We decided it was time to update some of our beer logos.  The previous Poudre and Punjabi logos were almost 20 years old.  The Kolsch was 12 years old, and we did not have a logo for our Steamship (formerly Sitzman’s Steam) or our Scrumpy. Local graphic designer Clay Hibbitt took on the challenge of giving our logos new life. With so many breweries in Fort Collins, and in the region in general, it was no easy task to come up with fresh ideas. We think Clay did a great job and are happy to share them here for the first time.  All are coming soon to a T-shirt near you!

                                                                                                                                                                                                Fort Collins Brewers Re-Unite

Local Breweries collaborate once again for American Craft Beer Week

Fort Collins,CO– On April 9, 2012,Fort Collins breweries once again joined forces to craft a collaboration beer for the mother of all beer weeks. Nine local breweries (C.B. & Potts, Coopersmith’s, Crooked Stave, Equinox, Fort Collins Brewery, Funkwerks, New Belgium, Odell Brewing, and Pateros Creek) came together over a love of community and craft beer.

“This Collaboration brew is the microcosm of what’s going on in the Craft beer industry,” said Steve Kurowski, Marketing Manager for the Colorado Brewers Guild. “This is a testimony to the craft beer industry and its uniqueness of coming together verses competing against one another.”

Brewers from each of the Fort Colins breweries worked together to create the special recipe that was brewed at Fort Collins Brewery. Each brewery will celebrate the collaboration during American Craft Beer Week (May 14-20, 2012).

For more information on American Craft Beer Week, please visit www.craftbeer.com.

Our trade organization, the Brewers Association, just released the production numbers for 2011. The Craft Brewing industry saw an increase of sales of 15 percent from 2010 to 2011. Volume rose by 1.3 million barrels, or 13 percent.  250 new craft brewereis opened in 2011 and only 37 closed. Craft brewery sales now represent 9.1 percent of the U.S. beer market. CooperSmith’s is proud to be one of the numerous breweries in Fort Collins that contributed to this increase in production, and many thanks to you, our loyal guests for doing your share also.

It’s that time of Year. It’s that time of Beer!  Well almost.  We’ve taken the patios out for a test run the last week or so and are pretty darn exited about it.  Although  it is now Spring time on the calender, it is not officially Spring until we tap our Mountain Avenue Wheat.  It is Colorado afterall, so we probably have some more snow in the near future, but we all know we are on the home stretch. We are brewing the Mountain Avenue Wheat next week, with a tapping (and therefore official opening of Spring) on April 17th.  In the meantime,  Back Nine Wheat is on tap. You don’t have to wait for patio weather to enjoy the Back Nine. 

Coming to a Fort Collins Restaurant near you. Fort Collins Bars also. This event is sponsored by the Downtown Business Association. Twenty five Downtown Fort Collins Restaurants all feature $25.00 dinner specials.  This can be an upscale meal for one or a dinner for four.  Visit the DBA website at http://downtownfortcollins.com/dba.php/greatplates   to see  the menu selection from all the participating restaurants and bars.  Here is what we are doing at CooperSmith’s:

Pubside: Choose any two of the following selections for $25.00       New York Strip Steak, Seafood Enchilada, Butternut Squash Ravioli, Fish & Chips plus an imperial pint, Highland Cottage Pie plus an imperial pint, Brisket and Mashers and an imperial pint.

Poolside:  A  monster 36 inch two topping pizza (serves at least 4) and a pitcher of beer.

Come visit your favorite Fort Collins Restaurant March 1st through 14th, 5:00-10:00 pm.

It seems that all of the breweries inFort Collinshave been expanding lately, and we didn’t want to be left out.

Our pool hall will be getting larger by 850 square feet, but not just any 850 square feet. We will finally have the frontage on Mountain Avenue that has been Ohair’s salon for the last 25 years. We have had our eye on that space for the entire 20 year history of the pool hall, but Jim and Janee ran a great business and weren’t going anywhere. Until now that is.

On April 1’st (maybe the second, we aren’t sure we want to start on April Fool’s Day), we will begin a six to eight week remodel. The final product will be additional seating space for forty people and a patio that will seat another thirty or forty people. There will be large garage door style windows that can be opened for that indoor/outdoor experience that is so popular on the west side of the pool hall. This room will also have the option of being a truly private dining room, one with its own patio no less.

The additional exposure on Mountain Avenueis an added benefit. There are a lot of patios on a lot of restaurants inFort Collins, especially downtown. We are happy to add yet another to theFort Collinsrestaurant scene. We are anxious to get started and will post some pictures of our progress here.

Here’s a link to the Coloradoan article: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20120215/BUSINESS/202150347/CooperSmith-s-racks-up-room-expand?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

World Famous CooperSmith’s.

What makes us world famous?  Well, you’ve heard of us haven’t you? But seriously, it started as a joke.  In November of 1989 we had been open less than a week when Mark Sluss, our original General Manger, answered the phone “World Famous CooperSmith’s”.  At that point we were not even known among the restaurants in Fort Collins or the bars in Fort Collins, much less anywhere else in the world. But it was a fun way to answer the phone and it caught on.  As we churned through the years and started seeing our tee shirts on the backs of other tourists as we travelled throughout the country, and even other countries, we realized that maybe not World Famous, but at least we were getting well known.  We feel we achieved World Famous status on May 18^th 2004 at 10:30 a.m. local time when Thomas Haines pulled our banner out of his pack on the summit of Mount Everest.  To our knowledge, no other brewery can make that claim, certainly no other restaurant in Fort Collins.   Thank you Thomas.

Looking for a unique special in Fort Collins Restaurants? Just like they do in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota,  CooperSmith’s features ALL YOU CARE TO EAT deep fried walleye served with fries, baked beans, coleslaw and rye bread every Wednesday in February. Pair it up with a Poudre Pale Ale. Offer valid Pubside and Poolside. Served 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. $15.95.  Food in Fort Collins is Fun in Fort Collins all five Wednesdays in February, 2012.

For the sixth consecutive year, a volunteer staff of CooperSmith employees and friends  teamed with Catholic Charities North to serve a traditional  dinner for at least 250 people in need. Dinner was served from noon to 2:00 p.m. on Christmas day.  Through a matching donation by their landlord, Brian Soukup, CooperSmiths  offered each individual person that attended a $10.00 gift certificate to Safeway.  Sanat Claus made an appearance as did several local musicians and a massage therapist. CooperSmith staff and guests  filled the volunteer needs for that day. Every one  who participated found it a heart warming experience and all expressed a desire to do it again next year.

 We would like to give a big shout out to our friends and neighbors, Kris and John Clagett.  Kris and John have their office above CooperSmith’s.  They  had a party in November and asked their guests to make a donation in the form of cans of food for the Food Bank of Larimer County, or socks for the CooperSmith Christmas Dinner.  They were able to donate 175 pounds of canned goods and 117 pairs of socks. Between those socks and those gathered by Jane Liska-Smith from friends and neighbors, we were  able to make sure all of our guests on Christmas Day were given at least two pairs of nice warm socks.  Hats, gloves, and bike accessories were also distributed.

It was Tuesday night  and people were having fun in the bars in Fort Collins. Santa heard bagpipes and stopped in  CooperSmith’s to spread holiday cheer. A very good time was had by all.

Santa was last seen leaving CooperSmith’s heading to his workshop in Old Town Square

Milk and cookies?  Santa loves Jingle Ale!

On the first Friday of every month year round from 6pm to 9pm, down town art galleries welcome the public with complimentary wine and food, which ranges from fancy appetizers to box wine depending on where you go.  Enjoy the wares of the breweries in Fort Collins and the Restaurants in Fort Collins before and after strolling through Downtown.