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City Star Brewing

City Star Brewing Trades Beer for Trash this Earth Day

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City Star Brewing is hosting an Adopt YOUR Town campaign this Earth Day. The Berthoud, Colorado brewery is sponsoring this littler clean-up by offering free beer in exchange for a bag of trash. Participants can earn a beer by showing their City Star beer slinger a photo with their bag of trash. Alternatively community members can drop off at City Star’s roll-off dumpster rented just for the campaign. A red City Star tent will be setup with the dumpster, located in the parking lot on the SE corner of 3rd and Mountain Ave. Litter will be traded for free beer coupons at the tent Sunday 4/24 (note: date changed to windy Friday forecast). Families are encouraged to participate with their kids. There will also be root beer on hand at the City Star tent to trade for trash!

Bin There Dump That is an event sponsor. The Northern Colorado company helped make the roll-off dumpster a possibility. City Star asks community members to help make the event a success by not dumping any prohibited items: electronics, appliances, hazardous waste or tires. This isn’t a Town clean-up day accepting any and all trash. The Town of Berthoud will actually be sponsoring a Town Clean-Up Week in May so residents should hold out for that event to schlep old mattresses away. The intention of City Star’s Adopt YOUR Town campaign event is to clean-up litter around the area, not from personal property. Unfortunately after a spring of W-I-N-D there is a lot of roadside litter.

City Star strives, not only on Earth Day but every day, to be earth conscious with their business decisions. They practice this by recapturing brewing water, sending their spent grain to Long Shadow Farm, offering recycling in their taproom, using biodegradable plastic cups when needed, re-using 4-pack holders and sourcing local ingredients. Earth Day is a day to celebrate our planet and recognize what changes we can make to better it. When it comes to environmental stewardship there is always space to improve, but the small town brewery is proud to do its part, recognize what can be improved upon, and work to do more. City Star holds great value in bettering their Berthoud community in all ways and can’t wait to come together to clean up this weekend!

City Star Ladies Brew Together on International Women’s Day

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City Star Ladies Brew Together on International Women’s Day
Calamity Jane, Experimental Sour Pale Ale 

On International Womens Day, Tuesday March 8th, City Star staff came together to brew an annual ladies collaboration, Calamity Jane. The tradition of brewing a unique female led beer each year began back in 2015. Past year’s brews include collaborations with Root Shoot Malting, Spirit Hound Distillers (2016 and 2017), and Grimm Brothers Brewhouse (2018). City Star’s 2022 Women Day brew was an in-house collaboration. The female brew day is an opportunity to have fun and highlight empowered women at City Star, within our community, and in the beer industry.

The beer brewed this year is an Experimental Sour Pale Ale: a blend of sour barrel aged golden ale with a citrus pale ale. City Star ladies brewed the pale ale together on IWD with fresh lime and sumo tangerine zest. The brew was then dry hopped with the Pink Boots 2021 Hop Blend (HBC 630, Idaho Gem®, Loral®, Talus® and Triumph). Yakima Hopsdonates $3 per pound sold of the blend to the Pink Boots Society scholarship fund. Calamity Jane is scheduled for release Friday, April 1st along with Calamity Jane “Be a Legend” T-Shirts. The release event will also feature female owned Italian food truck Ting’s Things and local musician Andrea Deepe of 10 Year Echo.

The annual event of Calamity Jane is valued by City Star because it highlights the celebration of women in craft beer. In 2021 male brewery owners outnumbered women brewery owners 3-to-1. City Star staff brew this beer in solidarity with their female co-workers and in support of 50% female ownership. It important to offer a welcoming environment for all and honor the work that women contribute to the beer industry. This beer is admiringly named after Calamity Jane herself, a woman of the Wild West known for her sharp shooting, whisky-swilling and kindness towards others. And as she so famously quotes, “I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should just go ahead and be one.”

City Star Brewing Releases Biggest Beer of the Year

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City Star Brewing Releases Biggest Beer of the Year
Outlaw Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

The Berthoud, Colorado brewery’s biggest annual beer release of the year, Outlaw, will be unleashed this weekend.  The 2022 vintage of this imperial stout was aged 1 year in Deerhammer Whiskey oak barrels and weighs in at a whopping 12.7% ABV. Flavors of rich chocolate, dark dried fruit, oak, vanilla and of course American whiskey. A rich and creamy mouthfeel leaves you lingering for another pour.

Outlaw will be available on tap for sampling starting at noon on Saturday, February 5th. 400 wax dipped 22oz bottles will be for sale in the taproom ($20/each with a 12 bottle limit per person).

City Star’s Barrel Aging Program
City Star’s Zoller Barrel House is home to 48 oak barrels from wineries and distilleries near and fear. Each barrel is branded with a number for tracking barrel and beer history along with tasting notes. Stainless nails are pulled every 3-6 months to sample the barrel’s contents. The room separates clean and sour barrels. Most barrels age one or two clean beers and then are re-purposed as sour barrels.  Occasionally barrels are retired from City Star, but the original barrels #1 and #2, first filled in 2014, are still in-use as some of the preferred City Star sour barrels.

The Zoller Barrel House building was constructed in the early 1900’s. Its current name pays homage to a piece of its history: immigrant Jake Zoller operated the Zoller Shoe Shop in the space from the 1930’s to 1980’s. In 2014 John and Whitney Way purchased the property and remodeled the building to accommodate stacked barrels along each of the long walls. Radiant floor heat was installed to facilitate beer aging and complex sour development year round.

Beer Behind Local Street Artist in Snow Sculpting Competition

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Gamma Gallery Paints at City Star BrewingBerthoud, Colorado’s City Star Brewing is bringing artist Gamma Acosta (Gamma Gallery) back to town for this week’s Colorado Snow Sculpting Competition. Four years ago City Star commissioned Gamma to paint “All In at City Star” in the taproom’s beer garden. The mural was created completely free-hand, using only spray cans (no stencils, etching or projector) on the 700 square foot concrete canvas. Gamma’s work is a main feature at the decade old craft brewery, admired by regulars and newcomers alike.

In the Colorado Snow Sculpting Competition Gamma Acosta leads team Frio Trio along with Colorado based tattoo artist Thyris Rodney. Together they will carve one of 9 giant snow cylinders in Fickel Park. Gamma’s experience in carving snow most notably includes a snow sculpture he carved (and spray painted!) for his 95 year old grandmother to view outside her window. However, this competition will be his first of its nature. With less than 48 hours until teams begin carving Gamma hasn’t settled on a final concept for the team’s sculpture. He promises something intricate and thoughtful.

“Sponsoring Gamma’s participation in Berthoud Snowfest is a small token of gratitude from City Star for the piece of himself he has given to us. We are truly honored to feature his art. His creative contribution has left a lasting impression on our family, City Star, and our community. Gamma’s work comes from more than a creative space. His creativity is intertwined with passion, love, and a commitment to make our world a better place.” – City Star Co-Owner Whitney Way

The Colorado Snow Sculpting Championship is the main focus of Berthoud Snowfest, with team carving throughout the week. The event culminates with “tools down” and final judging at 10am this Saturday, January 15th. Winners will go on to compete in the US National Snow Sculpting Championship in Wisconsin. Competition organizer Steve Mercia has been making snow and packing snow cylinders in anticipation of the event. Carving begins this Wednesday, and spectators can follow Gamma and all the artists’ progress through the week at Fickel Park and online at facebook.com/CoSnowSculptingChampionship. Follow Team Frio Trio at @gammagallery and @thyristattoos on Instagram.

Gamma Acosta is a local street artist with a passion for public art. He creates works of art that are incredibly moving, meaningful and usually provocative. He gives color and illustration to community emotion. His large-scale projects are often completed without compensation. His decade of work features powerful pieces that evoke a range of emotion from all passerby: Skin Condition,  Sandy Hook Elementary Tribute, Mural on 37th and DowningPeyton Manning, and the largest mural in Denver dedicated to graffiti artists. Gamma’s work can be found in his hometown of Longmont, Colorado (Four Generations, throughout Denver, across the country and as far away as Belgium, as a North West Walls project artist.

Gamma Acosta with City Star Owners John and Whitney Way

City Star Releases 50th Specialty Beer of the Year

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City Star Cans by Emily SierraCity Star Brewing, a small town craft brewery, had a big year of beer! Their New Years Eve beer release marks their 50th specialty beer of the year. Aegir (pronounced eye-ear) is a hazy IPA brewed with Norwegian Kveik yeast and double dry hopped with Citra and Galaxy hops. The Berthoud, Colorado brewery released 50 specialty beers in the year 2021 in addition to their mainstay beers available year round. City Star packaged 570 barrels (17,670 gallons) of beers throughout the year, brewed 100 gallons at a time on a humble 3.5 barrel brew system.

Inspiration for recipes comes from past experiences, staff ideas, culinary influence, industry trends, unique flavors, and available local ingredients.  The majority of City Star’s grain is grown and malted right up the road at Root Shoot Malting. Specialties released were made with a variety of yeasts: German lager and American, Norwegian and Belgian ale yeasts. The 2021 beer line-up featured classic hops as well as new varieties, including Sabro, Cashmere, Talus, Strata, El Dorado.  The most noteworthy hops though are the Centennial hops grown right in the City Star beer garden. They’re handpicked and added fresh to City Star’s Homegrown IPA each fall. City Star’s 2021 specialty beers incorporated many fruit adjuncts: pineapple, cherry, passionfruit, orange, strawberry, tangerine, peach, blackberry, soursop, raspberry, blueberry, watermelon, lime and mango. Vegetables made an appearance too: cucumber, carrot, pumpkin, sandia hot chili peppers, and even locally grown rhubarb.

These fifty specialty beers brewed at City Star Brewing throughout the year included a handful with philanthropic backgrounds. Honey Graham, brewed in memory of Jason Buehler, raised $1,200 for his family. Black is Beautiful blackberry stout was brewed to support equality and justice for people of color and raised $1,000 donated to NAACP. Harley’s Honey Wheat is brewed in honor of Harley’s Dream, a non profit who’s mission is to educate and spread awareness about puppy mills.

The greater Berthoud community has reinforced City Star’s expression, “You keep drinking it, we’ll keep brewing it”. Community support has enabled City Star to keep the fermenters full, and encouraged creativity in brewing. In 2022 City Star Brewing will continue creating craft beers you can hang your hat on.

City Star Celebrates Anniversary and Colorado Manufacturing Award Win

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City Star Brewing celebrates 9 years in business this week, a milestone after an unprecedented year. In advance of this weekend’s celebration the Berthoud craft brewery is honored to be recognized as the 2021 Colorado Manufacturing Awards Outstanding Craft Brewer, selected from a trio of finalists including Denver Beer Company and Holidaily Brewing Company. City Star Brewing joins a reputable group of past CMA craft brewer winners including Dry Dock Brewing, WeldWerks Brewing, Left Hand Brewing, Crooked Stave and Ska Brewing Company.

CMA founder and CompanyWeek publisher Bart Taylor said, “As it is every year, this was a very competitive category, with three companies representing distinct tiers in Colorado’s incredible craft brewing industry. Congratulations to the City Star team and the city of Berthoud.”


City Star Brewing’s 9th anniversary comes with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Berthoud, Northern Colorado and the greater craft beer community have been incredibly supportive since before the doors opened in 2012. The past year City Star has received generosity beyond words: from propane tanks and heaters to volunteer efforts and private donations. In appreciation of the community, City Star Brewing will be giving away 500 crowlers to-go (a glass growler aluminum can combination) during this Saturday’s celebration.

“City Star’s Hootenanny” anniversary celebration will span all day Saturday starting at noon with two new beers on tap: Salud wheat with watermelon, sea salt and lime and Easy Does It session pale ale featuring Sabro hops. Nacho Mama’s Tacos and Sweaty Moose food trucks will be out front all day. Live music on the beer garden stage will feature Dave Frediani and Joe Kuckla & Irons in the Fire. The Hootenanny is also defined by the annual relaunch of the Deputy mug club program, $10 commemorative t-shirts…and a cupcake toast courtesy B Sweet Cupcakes.

The downtown Berthoud brewery has remained open the past year as a staple in the community, pivoting as required, maintaining staff, and “keeping it flowing”. At the onset of the pandemic City Star Brewing launched crowler sales, online ordering, local deliveries, and canning. Annual events like Flap Jack Day and Lucky Charms Beer Flights adapted to be to-go friendly. City Star has worked hard to be a friendly, safe space for everyone the past year. The next year will be all about embracing local growth, stabilizing, and bringing a new 7 barrel brewhouse online for more efficient brew days.

City Star Oompa Loompa – Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket

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Willy Wonka’s Oompa Loompas have been busy packaging beer and hiding GOLDEN TICKETS at City Star Brewing! Golden Tickets have been tucked under the caps of select City Star 4-packs. If you’re the lucky winner bring your ticket into the taproom to redeem for a FREE 4-pack! Order your cans at citystarpickup.com

WATCH the City Star Oompa Loompa in action….

Flapjack Day – 2020 Style

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Flapjack Day Crowler and 4-PackCity Star Brewing’s 2020 Flapjack Day will look a little different from past years. Even in these unprecedented times the Berthoud tradition of flapjacks and breakfast beers with 50’s flair will carry on. In lieu of a community pancake breakfast, crowlers of Diane Levy’s famous flapjack dry mix will be available in the taproom so folks can flip flapjacks at home. Breakfast beers will be sold in 16oz can mix 4-packs. This year’s flavors include Morning Coffee Stout, Maple Brown, Fruit Cup IPA, and Jasmine Green Tea Pale Ale. Flapjack mix crowlers and breakfast beer 4-pack sales launch Friday, September 4th… available for purchase all Labor Day weekend!

100% of the proceeds from crowler sales will benefit the Berthoud Historical Society. Flapjack dry mix is packaged in 32oz crowlers with an innovative, resealable twist lid. A crowler is a large can that can be filled with draft beer and seamed right at the source; they are cheaper, lighter and keep craft beer fresher longer than conventional glass growlers. At the COVID-19 shutdown, City Star immediately began filling crowlers with to-go beer with the help of Crowler Nation.

Flapjack Day 4-PackOn Flapjack Day, Labor Day, Monday, September 7th, the taproom will be open 11am-5pm with flights of five breakfast beers and the waffle lab food truck serving out front. Vintage cars and 50’s dress encouraged all weekend long.
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A bit of flapjack history courtesy of the Berthoud Historical Society… from 1948 to 1958 the local Lions Club and Chamber of Commerce hosted a Flapjack Day in Berthoud Town Park that drew hordes of people to “The Garden Spot.” On the first Flapjack Day (1948) an estimated 1,000 persons descended on Berthoud to devour 5,000 free pancakes. By 1949, The Berthoud Bulletin announced that 3,700 visitors from 21 states downed a whopping 7,400 flap jacks. Over its eleven-year span, Flapjack Day grew to include the crowning of a Flapjack Queen, spike-driving, swimming and diving contests, a baton twirling competition, pet-and-doll parades, a pig catching scramble, and a tractor driving challenge. The last Flapjack Day was held in 1959 when the Chamber of Commerce decided to cancel the event due to the high cost of hosting such a spectacle. City Star Brewing brought this annual tradition back to life in 2015: giving away 1,000 flap jacks, raising $1,000 for the Berthoud Historical Society, and crowning the first Flapjack Queen in 50 years.

Black is Beautiful Supports Justice and Equality for People of Color

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City Star Black is BeautifulAlongside nearly 1,000 breweries worldwide City Star Brewing is participating in the Black is Beautiful collaboration. This initiative launched by Weathered Souls Brewing in San Antonio, Texas is a collaborative effort to support justice and equality for people of color. Today City Star releases its version of Black is Beautiful, a blackberry chocolate stout, on draft and in 16oz cans.

City Star co-owner Whitney Way says, “We lack diversity. Our community lacks diversity. It’s no secret the craft beer industry lacks diversity. Berthoud is a predominantly white community, where we are often blind to racial injustice and the challenges that people of color face daily.  Because of our location we feel even more compelled to brew this beer in support of justice and equality for people of color.”

20% of sales of City Star’s Black is Beautiful will be donated to NAACP Denver.  The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. The NAACP is a long-established, reputable organization, a leader in advancing justice and equality for people of color.

City Star Brewing strives to be a destination that promotes inclusion and equality. Our business is committed to maintaining a welcoming and safe environment for all people- regardless of age, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religion or disability.

More about the Black is Beautiful Initiative:

“The Black is Beautiful initiative is a collaborative effort amongst the brewing community and its customers, in an attempt to bring awareness to the injustices that many people of color face daily. Our mission is to bridge the gap that’s been around for ages and provide a platform to show that the brewing community is an inclusive place for everyone of any color. We are asking for all breweries and brewers far and wide to raise a glass with us in unison and participate in this collaboration.” – https://blackisbeautiful.beer/

Black is Beautiful asks breweries to brew a unique stout, commit to the long-term work of equality and choose their own local organizations to donate to that support equality and inclusion. Weathered Souls says, “As much as we want this to be about raising money, the real issue is bringing education and information, which will bring forth change to a system that has fractured so many families and has been broken for decades. This platform and collaboration is about understanding and supporting people of color and inclusion. We ask that you please stand with us to create something that has never been seen before and show the world the brewing community is one of a kind.”

City Star Brewing Launches Craft Beer in Cans

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Cans were not in the plans for City Star Brewing in 2020. Whenever asked over the past eight years when the Berthoud brewery’s beer would be available in cans the answer was always similar, “Quality canning is a big investment. It’s not part of our current model, and we’re waiting for the saturated craft beer scene to stabilize.” Then COVID-19 ushered in a demand for to-go beer with the mandatory taproom shutdown, and improved packaging became critical. Launching beer in 25oz aluminum crowlers the first week of the shutdown improved City Star’s ability to satisfy curbside customers. Amazing volunteers, affectionately dubbed “the crowler crew”, spent hours weekly pre-filling crowlers to offer the best quality beer in that particular package. It quickly became apparent pre-filling hundreds of crowlers weekly was inefficient and unsustainable in the long run. The search for the right canning line began.

In May City Star purchased a canning line built by Michigan-based MicroCanner from Grand River Brewing Company in Jackson, Michigan. The MC-Flex canning line fills up to 24 cans per minute, including a 6-head filler, automatic pre-rinse, CO2 purge in the can and under the cap, and post-rinse.  Installation and operation at City Star has been smooth, allowing for 4-packs of 16oz cans to roll off the line and sell off the shelves earlier this month.

Cowboy’s Golden Lager and All American IPA are both currently available in 16oz cans, with Bandit Brown, Sim’s Red, and Black is Beautiful launching in cans this Friday, July 3rd. 4-packs are currently only sold through the downtown Berthoud taproom, with no immediate plans to distribute. Cans are a superior packaging option, perfect for camping or summit celebrations. They have a smaller environmental impact than bottles, and most importantly, they limit oxygen and light exposure, ideal for keeping beer fresher and flavorful longer.

As this rollercoaster of a year progresses and concerns of another wave of COVID-19 in Colorado hover, City Star is poised to keep it flowing. The independent small town brewery entered 2020 as a strong, healthy business with incredible community support. The pandemic closed the taproom doors and business declined, but City Star pivoted business models. “We doubled-down on what we love, making and sharing quality craft beer” – Whitney Way, City Star Co-Owner.