Fort Collins, CO 5/29

Now we had talked a lot about Fort Collins, CO but for some reason I was not that stoked on it but Joe was super stoked on checking it out. And since it was only an extra 13 miles out of our way we thought, really why not?
From different Coloradians ( I might have made that up... maybe not) we talked to we found out that Fort Collins has lots of micro-breweries and also the Budwiser brewery. We thought that we were just going to drive through the town but probably not make it to a brewery. Well... we made time.
We decided to visit the New Belgium Brewery, they are the maker of Fat Tire (I am pretty sure most people have heard of this beer). From the outside their brewery looked pretty awesome, bikes everywhere. We walked in and were greeted wonderfully by a New Belgium employee who informed us that not only were the tours free, you could taste for free! Sign us up!!!
So we had about an hour and a half before the next tour started so we got to sit down and taste some beers. We were also informed that you could send some "coaster-cards" anywhere in the world and New Belgium would pay the postage. We were given a list of beers and told to choose 4 and also put a trivia question (of any subject) on it. The server returned with our beer tasters and an answer to our questions. Joe asked "What was New Belgium's first beer and what year did it come out?", mine was "Can you explain the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?" Joe's answer: technically (as in first produced for distribution, not made in the basement) was Abbey Ale, closely followed (just minutes) by Fat Tire, and I cannot remember what year it was... Mine was funnier... the server couldn't really say anything other than one is orange, but like so many other people they are confused on which one is orange (the yam is orange inside and a sweet potato is white). We then got to taste our delicious beers, talk with some locals, and write a few postcards.
We then took a tour of the brewery, which was pretty amazing. I mean come on you get to find out how beer is made, try some beer, and watch it get bottled. What is really interesting about New Belgium is how sustainable (green) they are in all there processes. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at New Belgium!
It was time to head out of Colorado but still a couple more stops 'til New Mexico.