is widely known as the Napa Valley of craft beer while boasting 23 breweries.
In May of 1878, Thomas J. Wilson opened the first saloon in Fort Collins just west of Collins House on Jefferson Street. He named it Bon-Ton Billiard Hall. This establishment sold wines, liquors, cigars, and the choicest brands of beer. It also had 3 Brunswick and Balke billiards tables for the entertainment of its customers. Due to anti-saloon and anti-alcohol sentiment, Bon-Ton Billiard Hall eventually had to close its doors.
Frank Stover was the first man to open a drugstore in the city of Fort Collins in 1888, but he sold more than just medicine. During the prohibition era, the Volstead act allowed the purchase of alcohol for medical or sacramental purposes. Stover's drugstore became the most common method for 'legally' obtaining alcohol during prohibition.
Built between 1917 and 1925, the drunk tank in Old Firehouse Alley was used initially as an overflow cell for the city jail of Fort Collins, Colorado. However, its original purpose remains unknown. Yet, the tank proved to be valuable to the city, as the city jail became over-populated. During Prohibition, which lasted between 1896 and 1969 in Fort Collins, it was used to detain drunks and non-violent offenders. By the mid-twentieth century, the tank became a perfect solution to the filling city jail, as it separated mild offenders from hardened criminals. Though its history after Prohibition is vague, it continues to stand this day as a monument to Fort Collins' dry years.
Ace Gillett's Northern Hotel used to serve alocohlic drinks during the city and eventually nation-wide prohibition under the table to travelers and Fort Collins residents alike.
Opened in 1989, the Old Colorado Brewing Co. was the first microbrewery in the city of Fort Collins. Located on the ground floor of the Northern Hotel in Old Town, it served as one of the forerunners during the micro-brewing revolution of the 1980s. While it is no longer running in Old Town, it is operational in nearby Wellington, Colorado.
Fort Collins Bottleworks was a business in Old Town run by Robert Miller. The store bottled soda and beer through the late 1800s until prohibition was enacted. During prohibition, Miller continued to bottle soda and other soft drinks, but police were suspicious of Miller when they found that alcohol was still being shuttled in tunnels around the area of the Bottleworks. In 1905, the police came into Miller's store with a search warrant and began seeking out possible bootlegging. Miller became enraged and threw a glass bottle at one of the officers. Startled, the officer turned around and promptly shot him in the heart. Miller was a beloved member of the Fort Collins community who had been a businessman in the city since its inception, and was grieved by many.
Town Pump, the first bar to receive an alcohol license during the city's Prohibition, remains a significant historical landmark in discovering the rich past of the Fort Collins' beer and brewing history.
The oldest pub-brewery in Fort Collins, Coopersmith's has rich history with the community and the craft beer culture of the town. Although Fort Collins has over 15 breweries today, at the time of Coopersmith's creation in 1989, Fort Collins only had six breweries. The pub is named after the founder, Scott Smith's, son Cooper. Scott sold off a majority of his ownership in 2014 to long time employees, keeping the rich tradition of the venue alive.
Fort Collins enacted Prohibition Laws in 1896. Colorado ended prohibition along with the rest of America in 1933, but Fort Collins still didn't allow full strength alcohol. Citizens continued to drink alcohol illegally in restaurants, clubs, and speakeasies. This proved to be a problem for Fort Collins businesses attempting to compete with nearby towns, especially as automobiles made travel easier. Fort Collins had legalized the sale of 3.2% beer but prohibition continued to hurt businesses. Finally, in October of 1969, Fort Collins City Council fully repealed prohibition laws. The first liquor license was granted to Les Ware, owner of the Top Restaurant on the top floor of the now-closed Rocky Mountain Bank and Trust Building. The end of prohibition in Fort Collins attracted attention from across the town and surrounding areas. Ware paid photographers to commemorate the event and cement the Top’s place in history. Reporters joined the celebration as well. According to a Coloradoan article covering the event, “The first legal drink of spirituous liquor sold in Ft. Collins since 1896 was served about 5:00 p.m. August 8.”
Equinox is one of the newest additions to Fort Collins’s rapidly expanding brewery market and opened in 2010. Their philosophy of making beer is to capture the essence of both traditional and non-traditional styles while providing a pub house location to socialize within the community.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This short tour through central and northeastern Fort Collins was created by selecting Clio entries created by Thomas Cauvin and his students at Colorado State University. The tour includes numerous current and former breweries as well as sites connected to the history of prohibition.
