Background
Equinox Brewing was Fort Collins’ sixth brewery, and its founders, the husband-and-wife team of Colin and Shannon Westcott, never sought to expand beyond the city. In the ‘90s and 2000s, as Colin brewed for Anchorage’s Midnight Sun and led the brew team for Missoula’s Kettle House, he realized large-scale brewing with a packaging focus drained the joy that led him to brew at the outset. So when he and Shannon opened Equinox in 2010, they sought differentiation from standard growth models followed by New Belgium, Odell, and countless other capitalist-driven money-makers. Instead of distributing flagship beers, Equinox focused on in-house sales.
Equinox opened next to their homebrew supply shop, Hops & Berries. In 2014 they expanded the shop, moving it across Old Town to 130 W. Olive St. Now Equinox’s tavern-style tap room stretches across both retail spaces. The bar, seating area and bathrooms have doubled in size, with a few walls knocked down between them. In the back of the brewery resides a nice little beer garden, right next to where they do all their brewing.
Experience
Equinox is a great little brewpub in downtown Fort Collins. They are very spunky in that they have a large selection of brews on tap for a small microbrewery. They also have great snacks available. They are not open late so make it your first stop. I loved the Space Ghost IPA, 78 IBU using Columbus, Simcoe & Amarillo hops. We also loved the Knotty Bough Sahti.
We stayed at the historic Armstrong hotel right around the corner. I recommend it as you can also hit the oldest brewpub in Ft. Collins, Coopersmiths nearby.
When visiting Ft. Collins also check out Coopersmiths !
