Beer after beer, (I mean: year after year), the Colorado Brewers’ Festival in downtown Fort Collins delights music lovers and beer aficionados alike. On June 25 and 26, this family-friendly festival will be back in Washington Park for its 27th annual hurrah.

The event weekend will feature more than 90 types of Colorado beer, over 40 Colorado breweries and an interactive Beer School with tastings and demonstrations. Nine local bands, including Colony Funk, Wasteland Hop and Atomga, will perform over the weekend, and vendors and food trucks will also attend.

While there is no charge for admission to the festival, those who wish to try the beer must purchase a tasting package, which includes a commemorative beer glass and 10 Taster Tickets redeemable for beer.

Tickets can be obtained in person at a participating local brewery for $25, or upon arrival at the event for $35. 

Tasting packages are sold on limited availability at 1933 Brewing, Black Bottle Brewery, Coopersmith’s Pub, Fort Collins Brewery, Horse & Dragon, Snowbank Brewing, Rally King Brewing, Zwei Brewing, Pateros Creek Brewing and Wilbur’s Total Beverage.

A complete beer list, updated daily, can be found at the Downtown Fort Collins website. It includes Blueberry Wheat from High Hops Brewery in Windsor, Grey Wolf Belgian IPA from Jagged Mountain in Denver, and Old Colorado Porter from Old Colorado Brewing Company, which newly reopened in Wellington in March. 

Mulberry MAX is set to debut their 10% ABV Bourbon Barrel-Aged Wheat wine over the weekend, which they brewed in collaboration with Loveland’s Verboten Brewing.

In 2015, the Colorado Brewers’ Festival won the Governor’s Award for Downtown Excellence for being the best event, festival or recurring activity in the major city category. It was awarded by Downtown Colorado, Inc., a nonprofit organization with the goal of building better communities by providing assistance to Colorado downtowns, commercial districts and town centers.

The event was sponsored by more than 30 local and national businesses, including Colorado State University, First National Bank, and Comcast’s Xfinity. 

A specialty preview event, entitled “The Summit @ COBF,” took place Friday night in Washington Park with unlimited tastings of a selection of 40 rare and special-release beers curated by the Colorado Brewers’ Guild. Tickets for this event were sold separately. Though the start of the party was delayed for 20 minutes by passing storms, the event ultimately went on as planned.

Collegian Print Managing Editor Julia Rentsch can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter at @julia_rentsch.