FreshieColorado map
9 places we cover. Tap a marker for details.
Craft beer in Colorado
GABF host state with a deep brewing tradition.
Colorado is home to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver and one of the most decorated craft scenes in the country. The Front Range corridor — Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, and the mountain towns west of Denver — packs more medal-winning breweries per capita than almost anywhere else in the US. Cannonball Creek alone has a 12-year GABF medal streak, the longest active in the US.
Places
9
With Scanner
1
Sub-regions
1
State
CO
Cities to plan around
- Denver
- Boulder
- Fort Collins
- Golden
- Idaho Springs
Notable picks in Colorado
Bierstadt Lagerhaus
DenverAmerica's slow-pour pilsner standard-bearer. Ashleigh Carter's German-style lager program is reference-grade — the Slow Pour Pils alone is worth the trip.
Spontaneous fermentation specialists. Solera-aged blends, fruited Lambic-style ales. A destination for the funk-curious.
Cannonball Creek Brewing
GoldenTwelve straight years of GABF medals — the longest active streak of any American brewery. Founded 2013 by Jason Stengl and Brian Hutchinson (both ex-Mountain Sun Boulder). Clean, traditional styles done at reference quality. Worth pairing with a Coors brewery tour visit.
Known for: Featherweight pale, More than a Zealand NZ IPA. Hops: Featherweight pale showcases Cascade and Centennial; New Zealand IPAs feature Nelson Sauvin and Riwaka
Casey Brewing & Blending
Glenwood SpringsWorth a road trip if you have the time. Family-farm fruited mixed-culture program at the highest level.
Cohesion Brewing
DenverCzech-style lager specialist. Decoction-mashed pilsners, side-pull faucets. Pairs perfectly with a Bierstadt visit for a lager-focused day.
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer
DenverChad Yakobson's wild and mixed-culture program is among the best in the country. Saisons, fruited sours, oak-aged complexity.
Known for: Saaz and Tettnang in saisons
All places we cover in Colorado
Bierstadt Lagerhaus
Denver · RiNo
Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales
Denver · South Denver
Cannonball Creek Brewing
Golden · Just north of downtown Golden
Casey Brewing & Blending
Glenwood Springs · 3.5 hours west
Cohesion Brewing
Denver · RiNo
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer
Denver · RiNo
Falling Rock Tap House
Denver · LoDo
WeldWerks Brewing
Greeley · 1 hour north of Denver
Westbound & Down Brewing
Idaho Springs · Mountain corridor west of Denver (also Lafayette, Denver)
Date code formats from Colorado breweries
MM/DD/YY
1 brewery
Common styles in Colorado
Neighboring states
- Wyoming
- Nebraska
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- New Mexico
- Utah
FAQs about craft beer in Colorado
How many craft breweries does Colorado have?
Freshie tracks 9 curated craft beer destinations in Colorado (breweries, brewpubs, and bottle shops), of which 1 have date-code scanner support. The state has many more total breweries — the list here is curated for quality and editorial value.
What styles is Colorado known for?
The Front Range corridor — Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, and the mountain towns west of Denver — packs more medal-winning breweries per capita than almost anywhere else in the US
What does Freshie do?
Freshie helps you check whether the craft beer in your fridge is still fresh. Each brewery on the list has its own page explaining how to read its date codes, plus a freshness window based on the beer style. Hop-forward beers like NEIPA fade quickly; stouts and barleywines age well for years.