Colorado’s Collab Fest: Unique Beers for a Unique Festival

The Collab Fest in Colorado is one of the most inclusive, community building beer festivals in the craft beer world. It’s another great reason why we love Colorado and the craft beer community that permeates the Centennial State.

(Feature photo by Ryan Cox Photography)

If you’ve followed us at Living a Stout Life for any amount of time, you know that we are all about the community that craft beer and good friends fosters. We didn’t invent that by any means, it’s something innately inherent in craft beer that we love. Still, the Colorado craft beer community has its own unique character thanks in large part to so many people that put so much time and effort into it.

You often read or hear us talk about beer festivals. That’s largely because of the people around which these festivals resonate. This is particularly so in Colorado, where the Colorado Brewers Guild works tirelessly to connect the state’s brewers with one another and the craft beer fans that enjoy their creations. 

What is Colorado Collab Fest?

Established in 2014, the Colorado Collab Fest in one of the guild’s biggest fundraisers. It allows them to continue their mission to “promote, protect, and propel independent craft breweries in the State of Craft Beer through advocacy, community, education, and public awareness.” The majority of Colorado’s 400-plus breweries are members of the guild.

Aside from fundraising to support the Guild’s efforts, Collab Fest has become an integral part of Colorado’s beer landscape by encouraging Colorado brewers to come together with other brewers both near and far to create unique, one-off beers. These beers are available exclusively at the Collab Fest beer festival.

This opportunity not only brings brewers together at the festival itself, but entices them to work together in the weeks leading up to the fest to create their unique libations. While collaborating isn’t rare among Colorado brewers, Collab Fest is just the nudge a brewery might need to finally get together with another brewery they’ve been longing to make a beer with.

What wild brews are on the 2024 Collab Fest Beer List?

Every year brings new offerings. The 2024 Collaboration Fest Beer List showcases around 145 unique brews from more than 180 craft breweries.

The 2022 CollabFest featured a ramen beer, a Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich beer, and a Szechuan Chile Tamarind IPA, and host of others. The 2023 collab beer list featured 130-plus beers brewed by at least 175 breweries. On tap in 2023 was everything from a Mochi Sour to a Belgian Quad brewed with maple syrup and sugar maple wood spirals, and several beers including mushrooms.

Not to be outdone, 2024 features a wide array of wild beer styles, unearthed historical treasures, and even a few traditional beers. A Tiramisu Churro Stout and Belgina Wit with “buzz button” flowers is on offering. As is a Raspberry Cotton Candy Kölsch and a French Saison brewed with beets. Don’t miss some of the historical styles, such as a Finnish Sahti, Polotmavý open fermentation Czech Lager, or the Kartoffelbier potato lager.

The Colorado Collab Fest in 2024 backs its recognition as one of the best brew fests in the world by including more than 22 breweries from out of state or even outside the United States. There are breweries from New Jersey to California to Texas to Japan participating in the 2024 beer festival in Colorado.

Check out the 2024 Colorado Brewers Guild CollabFest Beer List

Why attend the Colorado Collab Fest Beer Festival?

Shouldn’t amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, funky beers be enough reason to attend Colorado’s Collaboration Festival? Well, yeah, that should be enough reason. But wait, there’s more!

As craft beer geeks, there is a tremendous element of community in drinking good beer together. That’s taken to another level at Collab Fest, where we get to explore all the creative concoctions that aren’t always feasible for brewers to produce on an everyday commercial level.

That also leads to another element of our beer geekiness: exploring these unique brews with the folks that created them. The Colorado Brewers Guild has long inspired the craft community to commingle at its Brewers Rendezvous every summer and at Collab Fest in the spring, amongst several other initiatives. 

Off all of the Colorado beer festivals, these two unique brew fests are widely known for drawing the brewers themselves out from behind their mash tuns. From up-and-coming prodigies to established pioneers, most of the brewers that made these distinctive drinks will be in attendance, sipping alongside you. 

You can pick their brains or simply enjoy their company. Whatever your craft beer fancy, the Colorado Collab Fest is one of our “can’t miss” brew fests. We strongly encourage any beer lover to attend it at least once. You will not be disappointed.

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