“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.
