One of the four beers on tap on opening day in 1989, Poudre Pale Ale is created in the English Pale Ale style featuring English yeast and a pleasant flavor balance of yeast, malt and hops. The Poudre River supplies Fort Collins and our brewery with wonderful clean, soft water for drinking and for brewing our beers.
Durring the genesis of CooperSmith’s, every attempt was made to connect with local culture, demographics, and geography. We were not Big Beer in culture, style, taste, and vision. The Poudre River is a rarity in this country…and Colorado’s first and only National Wild and Scenic River. October 2, 2011, marked the 43rd anniversary of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, one of the strongest tools available to protect outstanding, free-flowing rivers. The Poudre’s headwaters are in the Front Range in Larimer County. The river emerges from the foothills north of the city of Fort Collins, our fair city. Highway 14, which follows much of the river, is a Scenic Byway between the communities of Fort Collins and Walden. The river is a popular summer destination for trout fishing, whitewater rafting, tubing, and kayaking in the Poudre Canyon.
The name of the river means “Hide the powder” in French. It refers to an incident in the 1820s when French trappers, caught by a snowstorm, were forced to bury part of their gunpowder along the banks of the river.