USA, CO: Envy Brewing aiming at opening later this year in Fort Collins

Brian Connery’s brewing career has taken him all over the country.

He brewed at Delaware's Dogfish Head Brewery during its largest growth period. He’s worked at breweries in Las Vegas and San Francisco. In Colorado, he’s brewed at Fort Collins’ New Belgium Brewing, Boulder Beer Co., Aurora’s Dad & Dudes Breweria, Colorado Springs’ Il Vicino and most recently at Denver’s Lost Highway Brewing.

Now, Connery is helping build a new brewpub in Fort Collins from the ground up — Envy Brewing plans to open by the end of the year out of a portion of the Peloton Cycles at 3027 E. Harmony Road, The Coloradoan reported on October 18.

‘I’m someone who likes a challenge in my life,” Connery said. “You put in your heart and more of yourself when you are building something from scratch.”

Connery provides plenty of experience to Envy, which has been about seven years in the works. He joins business partners Erik Schmidt, Joe Morgan and Dana Hood.

“His expertise will be worth every penny,” Schmidt said. “You can’t open with bad beer, and with (Connery) we will be able to get open as soon as we are able.”

Envy will focus on collaboration beers, with plans to partner with other breweries, malt companies, local businesses and area homebrewers.

The brewery plans to serve its beer in-house and also distribute to area accounts.

“We were hesitant of doing a normal tasting room and wanted another aspect to our brewery,” Hood said. “We think collaborations will be one way we can stand out here in Fort Collins in a crowded beer scene.”

Envy will have about 35 indoor seats plus additional seating on a patio.

The restaurant portion of the brewpub will offer pizzas, wings and salads. Special pairing dinners and events will also be planned.

Envy was first dreamed up by Schmidt and Morgan, who were avid homebrewers. They came up with the Envy Brewing name seven years ago and have looked at multiple locations throughout Fort Collins.

“We can’t really remember how we came up with the name — it was a long night with a lot of beer,” Morgan joked. “We wanted something short and memorable.”

And now with the well-traveled Connery on board, Envy Brewing is about to become a reality.

“The response I've gotten so far is people are extremely excited,” Connery said. “We are chomping at the bit to get going.”

Breweries of Fort Collins
Anheuser Busch, 1988
Coopersmith's Pub & Brewing, 1989
Odell Brewing, 1989
New Belgium Brewing, 1991
C.B. & Potts, 1996
Equinox Brewing, 2010
Funkwerks, 2010
Black Bottle Brewery, 2012
Pitchers Sports Restaurant, 2013
Horse & Dragon Brewing, 2014
Snowbank Brewing, 2014
Zwei Brewing, 2014
Rally King Brewing, 2015
Soul Squared Brewing, 2015
McClellan's Brewing, 2015
Jessup Farm Barrel House, 2015
Maxline Brewing, 2016
Intersect Brewing, 2016
Gilded Goat Brewing, 2017
D.C. Oakes Brewhouse & Eatery, 2017
Purpose Brewing & Cellars, 2017
Red Truck Beer, 2018
Ramskeller Brewpub at CSU, 2018

Under construction: Envy Brewing, Prost Brewing, Freedonia Brewing and new C.B. & Potts brewery.

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