Every November we have a cornucopia-shaped basket out on the bar with some slips of paper and pens.  Folks who come in are welcome to write down things for which they're thankful, and fill the basket with leaves of gratitude by Nov. 30.  Here're this year's leaves:

Love this brewery!  All the way from Orlando, FL!
For family (blood), family (by choice), & family (who love unconditionally).  Luvs.
Family – the good, bad & ugly – all of it.  Love family.
My family <3
Family happy people good life smiles NATURE beer herbal refreshments!
Tim.
Gratitude for all of you at Horse & Dragon!  Thank you!
Thanks for H&D.
McKenzie’s sense of humor –
I am thankful for my amazing wife!
The loving people who surround & support me!  I feel so thankful & lucky!
I am thankful for the beautiful mountains!
Thanks for Sad Panda!
I’m thankful for…  my rock, my wife, my companion.l  My joy, my daughter, my reason to be better.
Dogs, friends, and a job I <3.
So thankful to live in a safe town with kind people  JW
Fresh and tasty beer.
Zane!
I’m thankful for my lady tribe (M,U, R, L)
I love Claire.
My husband.
I can still survive & live a happy life regardless of my degenerate gambling habits!
Thankful for the genuine smiles and beautiful energy of this local gem.  <3 Gobble gobble.
I’m thankful for Dat Ass (KB’s) and her ability to bridge the gap.
We are all blessed in more ways than we know…. Thankful.  <3
I’m thankful for great beer and great friends.  You guys rock!!  <3
Sam
I’m thankful for dat ass.  à
Thankful for family & love.  Free!  Taco!!  (not sure about that last, but I think it says Taco!)
Everyone’s individual stories and lessons.
Happy shay thanksing.  Love Aylo. [lovely childhood script here]
So thankful to live 1.5 miles from H&D!  -- The F’s
Thankful for wool socks and cold weather and friends made here!  -- S
For my amazing friends who are so supportive & keep me happy.
Thankful for Ashleigh’s Zoolander
I am thankful for Animal House events!
Eddie, beer, sunshine, friends, health, and loose women.  J
Rob is thankful that Claire is awesome!
I love love love Claire
Our family + our H&D family + also baseball.  [We suspect a certain H&D-er on this one!]
I am thankful for Titus.
Thankful for the last (almost)  yrs in Colorado!  2 births, one marriage, and an amazing life!
Happy Thanksgiving<3 You Rock!
The 800 things Trina does.
Thankful for a great place like FoCo
I’m thankful for my wife being home!  OXOXOXO
To be on this side of the dirt.
I am ever so thankful for my friends Nancy & Forrest.  <3
Fime!  For friends & family.
I’m thankful for my family and friends.
Thankful for [drawing that looks possibly like breasts?]
Thankful for Jesus, Hope, Zoe & Kathy.
I am thankful for BMX
Feed me!
Claire & all the lovely folks at H&D!  My family <3  My buttercup <3  Turtles & wine!
I am thankful for the very pretty umbrellas here.  – A, 7 yrs.
Grateful for Claire’s sunny welcome to all.
I am thankful for friends.
Thankful for Claire’s smile!
Me toooo…. I love Claire.
Scott’s energy and positive attitude about whatever needs to be done and life in general.
Life – with all its weirdness.
Luke’s going the extra mile for H&D.
I’m thankful that people are thankful for my ass.  XOXO  Gossip Girl
For Carol’s passion & dedication.
For the chance to visit great friends & drink great beer!
Family!  Fun beer joints!
I’m thankful to spend Thanksgiving in FoCo for the 1st time since 1996  <3
Nov. ’18 We’re thankful for our family, for our friends, for good food, good beer and a place to live.
I luv Claire.
50 wonderful years on the planet.  Experiencing all that life brings my way.
My babies.  My dogs.  Being a foster mama.
Thankful for:  dads who sacrifice everything.  Moms who have midnight conversations.  Brothers who take huge, scary risks.  Husband who reminds me who I am when I forget. 
I’m thankful for my daughter and my health!  Cheers!
So grateful for great daughters who do their best in life, treat others with dignity, support so many friends and family members, and make us laugh out loud.
I am thankful for such a wonderful place to grab a beer.  Cheers.
Those who planted trees many years ago, and those who plant and protect them today!
Great friends and fun memories.  <3
 
 Cheers to you all!

Our bottling line, Piper, arrived!

They didn't send the proper fittings to get beer in there!

Josh & Nicola are inventive, resourceful souls.  They wangled a fix and we managed to get some beer in there! 

The labeler (that date stamps and applies labels to bottles) hates our labels.  It thinks the label stops before the label actually does.  This causes all manner of havoc. 

​

Proving yet again that craft beer folk is good folk, at about 4pm on Friday (of a 3-day weekend, no less), we gave up on the labeler for the moment but still wanted to test the filler for a full batch of beer before Nicola flew out if we could.  We texted a few folks.  On a moment's notice, a dozen of them showed up to hand-label bottles so that we could run the filler.  This is where all the fun comes in, so here's a basic pictorial view of the haps:

These fine folk hand-labeled 2 full pallets of bottles (>2500 bottles total).  ROCKIN'! 
[There's a joke in there about how many people it takes to do the job of one labeler --]

​

Here's how it went.  Only a lot slower.  [Thanks Liz of 363 Photography for the time-lapse videos!]

First full bottle off the line!

​

Attitude makes all the difference.

"But how will I know if I buy one of these first-run, TLC-infused-hand-applied-label Sad Pandas?" you ask.
None of these bottles have a date stamp on them.  The "BOTTLED JUST FOR YOU ON:" box is sadly devoid of all print.  Y'all just have to know that if you find a bottle like this out in the wild (or more likely, in the tasting room), it was bottled on 1/12/18.   Also, unless you get one labeled by Trina, you'll find a bubble or two in that there hand-applied label.  [See the video above to see why Trina's have zero bubbles.]  Next round should have the date stamp.
​
We're all about fresh beer, so when we get up and running, please let us know if you ever find an H&D out there that doesn't merit the #freshtastycraftbeer hashtag.

Here we all were right before we broke for pizza.

​

The filler quit on us after about half the bottles were filled.  A day-long diagnostic session on Saturday indicates that the wrong-sized motor was installed and it just plumb wore out after 3 hours (hey hey!  That's what a test run is all about!).  This means, sadly, that no more bottling will take place for a few weeks.

​

There's a new motor on the way!  It'll be installed, we hope, within a month (along with a labeler that senses our fun and colorful labels better, all of us who spent Friday evening here fervently hope).  In the meantime, we will continue to serve up #freshtastycraftbeer to a bar or restaurant near you and continue raising our glasses to small, independent craft!

​If you're on our mailing list, you already got this info, so you can skip this post!

​GABF WEEK IS HERE!  
(So what does that mean?)
We LOVE the week surrounding the Great American Beer Festival.  See?

After our first year's feedback, we take the judging with a giant grain of salt. This year we entered only one of our beers for judging (Picnic Rock Pale Ale, if you're asking, because it was freshest when they needed samples to be dropped off a month ago and stored who-knows-how until judges sample it next week).  We submitted this so that we could participate and pour at the Great Hall for the festival and be a part of this awesome celebration full of people who have committed their futures to craft and full of people who support these small companies.   We also applied to enter Jon Schiller's "Atta Boy, Jon!" Märzen in the Pro-Am competition and got in off the waitlist when some folks couldn't get their beers here in time.

So for us, the festival is not about the competition and awards ceremony [though big ups to the folks who win medals, for sure!].  If we ever are on the receiving end of the crapshoot, we will celebrate and you'll no doubt hear about it.  But in the meantime, we'll be in the Meet the Brewers Hall, having a blast talking with folks who love craft beer, who are willing and eager to give ours a try, and who make the whole week a celebration.

If you live here or can make it to FoCo, starting tomorrow (Saturday) in the taproom we'll be serving a 4-pack flight with the option to rate the beers as to how well they fit the official GABF category in which they would be entered. We'll have make-your-own pretzel necklaces available (festival-goers wear fantastical ones.  e.g.: ​

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT, AND TO FISH FOR GIVING US A SPECIAL EVENING!
(We're already looking forward to next year!)

Each November, we leave out some paper leaves and pens on the bar, and folks leave thankful notes back.  Below are this year's take on what people wrote they were thankful for.  We censored a couple (but we're happy you're thankful for those things!).  Otherwise, they're presented here exactly as we read them on the leaves, in random order of how they were pulled out of the cornucopia basket.

We wanted to take the opportunity to let the person who wrote simply, "Nothing" on one of the leaves that, if you're serious, reading this, and feel down about having nothing for which to be thankful, please give SummitStone Health Partners a call at 970-494-4200 or walk in to FoCo's new Crisis Walk-In Services Center at 1217 Riverside Ave. in FoCo.  There are great people there who know how to help you get help.

Here's the list.  We love it.

PUPPIES
 
Friends, community, bike rides, rock climbing!
 
Momma & pretzels.
 
Warm fall days, Sad Panda, Koz, Abby, Chadwick & books.  – Mar
 
Liz & Hayden & Scott
 
You!  <3
 
I am very thankful for family time & my wonderful daughters.  Especially for visits with Jordan & meeting Claire.  – Mama Buney
 
My love, my family, my faith, my health/pets. – Michelle R.
 
My dog Remi, and oh yeah.  My boyfriend.
 
The election is almost over!!!  This beer is delicious.  The weather is lovely – if not terrifying.  I’m healthy and my family and friends are alive and well.  This back patio is MAGIC. 
 
That the election is almost over!
 
The election is over.
 
Cerveza y buenas amigas!
 
Family, beer, happiness.
 
Horse & Dragon.
 
I’m thankful for precious friends old and new.  For new adventures and for love.  Thanks for the memories, CO!  - LV
 
My husband, dog, family, country, beer, and the beautiful life I have.
 
Claire’s smiling face on a Sunday afternoon!
 
Family – Friends - & GOOD BEER.
 
I’m so thankful for this place!  Love H&D and its staff!  - Stan & Dave.
 
I’m thankful for my best friend Kristin.
 
Health, curiosity, learning, and a spectacular partner.
 
I am thankful that I have the opportunity to teach the future generation, live in beautiful CO, for my family, friends, sun, snow, and baseball. 
 
Thankful for an amazing visit to Fort Collins from London, England.  – Can & Louise
 
I’m thankful for my family, friends, dogs, & a warm home to go home to!
 
Buenas amigas, familia, cerveza, Colorado, y H&D!
 
I am thankful for the chance to live in the AMAZING City of Fort Collins!!
 
Family – Laura
 
I am thankful for friends from near and far who make life brighter just by existing.  Also thankful that the far friends take time to visit!
 
I love your cards.
 
I’m thankful for my kitty Mr. Noodle.
 
Friends Family H&D
 
Scotty & Chauncey
 
Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren
 
We are SO THANKFUL for SAD PANDA!  - The Blantons
 
My family and friends.
 
Fabulous friends!
 
Avie.
 
I’m thankful for my family & friends.
 
Great kids to teach, great people to work with, and lovely days off. 
 
Thankful that I am standing in Horse & Dragon having a BEER!
 
My family, my love, my health, my life.  – [illegible]
 
Amazing friends and good beer.
 
Kittens & puppies.  Meow.  Woof!  Woof!
 
I am thankful for a great boss.
 
Estoy agradecida por Pao y Anto, que nos visitan!  Las amo mucho!
 
My sister (and best friend!)
 
My friends who are my family.
 
Awesomeness coolness amazingness. 
 
My awesome hubby, my Great Dane, adventures & friends.
 
For a year full of love and happiness.
 
My amazing family, boyfriend, & friends!  Our country & freedom!  - Alexis B. from PA
 
LIFE
 
You.
 
Good beers.
 
“Have you seen my BASEBALL?”  - what a great line!
 
Family, friends, Disney & booze!
 
School
 
I am thankful for all the people who support minority groups and stand up to oppression.
 
Piper.
 
Thankful for friends, family, craft beer and the people who support it!  - Aaron
 
I’m thankful for this beautiful bountiful land – mountains and plains.
 
My family!
 
For friends from far away and years ago who make the effort to stay connect – and who visited!
 
My God my family my love of my life.
 
I’m thankful for my family like Mom + Dad.  - Daniel
 
Saskia.
 
Willie Kincaid.
 
I’m thankful for culturally loyal towns like Ft. Collins that create a bubble that outsiders can experience and proliferate into their own towns through story and love.  Thank you!
 
My dog Marty.
 
My best friend and lover Carrie.
 
I’m thankful for Channing Tatum and the [illegible].
 
Hot Pockets.
 
Sunday Brew Crew!  You da best!
 
Moab, Utah!
 
I’m thankful to live in a community that gives back and moves forward.
 
Friends, family, and good beer.
 
I’m thankful for good friends, good family, and good beer.
 
Grateful to share a cola with my boy!
 
DOGS!
 
I’m thankful for friends & family.
 
My family.
 
I’m thankful for friends, family, and good beer!  - Marisa
 
Family, food, friends, break.
 
Elk.
 
My dog Chini!
 
Sunshine & sunscreen.
 
Having 2 legs I can walk & run with.
 
I am so thankful for family.  My 2 boys are the best!
 
Great beer and great company!
 
CATS!!
 
Your tasty beer & gracious spirits.
 
Colorado Rockies 2017 World Series Champs!
 
Thankful for Daddy’s birthday!
 
My brother
 
KCCO Chive on!
 
Thank God for Mexican vacations
 
Thankful for beautiful fall weather, my wife, kids & dogs.  – Ben B.
 
Living in a family friendly, fun, engaging town!  W/ Horse & Dragon in it!
 
Family that loves me!
 
H&D
 
Haystack Jones, Trinasauras Rex, & Claire.  Saturday Squad for the win!
 
I heart Eddie & Sage.
 
An amazing, smart, healthy, beautiful little girl.
 
Being here with my family!  THX 2016  Not So Drab!
 
Making it to 30!
 
My fur babies.
 
Thankful for Arlo James!
 
I am thankful for BEER!
 
My amazing girlfriend.
 
My girlfriend Marina who I met in Fort Collins.
 
My beautiful amazing son and his wonderful hospitality.
 
Percoset.
 
Good people.  They’re hard to come by anymore.
 
I am thankful for my school. – Gerhardt
 
My sense of self.  Without it, I’m just another damn dirty ape.
 
Rockies 2017 World Champs.
 
My awesome neighbors!!  - Troubadour
 
Thankful for a horse, a dragon, and 2 perfect granddaughters.  – MoTD
 
My most excellent wife.
 
America.
 
We are thankful for true friends like the Cochrans.
 
Istria & Mark LOVE
 
My family.
 
I am thankful for my friends and family.
 
I’m damn thankful for BEER.
 
I’m thankful that we are (I hope) going to live through this – God willing and the creek don’t rise.
 
So thankful for my amazing husband and our wonderful life together.
 
CarolCo TimCo TrinaCo TatumCo
 
Beer!
 
Thankful for great beers and nice friends!  (and snow!)
 
I’m thankful that I’m employed and working for a sweet brewery.  Also I’m thankful that Lindsey and Madison are in my life.  They make me a better person.  Also, I’m thankful for the process of fermenting sugar water. 
 
Every day I am on this side of the sod!
 
Good people.
 
Team H&D.
 
Love you!!
 
My family
 
For my wonderful adult children Sarah & Jacob.
 
Thankful for my amazing wife who’s thankful for cats!
 
Al Pal, Audrey & Daisy, Uncle Kev, Aunt Erin, Mom, Matt.
 
Run, Turkey, run!
 
TimCo
 
Fresh tasty craft beer.
 
Finally stepping out of my comfortability.
 
The outdoors.
 
Thank you for the brew tour.  – Caroline, Blue Agave Grill
 
I am thankful for food and a family.
 
Good friends, great beer, and my numero uno, my Paul.
 
Thanks for the beer. 
 
I’m thankful for my wonderful friends & family.
 
Beautiful wonderful friends and my beautiful babies (C&Y).
 
Nature.
 
Thankful for beer.
 
I am thankful that I get to sell great beer, and for my family, friends, & health.
 
I am thankful for puppies, Christmas, new friends, old friends, baby animals, adventures, beer, love, memories, laughs!
 
I’m thankful for BOOBS! 
 
I am thankful for friends, family, plants, and animals.  I am glad we have all of those things in our lives.  Also life.
 
All my wonderful friends I am lucky enough to be with.
 
Thankful for Sad Panda, Koz, Abby, Claire and the vibe that H&D provides.
 
I am thankful for pizza.
 
Piper!
 
My family
 
Great friends and familyo.
 
My wife!
 
I am thankful for my love!
 
Mashed potatoes.
 
My life, my family, my work, sunshine, warm fall days.
 
My friends at H&D.
 
I’m thankful for being able to get to come visit my family!
 
I am thankful for the woman I love and life itself.
 
I am thankful for family, friends, Jesus, and Colorado beer!
 
 
#freshtastycraftbeer
 
BEER
 
2 amazing daughters and a wife who loves them more than anything in the world.
 
I am thankful to be able to visit an environment that is not clouded by a sense of deserving to get more [illegible] work towards giving kindness.  Thanks Ft. Collins  -- ADB – LBC – CA
 
Carol’s passion to create communities.
 
I’m thankful for my village of peeps.
 
Electric vehicles.
 
My muffin man.
 
I am thankful for my life, children, and my better half!
 
For my home to live in.
 
So thankful for my lovely family -- husband Doug, two daughters, Madeleine and Willow.
 
For the snow that will fall.
 
That you guys are in town!  Yum!
 
I am so thankful for the love in my life.
 
Momma
 
Sunny Colorado Days.
 
I’m thankful for 2 amazing parents who never forget to let me be myself!
 
Tim Carol Tatum Trina aka – My Cochran Family  J -Anto
 
 
 
 

As you might guess if you've ever walked 1/8th of the way to Horsetooth Rock with us, TimCo & I don't run.  To those of you who did -- of all ages -- in costume and not -- for 13.1 miles or for 1.6 last Sunday -- thanks for including us in your running culture for the morning.  It was awesome and impressive.

8 million thanks to Betsy Fisher & Steve Cathcart for planning and executing the whole thing, to Book Trust for being a generally awesome and A-1 charity partner, to Patrick Bols & Jimmie Hinkle for letting me use some of your photos, and to the companies who sponsored it (see below) so that Book Trust kids can choose & own books next school year.  And a shout-out to the FoCo Police Department for making it all work despite Ma Nature's best efforts during runoff season. (Possibly the first tag-in/tag-out 1/2 marathon in the US?  Hang on.  There's real terminology for this; let me look at Betsy's email.  "Transition crossing" with "timing out" and "timing in".)

A few fun stats:  346 total participants signed up representing 4 countries (woohoo howdy, you folks from Colombia!) and 16 states.  There were 221 finishers in the Half Marathon and 84 finishers in the Pint Run.

Here are some moments captured by Jimmie and Patrick.   (And a couple by me.  Yes, I took a picture of a purse.) There are more posted on the event page.  With my amazing web skills, I cannot make the captions stay where they should be so please try to sort it out if you're reading them!

Cheers and congrats to all of you healthy and happy folk.  Thanks for registering, running, and relaxing afterward, and for contributing to Book Trust.  If you'd like to attend a Book Trust book delivery one day next school year in FoCo or Denver, give us a holler via email at [email protected].

They haul massive limbs and wield a chainsaw with ease
​(and translate & sling water containers on an an emergency mission to Ecuador post-earthquake) -- and all the while, under their work gloves...

Huge gracias to you folks who came to help us celebrate finishing off our 2nd year and commencing our 3rd!  We had a blast thanks to so many of you all and your attitude toward #freshtastycraftbeer, each other, and FoCo.  

Check out the charities you supported last weekend in the blog post below this one.

Before May 1, we had a pre-party at The Mayor of Old Town on the 2nd anniversary of our first tapped beer anywhere on earth!  4/17/14 The Mayor tapped H&D Stout & Almost Summer Ale -- they put the throw-back brand labels on the tap handles for 4/14/16!

We spent a fun couple of evenings reliving other pre-opening bashes at Tap & Handle and Pinball Jones as well.

We had a great team dinner at Canino's Italian (if you've not been, go!)

Starting Friday, this brew-ha-ha began at the taproom.  (Hover on pix for captions.)  It was great to see so many old friends, meet some new ones, and celebrate craft beer together.  People brought flowers, and Sharpie bouquets, and coloring supplies, and Sad Panda ice cream and cookies upon cookies, and smiles.