The idea is simple: Take a great Colorado brewery, team it with another great brewer from anywhere in the country and tell them to go wild. The result is .
The beer festival — March 21 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High — will showcase — including a few rare offerings that will draw the most discerning craft beer hunters.
It’s one of those moments that defines the craft beer industry, where camaraderie often trumps competition and collaboration leads to innovation. And it appeals to the insatiable lust in the craft beer community for the latest, most innovative brew.
“The craft beer industry is pretty unique in that the brewers are willing to share ideas and help each other out from start to finish,” said Casey Berry, a co-founder of Imbibe, which is hosting the festival, now in its second year. “We love to embrace that spirit.”
The first year of the festival wowed the crowd with 50 collaborations. This year, it’s even bigger with 111 breweries from across the nation participating in the event sponsored by the Colorado Brewers Guild.
“It’s an amazing example of how craft brewers work together, not just in Colorado but nationwide, to raise the profile of craft beer,” said Steve Kurowski, the marketing director at the guild.
One brewer in each collaboration must be a guild member but the other players are the wild card. The pairings are creative, such as a Summit County collaboration featuring a barleywine from Backcountry, Breckenridge, The Bakers’, Dillon DAM, Broken Compass and Pug Ryan’s breweries; or an east-side Boulder project from Fate , BRU and Wild Woods breweries.
The collaborations with big-name, award-winning out-of-the-state breweries may draw the most attention.
Durango’s Ska Brewing is joining California’s Stone Brewing for a one-time-only Belgian tripel. Denver’s Station 26 is partnering with Florida’s Cigar City for a white IPA. And Telluride Brewing is working with Atlanta’s Sweetwater for a big IPA with hop hash.
Other out-of-town can’t-miss brewers at the festival include D.C. Brau from Washington, No Labels from Texas, the Bruery from California and Starr Hill from Virginia.
A number of the beers are available only at the festival, though others’ collaborations will be on tap at the respective breweries after the event.
One beer — an American hopped black lager schwarzbier called Midnight Mischief — from Denver’s Epic Brewing and Virginia’s Devils Backbone will make it to bottles available after the festival in the brewers’ home states.
“It’s exciting to see who can come up with the coolest collaboration,” Berry said.
The event will take place at 3:30 p.m. on the stadium’s club level. It’s a big upgrade that can host 2,500 people, 1,000 more than last year.
The organizers are also pairing an educational component to the event, with special tastings and top brewers Thursday at Metropolitan State University.
John Frank: 303-954-2409, jfrank@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ByJohnFrank
Collaboration Fest 2015
3-7 p.m. March 21
East Club level at Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium
$50 plus fees
