America on Tap Featured Brewer: Black Bottle Brewery of Fort Collins

America on Tap is only a couple short weeks away and with many great brewers showcasing their creations on May 2nd, I wanted to have the chance to tell you about Black Bottle Brewery.

I had a chance to visit them this week and I was impressed by not only their beer creations, but also the atmosphere of it's restaurant and the great food they serve.

I sat down with founder Sean Nook, who is also the head brewer at Black Bottle Brewery. Just like other craft brewers that you'll see at America on Tap, Sean specialized in home brewing for almost eight years before he entered into the competitive beer market of Northern Colorado. However, his passion for the brewing and having a destination brewery in Fort Collins showed in our conversation.

Something that's great about Black Bottle Brewery is that they not only have over 40 taps for you to choose from when you are there, it's also a mixture of their own brews and beer from their local industry friends from across Northern Colorado. Sean and his team love to work with brewers from all across the industry so you'll be able to choose from their offerings as well.

Not only are you able to sample great beer at Black Bottle Brewery, but you can also have great food as well. The menu that you see above doesn't do it any justice. From the "Good Eats" section of the menu, I had the "Swine in a Sweater". This was a great small plate which was a polish sausage wrapped up in puff pastry, with sauerkraut and mustard on the side. It was cooked perfectly and had a great taste to it. Whether you're looking for something small like a slider or a full fledged pizza, Black Bottle will keep your stomach full with good eats while you enjoy the freshly made beer.

For the beer that I tasted today, I had the "Cerealiously Lucky Charms" beer as I was drawn to it by the marshmallow cereal that I enjoyed growing up as a kid. Sean gave us the background of the "cereal beers" that they have created at Black Bottle and how it all started with their now WORLD famous Count Chocula beer. That's right. I said Count Chocula. The entire story behind this beer is amazing, from how Sean and his team bought EVERY case of Count Chocula from the local Albertsons grocery stores to how one local woman gave them worldwide news coverage. All because she wanted her yearly box of Count Chocula cereal...but Black Bottle bought every box you could imagine in Fort Collins.

The beer amazingly tasted AWESOME, and had a distinct Lucky Charms taste to it while not being overpowering. I paired this beer with my food and it ultimately made my experience at Black Bottle Brewery that much more enjoyable.

Above, you'll now just see a portion of the beer menu that Black Bottle has to offer. When I say a portion, what you are seeing is a very small portion as their menu stretches two pages of just beer along with two more pages of different spirits ranging from meads wines, and liquors.

They also serve up local products from their friends at Breckenridge Distillery, Feisty Spirits, and Leopold Brothers. When it comes to Black Bottle Brewery, they truly are a one stop destination in Fort Collins for great food...great friends...and awesome brew.

If you'd like to find out more about Black Bottle Brewery, they're located at 1611 South College Avenue in Fort Collins. They're open from 11a - 10p Sunday - Thursday and 11am - midnight Friday - Saturday.

And come see them at America on Tap on Saturday, May 2nd at Washington Park in Fort Collins! It will be your chance to try some of the usual Black Bottle brews, and you'll also be able to taste something that you may have never tried before!