The Colorado City That's Perfect For Beer Lovers

Not only do we have Colorado to thank for America's first Thai restaurant, but it's also responsible for one of the most concentrated areas of craft beer culture in the country. Home to over 20 breweries serving a population of roughly 170,000, it's the premier spot to go on any countrywide beer crawl.

While Anthony Bourdain may have thought the craft beer fad was overrated, nobody seems to have told that to Fort Collins residents. From Anheuser-Busch to barrel-aged brews from Purpose Brewing & Cellars, you can find just about every type of beer imaginable. This is largely thanks to the "Brewmuda," or "Beermuda," Triangle, which originally encompassed the downtown area between New Belgium Brewing, Odell Brewing Company, and the now-defunct Fort Collins Brewing Company. Such prime real estate only furthered the city's craft beer culture, turning breweries into the new nightclubs and party bars.

Fort Collins' downtown area is quite walkable, so all of its breweries are easily accessible, provided you haven't enjoyed them too much. There are also beer and bike tours, where you can ride around with a local who will show you the best Fort Collins has to offer.

When the craft beer craze took off in the 1980s, Colorado became a beehive of activity in the U.S. for new breweries. But thanks to progressive legislation and some great natural resources, Fort Collins swiftly became the premier craft brew destination in the state, despite starting out as a dry city.

After Prohibition ended in 1933, Fort Collins clung to its rules until 1969. It still took a couple of decades for anti-alcohol sentiment to weaken, and it wasn't until 1988 that Anheuser-Busch set up its first facility. The public campaign required to open it seemed to have flipped a switch in Fort Collins, as only a year later it opened its first craft brewery, Old Colorado Brewing Company. It turned out that the incredible quality of the Poudre River water produced some remarkable beer, causing more breweries to open in the city.

While breweries can put great stress on a city's water system, they also pay a premium for access to, and disposal of, that water. A huge influx of cash enticed the local government to pass brewery-friendly legislation, which set off a cycle of more breweries generating more money, and strengthening the craft beer culture. Over more than 30 years, this repeated itself enough that Fort Collins became one of the most key cities in the craft beer revolution.