Colorado's Collaboration Fest brings over 180 craft breweries together

Brews and beers by the barrel-load will flood through Westminster on Saturday. Not literally, but figuratively. 

The Collaboration Fest, presented by On Tap Credit Union and the Colorado Brewers Guild, will bring more than 180 different craft breweries to the Westin Westminster on Saturday afternoon — creating a beer-lover's showcase that demonstrates the collaboration between Colorado craft brewers.

"This is a festival where brewers can let their imaginations run wild," Shawnee Adelson, executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild, said. "Beer lovers can try some out-of-the-box styles, like a beet and mushroom beer, or more traditional styles. The uniqueness of the beers means that the majority of these beers are never available outside of the festival and their taprooms."

Some beers at the festival are made specifically for the event. 

The festival, which began in 2014 and has continued annually — sans 2020 and 2021 — is breaking its own records in 2024 with over 140 beers available during the event. 

Though the Great American Beer Festival brings over 4,000 beers to Denver every year, the Collaboration Festival carves its own name based on the overall intimacy. 

"This is the largest gathering of Colorado craft breweries showcased at a single event," Adelson said. "Think of it as a brewer's party that the public is invited to, which makes Collaboration Fest that much more intimate. Oftentimes it is the brewers themselves pouring your beer."

There were 440 craft breweries in Colorado in 2022, according to the Brewers Association, making it the state with the fifth most in the country. 

Those numbers continue to drop, according to Adelson, but that's a sign of maturity in the budding industry.

"In 2023 we saw over 30 breweries close or merge with another brewery. This was similar to the numbers we saw in 2020," she said. "However, the difference now is that many of those breweries either merged or reopened as another brewery."

Those collaborations and mergers start with events like the festival, giving breweries and brewery enthusiasts a place to meet, mingle and gulp.

The festival will be held Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 10600 Westminster Boulevard. Tickets are available online and cost $65 plus fees. VIP tickets cost $85 plus fees.