Blog Posts

Terrific Twos! 4/29/16-5/1/16

5/7/2016

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.

Cheers to 2 years of great people, great times,
and great beers!

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2nd Anniversary -- check out our Team Members' Charities of Choice!

5/1/2016

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Two years ago today we flung open the doors of the taproom to the public for the first time. To celebrate the Terrific Twos, we're having a weekend-long party here and each of our team has chosen a charity to encourage y'all to support with tips or other contributions. The selections, and the reasons for them, make us grateful all over again for the people who work with us here at Horse & Dragon, and for the folks who are devoting their lives to making a positive difference by establishing and working for these charities. Read on to find out a bit more!

The MS Society helps people affected by MS by funding research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating education, and providing programs and services that help those affected and their families. My Poppabear has MS and the people at the MS Society have been very helpful offering transportation services, group therapy, and even helped me navigate transitioning my dad from private insurance to Medicare. They have chapters in all 50 states so their network is expansive. Beyond raising awareness and funding research for rehabilitation technology their goal is a world without MS; something I really hope happens one day.

-- Claire

Non-profit Summitstone Health Partners operates as Larimer County’s “mental health safety net”. Its mission is to provide unsurpassed behavioral health prevention, intervention, and treatment services in Larimer County. One out of four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder. This affects each of us, our friends & families, and our community. Summitstone provides services for all of us, including those not covered by traditional health care plans, at several locations. They recently opened a new mental health crisis services center (like an ER or urgent care center for mental health issues) at 1217 Riverside Ave.
(just south of Consuelo’s Express).
Cheers to a mentally healthy community and thanks to Summitstone Health Partners for all your efforts!

-- Chad

Luke sez: I worked with this group for a while during my time with Job Corps and found they truly had a positive direction and vibe

TCFFO offers a wide range of programs and classes to help adolescents and their families make better choices. The Center is a non-profit agency that offers education, intervention and support. They focus on creating programs and support systems to help youth and families sustain long term, positive changes within the family unit.

-- Luke

The CPRW brings together local volunteer and other groups to take action to protect and preserve the watershed that we live in and rely upon for life in Fort Collins. There are so many reasons that the Poudre River Watershed is important - supporting the population, local businesses, recreation, agriculture. The CPRW is the most effective confluence of the many preservation groups that directs resources toward that goal of protection and preservation of this vital water source in Northern Colorado!

-- Benjamin, Hayden & TimCo

In bicycle-friendly FoCo, we’re used to seeing bikes right and left. In many communities, bikes aren’t so prevalent and are out of reach, financially, for most people. However, they can provide a means for economic change for whole communities. As their website states:

Bikes 4 Life collects, restores and provides bicycles to the most marginalized & impoverished communities around the world. In remote communities a bicycle is not only a means of transport to places of employment and education but can provide many with access to remote sources of food, water, medicine and shelter.
One bicycle can support social rehabilitation & economic change.

-- Titus

Fort Collins’ Murphy Center for Hope is both a core service provider and is a collaborator with agencies that have all assembled under one roof to serve anyone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The Murphy Center serves as a gateway to connecting to a variety of services located outside of the Murphy Center.

-- Christian

The Animal House provides second chances for thousands of our furry friends and is working to reduce euthanasia rates of adoptable animals. They do this by collaborating with overcrowded and kill shelters, providing time and space for homeless animals to find their forever homes, and educating the community. They are a local organization that has been advocating for these silent sufferers for 8 years. Being funded entirely by private contributions they rely on community support to offer these services. The Animal House will also moving their facility in 2016 and can use as much support as possible to make it happen successfully. Please help them continue their mission to improve and save lives!
www.animalhousehelp.org
-- Abby, Ashleigh, Linsey & Sage

Skateistan began as a grassroots 'Sport for Development' project on the streets of Kabul in 2007, and is now an award-winning, international NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) with projects in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa. Skateistan is the first international development initiative to combine skateboarding with educational outcomes. Skateistan is non-political, independent, and inclusive of all ethnicities, religions and social backgrounds.
I believe in this mission because the majority of the children impacted are girls. For many it’s illegal to ride a bicycle but skateboards give them an outlet to freedom, education and community building. These kids shred!
http://skateistan.org/
--Tucker

Literacy is the key to being able to provide for yourself; childhood is the easiest time to become literate. Book Trust is a fantastically simple and effective program that enables full classrooms of children in high need areas to choose and own their own books, which they order from the Scholastic Book Order form each month. The choice & ownership infects whole classrooms of kids to be enthusiastic about reading, and inspires a culture of literacy both in classrooms and in families at home. $10 supports a child for a month’s order.

Book Trust was started in FoCo!
It now serves over 38,000 kids in 132 schools – including 11 in NoCo –
in 15 states and is growing every year.

-- Liz, Tatum & Carol

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Why FoCo? Nights like this one, for starters.

4/9/2016

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Y'all, last Thursday we had a firkin tapping and seafood boil at Jax Fish House. It felt like a vacation on a beach right here in FoCo.

We love Jax for a lot of reasons, not least of which is that this case greets you when you walk through the door (along with a bunch of really awesome people).

When we arrived, Linsey gave their Head Chef Ricky Myers a quick lesson on how to tap a firkin.

He seemed to get the hang of it.

We've never seen such a clean tapping for getting the beer flowing -- usually there's a nice, dramatic fountain of beer before the spigot is fully in the firkin. I keep re-watching this video trying to see if any spilled at all.

Ricky & Linsey had the first samples. Diagnosis: cumin-forward until the swirl, then the lemon comes out. This firkin used our Irish Red as a base beer recipe.

Meanwhile, back at the seafood boil....

Disproving the old adage, this pot had an audience and still boiled for all it was worth.

Cooler full of deliciousness.

Sam spent his "night off" dousing bags of mussels, clams, shrimp, potatoes, onions & corn in this amazing broth. As one 6-ish-aged youngster walking by noted to her mom, "Mmmmm. I smell good spices!"

And here was the result:

As with all the most exciting pairings
(and if you're not excited by great food + craft beer
you're probably not still reading),
both the beer and the food's flavors changed
& blossomed when consumed together.

It was finger-licking good, but just in case you didn't want to go that route, they served up o-shibori.

It was a night for relaxing with friends (and a chef or two -- thanks for sneaking out of the kitchen for a minute, Amy!).

John didn't feel the need to avail himself of the blankets offered on the patio. Carol did.

We might have had an order or two of these.
Not boiled.

Sit facing the restaurant and you get cool views
like this of the College Ave. buildings
reflected in the window as the sun sets.

Here're some of the awesome Jax peeps who rolled out a new menu the same night we invaded to do the seafood boil. They were totally unflustered.

Plus, they seem to have a 2-headed dragon as a kitchen mascot. How can you not love this place?

We give the whole experience the big thumbs up. This team knows how to throw a party. Many thanks for inviting us to be a part of it, Jax FoCo!

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Spring in FoCo

4/2/2016

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Today is a gorgeous day in Fort Collins. The birds I remember from ages ago are calling all over the neighborhood (they've been silent for the past few months). But last week there was a blizzard that knocked the power out at the brewery in the morning...

...and sent us searching around Old Town for wifi and some active electrical plugs. Here's what we found:

Many thanks to those of you who managed to find your way out far enough to join us for a #freshtastycraftbeer in the taproom that afternoon. [And many thanks to the Downtown ARTery for letting us steal some power that morning!]

Love FoCo, even in foul weather!

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Big Beers, Belgians, & Barleywines (redux) -- v. 2016

1/11/2016

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Shooting star effects courtesy of Ma Nature.

All 3 of y’all who read this blog (hi, Mom!) know that we attended last year’s Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines festival in Vail as consumers. We had a blast (excellent time, file under“market research”) and were pretty psyched to come back this year and pour a few beers. There’s a lot of the weekend I didn’t capture, some awesome seminars that our team attended, a cigar-and-beer-pairing that I missed (alas), and a ton of fun craft beer folk.

I think this festival was started, back in the day, because some now-revered craft brewers wanted to get together in the CO mountains and hang out (and a wise choice that was, because HELLO, scenerygoodbeergoodpeople). I’m pretty sure several of them weren’t in attendance this year, but for those who were – and for all the brewers who’ve come on the scene since then who were here, many thanks for the stellar idea and gathering!

When this is what you see on the drive and out your porch door the first morning,
how can there be anything wrong with the weekend?

Plus, where else but on the way up that canyon are you going to find a school with a mascot like this?

Stocked the 'fridge and then headed out to the Thursday night Brewers' Reception. Slight consternation upon being greeted by this when arriving:

These are not the 'droids you're looking for.

We eventually found the right room, where some tasty beers were being poured by some fun peeps, e.g.:

Tim of Strange Craft and I think the BSG CraftBrewing guy, who sponsored this shindig for all of us, and whose name I've inexplicably forgotten (I am so very good at this networking thing!).

Antics ensued.

Titus sat on the high side of the table at dinner.

Chadwick trying to persuade all to participate in a round of spin-the-shot-wheel.

Saw this sign in Vail Village. All listed in the correct order.

Friday we did some teambuilding.

@Bonfire Brewing.

Bonfire shared a new sour with us!

@ Crazy Mountain Brewery

That's what the kids are calling it these days.

Titus & Luke tried their best to teach some of us some dart technique. Please weigh in on our teachability:

The remarkable thing about this photo at Vail Brewing Co. is that none of us are wearing the same H&D shirt. Not as easy as it sounds, to wit...

...Luke & TimCo sporting the newest fashion in men's P.J.'s: Sad Panda LS tee + plaid trou.

Friday night we had BEERTOSHARE, in which we so firmly believe that I think it's a program we need to get on. Is there a better way to gather than over a large-format bottle of great craft beer?

We were ever so social until Chad learned that the pour list for the next day's commercial tasting had been released. Here he is 3 nanoseconds later:

I managed to miss the Saturday morning seminars (which I hear included some samples of 2006 Utopias, the last year they did an unblended version of this beer) and hearing from our friend Neil Fisher of Weldwerks empaneled alongside giants from Sam Adams & Lagunitas (woot woot!), and a by-all-accounts impressive presentation on human's beer-sensing anatomy in The Science Behind Flavor by Nicole Garneau. I missed these because I was running back to FoCo for a meeting -- during which trip I had cause to be grateful I don't make the Saturday-morning drive west on I-70, ever. (Saw some cool decorated-by-the-elements trees and a great sunrise, tho'.)

[Speaking of FoCo, huge gracias to these folks for holding down The Fort while so many of us were away!]

We've done this. It isn't easy. Thanks, Tucker!

A couple of notes about the actual tasting event at Big Beers -- to be in the festival, a beer must either be over 7% ABV (big), a Belgian style (Belgian, natch), a barleywine (by definition big?), or an experimental beer. It makes the commercial tasting quite an experience – a ton of beers I hadn’t tried before and the ability to talk with people integral to the companies that made each beer (often the brewers themselves) makes this festival a standout. And then there are just the fun folks you bump into (almost all of whom know a ton about beer – it’s an education to wander around this place). *If you're after extensive reviews & beer-tasting notes, stop reading here and go on over to one of the real beer reporters' blogs or articles. I got some good tasting advice from a few of them, including Jonathan Shikes of Westword, who's likely to have a column on it in a minute here. Though I missed him I'd be shocked if Tristan Chan of porchdrinking.com was not there. Focus on the Beer also had a camera or two there. *

Tom (Black Bottle brewer) & Diana & Matthew. And a dude from Barrelworks, if his hat is any indication.

We recognized this guy serving up samples behind Odell's jockey box.

Theodore, returning to his home turf.

Some attendees who knew Linsey in her college days (pre-brewing, during the Zoology era).

Such a high to be around folks who are brewing and showcasing great beers and who love what they do.

Now, back to the (great) grind. But with happy memories of a weekend well spent!

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Thanksgiving Thankful Notes 2015

11/26/2015

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For those of you who visited our taproom during November, you likely saw the slips of paper out on the counter on which folks could write anything for which they were thankful. I had grand designs of keeping them organized and reporting them all chronologically here. For those of you familiar with the state of my desk, you’ll know at once that that was way too lofty an ambition. So here, in no particular order, are this year’s Thanksgiving Thankful Notes. I hope I haven’t lost any (and only 2 were censored) – if I find more floating about the desk top in the next few days, I’ll add them in.

Thanks to all of you who have stopped in to try a beer or two and to say hello – and for those of you who left these notes this month.

Cheers, and happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for...

Sunny Colorado.
My mom. :-)
Sunday bike rides with good friends & delicious beer!
I am so thankful for working with people who love craft beer & working with it!
Colorado law!
Delicious beer.
Tim, beer, and macaroni & cheese [ed. note: I am thankful for these same things, in this same order]
Perambulation refills.
Whiskey.
One Direction.
Good beer shared with great friends! Cheers!
Beer. Duh.
I’m thankful for Bothy – he’s my friend! (And all the great folks @ H&D!)
Potato dumplings & Kölsch.
Dikembe Mutombo’s blocking “Not today!”
I’m thankful for 4 growlers, 3 birds (turkey, duck, chicken ménage a trois), 2 helpings of everything, 1 fat nap and never forgetting to call home.
A great job!
Fresh tasty beer!
Happy, kind people & good karma.
My health.
Family & fermentation.
My health and all the beautiful places my feet have taken me to this year. I <3 CO
Your beer!
Poptarts and giant bouncy castles.
Hot chicks behind the bar!
Eric Emerson. He kept me grounded.
I’m thankful for Tim & Carol & H&D. FoCo is amazing. [Thank you very much!]
Those billion-dollar April/May rains.
Billion dollar spring rainstorms.
Spaghetti.
Abby.
Mommy Monday.
Delicious beer I’m proud to share with family & friends.
Happiness.
I am thankful for holidays that provide opportunities for families to get together, drink and laugh together.
Amazing coworkers in an amazing town.
Beer & good friends & coloring!
We are thankful for Tim & Carol --J&M
My boys.
Ryan.
Life!
Friends, family, & Sad Panda.
My friends, my family, my dog, the opportunity to be better today than I was yesterday.
I am thankful for puppies, fur, and friends I love!
The people in my life who keep me sane and show me love, my family and the love of my life Josh. --K
I am thankful for friends and good beer. Plus the ability to wake up each day. Cheers.
My daughter Charlie & my next daughter.
My Heidi – I loves her <3
Yoga. The things my husband does that annoy me & make me smile. Our pets. Great neighbors. Horse & Dragon beer and its friendly faces. Framily.
Horse & Dragon! By far the best beer in town. [We appreciate the bias here!]
The Bothy!
Fresh tasty beer.
Dogs, friends, yummy beer, family & safe travels.
Boobs.
Luke.
Beer, bikes, & beards!
Beer.
Kristin.
Holiday spirit. It is catching!
I’m thankful for wonderful friendly Fort Collins!
Rohuna Mary Sikersky [sorry if I got this wrong – I can’t read it too well but appreciate the sentiment!]
My freedom to be a goofball!
For the United States and the opportunities it provides me. To liberty and beyond.
Thankful for a big bed I’m able to share with my dog & my fiancé (while being the middle spoon.) <3s
I am thankful for Carol’s positive community energy!
Thankful I was one of the lucky people born in the land of the free.
40 mph wind.
Nothing but you!!!
Life. :-)
The H&D. :-)
My friends and family!!
Sad Pandas.
NoCO IPA my favorite.
I’m thankful I don’t work on Black Friday and can shop Small Business Saturday.
My dog, Seamus, just had a spinal stroke. His leg was paralyzed. In a week’s time, he has regained a lot of movement and is happy again. Hoping for more improvement.
Harold “Loose the Goose”.
Baby Graham!! :-)
The great game of pinochle!
Jesus Christ.
Fresh tasty craft brew.
Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, smiling LIFE. :-)
Sunny winters. Love Colorado!
I am thankful that Abby called another brewery to let us know we left our card here! -- NB
I am thankful for Sunday bike rides with amazing friends and beer!
I am thankful for friends & family. -- Noah
Thankful for my family & listening to my parents laugh on the phone today.
I am thankful for the O’Brien family for having us stay & visit! <3 Fort Collins & the Sad Panda!
I am thankful for this win.
Sheriff Tuck.
Comic books.
My students.
Electric vehicles!
So many things: family, friends, life in FoCo. Never had a bad day in CO! My wife.
I am thankful for Sad Panda and having wonderful brewery neighbors.
Horse & Dragon staff. J You folks are awesome! We love you. J
Friends.
Good beer good friends good family. :-)
All things bubbly!
Claire.
My friend Daniel.
Hockey and family.
Laughter with friends.
Laughter with friends.
My little Starr family.
Cara’s face!
Beer.
My birthday week!
I’m thankful for my wonderful wife & my wonderful life here in Fort Collins. –- Jack Bales
I’m thankful for a brewery 2 doors down from my shop, my awesome community, my dogs, the family & friends I have, music, good food, & most of all, my wonderful wife! –- J.T.
For my family – the love of my life –- Mr. Scott. For wonderful workplaces here & at school. For Saturday Squad, Colorado! Sunshine, books, learning and photography. Of course beer and always the Rox, Avs, and Broncos. -- Lizard
I am thankful for a vacation to see dear friends followed by a family visit and a wedding. Plus, good beer. -- Joe from Oregon
I’m thankful for your mom.
Friends & family & Sad Panda. -- <3 Kaycee, Erin, Trevor, Kaite
Family time & Sad Panda.
I’m thankful for my loving husband, amazing friends, loyal puppy dogs & great beer! <3
Colorado lives!
Ft. Collins & beer.
Republicans fighting back. ‘MERICA.
All the AWESOME people @ Horse & Dragon. :-)
My awesome girlfriend Brittany, not being in ND, Thailand, and beer.
I am thankful for all the love I get from our Beer Bettys friends.
Taylor (my BF) not being in ND for one. And Sad Panda.
Family. My beer friends. Colorado. Purple Hair.
My happily ever after.
Great beer in our beautiful state. -- E.H., Arvada
I am thankful for Adam. Beer & Bike Tours.
I am thankful for Bob. Beer n’ Bike Tours
Claire & Hayden, my Saturday teammates. <3
Family Food Fun Love.
I’m thankful for every meal, health, education, every hug, good thought provoking conversation, a good book, family, laughter, smiles, sunshine, nature, children, beer, and love. Besos! Muy agradecida por uds. también!
I am thankful for beer, my friends, for my husband, my job, that I am a pillar (?) when drunk, for my 3 dogs, 2 cats, my neighbors, my education, my mother, my father, my brother, my sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, my good working vehicle, my love of purple, vodka, rum, wieners (dog), Pinterest, weekends, date nights, Sad Panda, my house, Colorado weather, Bunko, friends, growlers to take great beer home, good music, good food, evenings home, financial peace, pretzels, the beer, the amazing benefits of Dotevra (?) essential oils, my friend Heather P., air conditioning/heating.
For working next to this great brewery, Sad Panda, my Ugg boots (shame!), my bud, Nicole, and…. Sweet potato casserole! -- Heather P.
My birthday cake.
My mom.
For every day I’m given on this earth.
New places, great beer, & great friends in Colorado. -- Alex
Seeing my old friends over good beer!
We’re thankful that we live in the most beautiful city in the world! <3FoCo<3
I’m thankful for BLUE SKIES of Colorado. -- Les
I am thankful for my health and great beer! --B
I am thankful for the beer at H&D.
I am grateful to have a home. No longer homeless but still single.
The Saturday Squad @ H&D <3
I am thankful for food.
New and old friends.
My FoCo friends.
The fact that weed is legal in CO!!! I guess my family too. :-)
Micro brews & the ability to travel and try and tour as many as possible.
Being here in Fort Collins with my hubby & a couple of friends.
I’m thankful that I can read.
I am thankful for great friends, great beer, great scenery, great taprooms!
I’m thankful that H&D is open every day.
Thankful for the Horse & Dragon Brewery!
Besties.
My lovely wife.
My husband.
I’m thankful for our friends tim & Carol & everyone @ H&D. -- Jack & Meredith
My wife!!! Horse & Dragon!!! Abby!!! Tim & Carol!!! Miss you guys. Family & Friends!!! Support from all of the above.
Horse & Dragon supporting Team Rubicon! --<3 Lisa
Special friendships.
I am thankful for TREES! And my wife.
Laura Pentico.
Tasty Rocky Mountain Sodas. Mmmmm.
Colorado weather.
A great group of friends!
My sweet family.
To anonymous donors to the beer pool.

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Taking heart.

11/14/2015

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After seeing the news of the past 12 hours I am, as Mr. Rogers' mother apparently urged, looking for the helpers. It's fortuitous, then, that Tim and I got to visit 2 of them in action this week when we finally ate at the FoCo Cafe. If you've not yet been there, rectify that! They are open for lunch every day but Sunday (see hours & location below). You may go the first time to support its mission, but you'll most likely return for the food and the ambience -- all three are really wonderful.

Here's the FoCo Cafe's mission statement:
Building community by providing nutritious and delicious meals to the people of Fort Collins regardless of their ability to pay while using local, organic, and sustainably grown ingredients.

And here's how it works:

We knew of the goals of this place long before it opened, as our paths, like those of so many others in Fort Collins and beyond, had crossed those of Kathleen & Jeff Baumgardner, who are the driving forces behind the cafe and two of the world's best-hearted people. If you're looking for the helpers to give your heart hope again, these two are some stellar examples. Taproom regulars might also remember that Abby's and Claire's charity of choice during our anniversary last May was the FoCo Cafe -- they raised (and many of you contributed!) money for and built a few of the planter boxes at the cafe with some help from Uncle Andy. So the cafe has been on our radars for a while. Despite its having been open since last Thanksgiving, though, Tim and I still hadn't made it there during official hours.

At Jeff's suggestion we had a "flight of soups" -- 4 of 'em, and each was more delicious than the last -- and 2 fresh jalapeño cornbread muffins. They also had 2 salads on offer; both looked fantastic (salmon, quinoa, fresh greens, wild rice). They've got vegan and gluten-free options if you're in need -- and also, for us omnivorous sorts, they've got things like a sausage-and-fresh-pepper-filled yumminess-in-a-bowl.

Jeff and Kathleen wangle a rotating army of volunteers each day. If you'd like to step in and participate by either prepping, serving, or cleaning up (or if you have professional skills the cafe might need that you can offer), you can sign up to volunteer at this link.

Among the FoCo Cafe's values is this: "participating in a community nourishes the soul." AMEN.

Whether you find your community here at this sunlit lunch spot, taking a hike with friends, volunteering at your kid's school, at a city council meeting, tailgating, or around your family table, we hope your soul is nourished today and every day. Thanks for letting us be a part of your community and for being a part of ours.

The FoCo Cafe is located at 225 Maple Street, just west of Mason,
and is open Mon.-Sat., 11am - 2pm.
It is spotless and welcoming, full of windows, good food, and good people.

Please. How can you not love a place that has these windchimes?

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GABF 2015 through the rear view mirror

9/30/2015

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You wouldn't know it from media reports, but the week is barely about medals. (Which is a good thing, seeing as how we won none!)

Loads of you likely have experienced the Great American Beer Festival in Denver and have your own impressions and memories of the hoopla. Here are some of ours. (Page down if you want to skip to the pictures.)

People seem to begin flying in for beercations the weekend before the festival and some spend some quality time visiting breweries up here in FoCo. This was a blast (photoless, however) -- meeting brewers and craft beer lovers from all over the country -- and some from further afield (ahem, Carolina & Leo) -- is a joy. Goofy to say, but if you haven't felt that craft beer joy yet, I recommend sinking your life's work & savings into opening a craft brewery and experiencing how rejuvenated and elated and connected a week like this one makes you feel. Folks traveling and gathering to share a love of craft is awesome.

Craft-centric bars throughout Denver and Fort Collins (and, I'm guessing, several other cities) celebrate this week with special tappings of beers from all the heck over the place. Falling Rock Tap House in Denver and The Mayor of Old Town in Fort Collins tapped the last 2 kegs of our Rum Barrel Aged Coconut Porter (inventive name, we realize) on the same night, the Monday before the festival. The Mayor created Tap Into Northern Colorado (TINC) a couple of years ago and has 100 Northern Colorado breweries' beers on tap for this week, partly so that we can enjoy our local brew scene, and partly so that people coming in from out of town who can't make it to every brewery can try a whopping number of them at The Mayor. Tap & Handle has special tappings each night for a week before the festival. Restaurants around town do all kinds of beer-related events. And, as you might imagine, Denver craft bars & restaurants go to town all week with awesome beers.

Truth be told, this pic is from last year. Join the mayhem and sample some fantastic brews at Falling Rock Tap House every night of GABF week!

Tap Into Northern Colorado at The Mayor of Old Town showcases 100 NoCO beers.

We started our Denver days with a pairing of small plates with LoHi SteakBar on Tuesday night.

We might have eaten twice our body weights. But can you blame us? Look at it.

Here was the conference that went on at the end of the bar when we got there -- between the staff who put on this amazing dinner every night, the owner, and his son.

How can you not love a restaurant that prints this?

Eat local, people!

We hopped around The Highlands a bit and after a beer at Old Major we made Linsey carry the keg home (the awesome bar manager there was strapped for space as he'd stocked up beer for the week -- we like that kind of full fridge and kicked-keg-filled hallway).

[In real life, Luke helped.]

Thursday & Friday we had awesome brunch pairings at The Lobby (and got to crash a fellow's bachelor party,which he was having with some H&D).

Side note: we met up with some long-time friends who where passing through from Cleveland. Hi Greens!

Throughout the week we got to visit great craft beer spots with fantastic food, and all were filled with folks celebrating this Week of Craft Beer in Denver. Too cool! It was crazy awesome to see our beer pouring at some of the places we've admired for their craft lineup for forever. Huge thanks to those Denver bars who were willing to pour some H&D during GABF week!

We were a little gawker-ish in the Big City:

Hey, are you by chance attending a beer festival?

Vanimal's big day out.

The Big Blue Bear would like in too, plz.

.Cool to run into a couple of Weldwerks Brewing fellows on the walk downtown

Setting up our booth was fun and dead easy.

[We were greeted by our neighbors' "big-ass" sign behind us, though. Kinda' sad it's in 90% of our photos!]

The session opens each day with a bagpipe procession from the "opening gates" -- very cool!

Here they were coming by the booth a few minutes later:

The GABF sessions were a scene. I'm a bit low on the people-watching photos, but here you go for a few:

Some of our favorite FoCo peeps.

Great tee.

In addition to a medal for Friar Chuck, Black Bottle Brewery wins for best-dressed.

We love these FoCo peeps!

Happy birthday, Titus!

Love this, too. From Monument, natch.
Where people are very focused.

Now THAT'S a pretzel necklace!

Tiffany & Ryan, of William Oliver's Publick House fame, might have found my phone at some point.

If you go, you must MUST go dance at the silent disco. Ohmigosh. From either side of the fence it is the best thing at GABF.
Gitcherself there.

The Colorado State Legislature brews 2 beers (one by the House, one by the Senate) and if you visit the Colorado Brewers' Guild booth, y'all can sample each, meet a rep or two, and vote on which one you prefer. I voted with the House this year, but I believe the Senate beer won. Both were great! Kudos to Cannonball Creek Brewing Company & Big Choice Brewing for brewing with these cats.

Fair warning that y'all want to empty your bladders before you enter GABF.
(And about time that this is the ratio at the restroom lines in a public place, am I right, ladies?)

Taken from the back of the men's room line 2 hours in. See the "MEN" sign off there in the distance?

Taken from the back of the women's room line
2 hours in.

We got to pour in the "Meet the Brewer" section (by lottery) and were psyched to staff our booth for all 4 sessions. Here are Linsey & Titus holding down the fort, and Chad, Tim & Luke putting in some hard time.

We might have been a bit tired between the 2 Saturday sessions.

"Who's the creepy family passed out behind the palm fronds?"

We weren't alone. Here's what the brewers' space out the door of the main hall looked like at 5pm on Saturday.

This place was an oasis. You could step out of the fluorescent lighting and massive white-noise-din of the exhibition hall into this sanctuary of natural sunlight & relative silence. One woman who walked out with us said, "Oh my gosh, I feel like I just walked out of prison!"

Yes, there was the bottling and submission of beers for judging weeks and weeks before (and yes, I should know the actual date! Alas.). In our case, that involved submitting the freshest batches of beer we had and sending them off with several other FoCo breweries' submissions in Snowball (Snowbank's delivery van -- many thanks to them for delivering!). Luke then delivered kegs for pouring samples a couple of weeks ago. We sat through the awards ceremony crossing fingers during our own categories (to no avail!) but also being so psyched that so many friends and acquaintances throughout the industry took home some hardware for their hard work, and celebrating the fact that so many states were represented in the medals. The craft revolution is well and truly upon us and folks all over the U.S. are making great beer!

Here's how sad we were to head back to the last 2 sessions medal-less:

With not-much-sleep and loads of standing-on-concrete, we were pretty happy to return to our "normal" lives up here in FoCo. But we wouldn't trade the week for anything.

Before

AFTER

It's loud, long, and a lot o' concrete-standing. But it's full of awesome people & beer!

Cheers to all those who love and support craft beer,
whether by making it, serving it, or drinking it.
How great it is to have a festival together
celebrating all of that!

Plus, how often do you get to see
sharks getting off an escalator?
Worth the price of admission.

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Barley, Baby!

7/20/2015

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I’m behind in the life of H&D. (Actually, we can shorten that to just: I am behind in life.) But rather than catch up by starting with this weekend, let’s go back to last week. We got to take a (free!) bike tour with Beer & Bike Tours of Fort Collins which included a jaunt out country roads to a farm a few miles east of Horse & Dragon. There we recreated this picture with barley farmer Greg Walker, maltster Chris Schooley (of Troubador Maltings), and brewer Linsey Cornish (of Horse & Dragon Brewing Company – woot, woot!). The first was taken shortly after the field had been planted last spring, and the second was last Wednesday.

[Zach (of Limagrain) and I took a selfie so as not to feel left out.]

We loved the field-side lecture.

We rode from there to Troubador and Chris gave us the mile-high overview on the malting process (when you get to take this tour, ask him about the heating unit).

Linsey had to dance a bit during Chris’s talk. As you do.

Noah & Lauren, of Beer & Bike Tours fame, tried out Zach Yendra’s keg-carrier. Okay, it’s really an anything-carrier, as Lauren is proving, but we can’t help thinking of kegs of freshtastycraftbeer when we see it.

We then rode on to Odell, which had brewed a beer with Troubador's malts that we of course had to try. (Delicious, BTW; Trouvere Ale.) At the moment we've got Total Genie ESB on in the taproom, which was brewed with Limagrain's Genie malt (the very type Greg is about to harvest out there, though this ESB's grain wasn't grown on Greg's fields. Hopefully, though, we were walking through next year's brew!

No better way to spend a Wednesday afternoon. Whatever you call it – acres to ales, grain to glass, field to foam – we’re happy it happens and glad to be a part of the chain. Three cheers for growing, malting, brewing, and drinking! And, o’ course, for biking betwixt and between them all.

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Watershed!

7/15/2015

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It’s possible visitors appreciate the amazingly tasty water of Fort Collins more than those of us who live here do, but every now and then, when you’ve worked up a powerful thirst in one way or another, don’t you just dig on a glass of water straight from the tap? We are grateful for it every single day. (It’s not too shabby brewed into beer, either, as 16 breweries and counting -- and a bunch of us who enjoy their product -- can attest.)

If you’re a resident of FoCo, you can sign up for a free, full-day guided tour of the Poudre River watershed. The City of Fort Collins Utilities group runs 2 of these tours each summer. (The second one for this summer is currently full, but if you follow Utilities on Facebook, you’ll see the announcement for signups next spring and we vote you go!)

TimCo and I went yesterday, and it was startlingly beautiful and educational. Presenters were excellent – in addition to having it brought home that we're glad typhoid outbreaks are less common now than in days of yore, we learned a lot about the history of settlement and water usage in the Poudre Canyon, how the health of rivers is measured and monitored, and why we are so lucky to have this close-to-pristine water source (this was a point reiterated by every presenter).

Here’s the day in photos.

Lucas Mouttet started us off with a quick lecture. Happily, no test.

Then we got in a giant comfy coach and headed up to Overland Trail Road, passing the original Fort Collins waterworks building.

Journeyed up the canyon along this beautiful, wild thing while hearing from Clyde about the history of water use/rights/work on the Cache la Poudre River.

Arrived here:

...and were greeted by this guy:

(We might have taken a few photos of him:)

(...and of ourselves:)

There were cool and informative mini-lectures (by water, bug, and tree specialists Clyde, Alicia, and Hallie -- I'm pretty sure they were things like irrigation management and infrastructure and cold-water macroinvertebrate and sub-alpine forestry experts, but hopefully "water, bug & tree specialists" works when reviewing over a #freshtastycraftbeer).

We explored these topics:

I was slightly hung-up on the bounty of flowers in the natural garden up there, including the amazing Colorado state flower, the Rocky Mountain Columbine.

And, hey, does anyone know what these are?

Also admired this perfect tree, which I thought was our state tree (Blue Spruce) but I'm pretty sure the evergreen expert would disagree, given that apparently they don't grow up there. It's beautiful, at any rate.

Let's just take a moment and be glad we are not living on Cameron Pass when the snow is being measured against this post, shall we?

We broke for lunch (provided by the City group). Here was our view of runoff in action. Yeah, yeah, Ma Nature, whatcha' got for me today?

...and had lunch to this soundtrack. Not bad.

I ate sitting next to this thing, which I'm pretty sure is producing a grain that can be malted. Just saying.

We boarded the bus again and got another couple o' pieces o' education (on stormwater and water quality) from Chris & Jill & then arrived at the Gateway Natural Area. Folks split up and explored a bit (we walked took a pic of some of Greeley's water in a very non-natural formation:)

On the way past Mishawaka, we saw these guys from Mountain Whitewater Descents. [Shameless commercial plug: we sure hope they are stopping for a #PicnicRockPaleAle at Paddler's Pub when they're done on the river!]