BEER

New Belgium brewmaster opens new Fort Collins craft brewery

Jacob Laxen
The Coloradoan
Peter Bouckaert discusses his 20 years as brewmaster at New Belgium during an interview with the Coloradoan.

You can now find Peter Bouckaert busing tables on the weekend.

The New Belgium Brewing brewmaster of two decades, who helped introduce sour beers to the U.S., has launched a much smaller operation called Purpose Brewing & Cellars in Fort Collins with former 1933 Brewing brewer Zach Wilson.

The 4025 S. Mason St. taproom in the old 1933 Brewing space had a soft opening last weekend and is now open from noon to 7 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Bouckaert plans to leave New Belgium at the end of the year.

“It feels so relaxing to be open now,” Bouckaert said. “We’ve spent a lot of day, nights and weekends pulling this project together.”

The addition brings the tally of open breweries in Fort Collins to 22.

This story continues below the map.

Purpose debuted with four beers: a golden ale, a black ale, a Blonde ale and a hoppy amber ale. The brews were spiced with various ingredients like grapefruit peel, lemon grass, Ambrosia honey, coconut, vanilla beans and Japanese yuzu fruit. 

The debut beer lineup flight at Purpose Brewing & Cellars.

The brewery doesn’t plan on replicating any beers, but rather continuously experimenting with different styles and ingredients.

“We take a look at beer like artwork,” Wilson said. “Artwork can’t be recreated. Each beer will be a blip in time.”

Purpose makes 110-gallon batches using the old 1933 Brewing equipment. New beers are expected to be tapped every week. The taproom features five taps.

Using Bouckaert’s connections, Purpose ages beers in wood barrels from California winery Chateau Montelena; Denver winery Infinite Monkey; and craft breweries Allagash Brewing of Maine, Russian River Brewing of California and The Rare Barrel of California, among other places.

Bouckaert and Wilson collaborate on recipe development, sometimes deciding on ingredients on the day of the brew.

“It’s a very loose atmosphere,” Bouckaert said.

For $40 a person, customers can get a private tour from Bouckaert and Wilson that includes four tasters of the beers on tap, two tasters of beers straight from a barrel and a cheese plate to pair the drinks. The tours last an hour and start at 11:30 a.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each tour is capped at 10 people.

Purpose Brewing & Cellars has opened in Fort Collins out of the old 1933 Brewing facility.

While Purpose is only open to the public on weekends, the brewery will rent out its space for events and meetings during the week.

Follow Jacob Laxen on Twitter and Instagram @jacoblaxen.

Breweries of Fort Collins

  1. Anheuser-Busch, 1988
  2. Coopersmith's Pub & Brewing, 1989
  3. Odell Brewing, 1989
  4. New Belgium Brewing, 1991
  5. C.B. & Potts, 1996
  6. Equinox Brewing, 2010
  7. Funkwerks, 2010
  8. Black Bottle Brewery, 2012
  9. Pitchers Sports Restaurant, 2013
  10. Horse & Dragon Brewing, 2014
  11. Snowbank Brewing, 2014
  12. Zwei Brewing, 2014
  13. Rally King Brewing, 2015
  14. Soul Squared Brewing, 2015
  15. McClellan's Brewing, 2015
  16. Three Four Beer Co., 2015
  17. Jessup Farm Barrel House, 2015
  18. Maxline Brewing, 2016
  19. Intersect Brewing, 2016
  20. Gilded Goat Brewing, 2017
  21. D.C. Oakes Brewhouse & Eatery, 2017
  22. Purpose Brewing & Cellars, 2017