Keystone Festivals Bluegrass and Beer Festival presents you with the ultimate list of 10 Colorado Breweries you have to visit! 

Did you know?

Colorado is home to more than 400 established breweries. There are officially so many that it’s impossible to narrow it down! After 23 years of Bluegrass and Beer, we like to think we know a thing or two about brews and have some suggestions to help your Colorado beer tour and refine your choices!

Here’s the complete list of Colorado Breweries, read below for more information on each brewery and why all of us at Keystone Festivals love each one:

1. New Terrain Brewing Company, Golden
2. New Belgium Brewery, Fort Collins
3. Wibby Brewing. Longmont 
4. Ratio Beerworks, Denver
5. Left Hand Brewing Company. Longmont
6. Angry James Brewery, Silverthorne 
7. Upslope Brewing Company, Boulder
8. Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, Denver
9. Ska Brewing, Durango
10. Broken Compass Brewing, Breckenridge 

1. New Terrain Brewing Company: Golden, CO

One of the newer Colorado breweries on the scene is first up on our list. Located in gorgeous Golden, Colorado, New Terrain Brewing has some incredible beers to go along with the perfect city getaway at their taproom and brewery. Their Golden location is right at the base of the foothills and looks over Table Top Mountain, so the views and brews are both excellent. New Terrain offers some traditional beers but also some creative expressions that will delight your tastebuds. Their Lost, Colorado IPA is a must-try along with their Orange Groove American Cream Ale!

2. New Belgium Brewing Company: Fort Collins, CO

We would be remiss if we didn’t discuss New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado. As you probably know, New Belgium was one of the first in the craft beer movement in Colorado and now has grown to a household name. Just because New Belgium is a bigger brand now, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t visit their Fort Collins location, where it all started for them. We love their brewery tours and fun taproom. Their taproom even offers a way for you to send a postcard to yourself, which is unique and a great way to remind yourself of all the fun times you’re having. There are too many great New Belgium beers to have a favorite, but right now, the team at Keystone Festivals loves their Mural Agua Fresca Cerveza for summer days! They even have a variety pack with fun new flavors!

3. Wibby Brewing: Longmont, CO

Wibby Brewing’s tagline is tasteful modern lagers, and their beers are just that. Their taproom located in Longmont, Colorado, in a revitalized Butterball Turkey plant offers a beautiful light-filled setting in which you can drink, hang with your pup (it’s dog-friendly), or engage in fun events like Geeks Who Drink. Wibby also has Colorado local food trucks on premise almost every day of the week. We love Wibby’s sampler Pool Party Radlers which are light and refreshing with fruit-focused lemonades mixed into their lager. The radlers are perfect for a summer day at a Colorado music festival if you know what we’re saying!

4. Ratio Beerworks: Denver, CO

Inspired by punk music and microbrews, Ratio Beerworks, located in the RiNo district, offers a dog-friendly outside watering hole, in addition to their taproom, in the heart of one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Denver. Ratio’s owners learned how to brew beer in Germany while performing music. They now have a great spot with beers like Dear You, a french Saison and Hold Steady, a chocolate rye Scotch ale. We are also looking forward to trying their Heart Tattoo, blackberry Belgium wit, and any other special creations they have while at the brewery!

5. Left Hand Brewing Company: Longmont, CO

Also located in Longmont, just 40 minutes from Denver, Left Hand Brewing Company is another must-stop on your Colorado beer tour. Their taproom offers tours and always has a food truck on-site for you to snack while you drink. Left Hand’s Nitro Milk Stout is a must-try! In case you don’t know, nitro or nitrogen beers offer a smooth and silky drinking experience with less carbonation than regular beers. If you haven’t tried it already, have a slow poured Nitro Milk Stout along with their Wheels Gose ‘Round, a wonderful raspberry and lemon gose style beer, that raises money for Multiple Sclerosis.

6. Angry James Brewery: Silverthorne, CO

Keystone Festivals is based in, you guessed it, Keystone, Colorado! So when Angry James Brewery opened in Silverthorne, only 10 minutes away, we were more than excited. Angry James focuses mostly on traditional German beers, like their Pilsner or Hefeweizen, but also makes a great Stout. Their taproom is always full of fun with live music, games, and Cultivate Kitchen, a local eatery, serving up food. We love their outside fireplace and convenient location!

7. Upslope Brewing Company: Boulder, CO

Boulder-based Upslope Brewing Company named their company after “front range-covering, water-table-filling, snow-dumping weather pattern that anyone with bindings and a roof rack would die for.” Upslope’s two Boulder locations offer dog-friendly scenes with live music, great food, and brewery tours. Their beers range from the standard but tasty Craft Lager that is great easy-drinking to their Tea Shandy that mimics Arnold Palmer flavors. It’s worth checking out both locations to be safe!

8. Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project: Denver, CO

Located in RiNo, near downtown Denver, the Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project provides a unique setting in one of Denver’s most famous F&B halls, The Source. More importantly, Crooked Stave offers unique and delicious beers featuring the lesser-known Brettanomyces yeast species, which lends itself to “wild” beers that are versatile and interesting. One of our faves is their Sour Rose that is available by can as well as at their RiNo location.

9. Ska Brewing: Durango, CO

Located in southern Colorado just outside of downtown Durango, Ska Brewing’s taproom is fun, unique and offers excellent brick oven pizza as well as their full beer list. Ska’s take on beer is flavor-packed and fun. “The difference between big beer and craft beer is love,” Dave Thibodeau Co-Founder and President says on their website. We can say we LOVE Ska and the fantastic variety in their beer. Try their Mexican Lager for a refreshing beer perfect for a sunny day. They are even making seltzers now!

10. Broken Compass Brewing: Breckenridge, CO 

Last but not least is another hometown favorite for us at Keystone Festivals. Broken Compass Brewing has received accolades from all over and offers some of our favorite beers in the mountains of Colorado. Their recently expanded taproom offers potluck nights, movie screenings, a hell of a New Years’ Eve Party featuring Colorado’s favorite fleece company Melanzana, and much more. Beer at Broken Compass is all created on-site and often features aging in rum barrels. Check out their award-winning and delicious Coconut Porter and some of their special releases! This is the perfect stop after skiing in Breckenridge or riding bikes in Keystone. 

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Now that you’ve seen our list of the top 10 Colorado breweries you need to visit, what ones would you add to the list? Plan your summer Colorado festival trip and stop by and see us for Bluegrass and Beer in August!