New Belgium Brewing Company
New Belgium Brewing is a fairly small, and rather new brewing company based in
Fort Collins Colorado. Their beer is (unfortunately) only distributed in about a third of the Western
U.S., including:
- Colorado
- California
- Wyoming
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Montana
- Idaho
- Washington
- Oregon
- Nebraska
- Texas
One of the interesting things about New Belgium is that they're a very
socially and
environmentally conscious company. They seem to treat workers well, with 401k plans, full health and dental insurance, and employee beer (!!). One of their quotes is
"Beer equals fun! That's why we place a strong emphasis on smiling, laughter, and participative management at New Belgium Brewing. If you're not having fun at work - why bother?!"
New Belgium is also the nation's first wind powered brewery, having signed an agreement in early 1999 with Fort Collins to purchase the output of one wind turbine at a nearby wind farm. In fact, the work force unanimously voted to sign the agreement, despite the fact that it would probably hurt their bonuses. Alternative transportation, especially biking, is encouraged, and light tubes are used instead of electric lights for daytime lighting.
The brewery was started in 1991 by Jeff Lebesch and his wife Kim Jordan. Jeff had taken a
mountain bike tour across
Belgium several years earlier, and the early days of the
brewery took place in the family
basement. Their current location was built in 1995, and is strongly geared towards
conservation and
quality of product. The main floor, which is open to tours, also happens to be
handicap accessible.
The current brews are:
New Belgium's beers have won numerous awards, and tend to draw good response from tasters at their
Fort Collins brewery.
To contact New Belgium Brewing Company:
500 Linden Street
Fort Collins, CO 80524 USA
(970) 221-0524
(970) 221-0535 (fax)
nbb@newbelgium.com
www.newbelgium.com
Information from:
http://www.newbelgium.com
http://www.ift.org/iftsa/featurearchive/brewingwind.html
http://www.realbeer.com/nmvbp/revnewbe.htm