USA, CO: Hoppy Dog Brewing to open in Fort Collins

Daniel McCue, 25, of Fort Collins and his partner, John Kure, are planning to open Hoppy Dog Brewing this fall in Fort Collins, The Coloradoan reported on April, 10.

The brewery will offer an array of beers and styles, from American, Belgian and German, ranging from traditional to experimental, McCue said.

“We don’t want to be too wild. We want some of our beers to be traditional, as well as some crazy ones that people have never tried before,” he said.

The pair is in the midst of negotiations on what would be the third building. While McCue declined to say exactly where it is, he said the focus is on downtown Fort Collins.

Hoppy Dog would start with a seven-barrel brewing system with plans to expand. McCue said they will start with kegs and serving in their own tap room with hopes to grow into distribution.

McCue and Kure are home brewers who opted to go pro and keep the brewery in the family. Despite some investors' interest, the duo has opted to self-fund the brewery using loans.

McCue works at Wilber’s Liquor store as a cashier and plans to keep his day job while he launches the new brewery.

Hoppy Dog Brewing joins a rapidly growing list of brewers who are either currently brewing beer in Northern Colorado or racing to get their new breweries open.

Fort Collins has nine craft brewers with two more besides Hoppy Dog looking to open. The beer-saturated market is not a deterrent for the two home brewers, who see nothing but full glasses for the Napa Valley of beer. McCue said the brewers in Fort Collins have been supportive of their endeavor.

“We only see growth in the future of Fort Collins breweries,” McCue said. “Some may go away as others open, but there is not too much competition for others to open.”

13 April, 2012