Next to the Great American Beer Festival, one of the most popular craft beer gatherings for metro Denver area beer lovers happens Saturday with the 11th Collaboration Fest.

The gathering, this year at the Westin in Westminster, brings together more than 160 craft breweries that worked together to create cross-brewery collaborations like “Bock of Ages,” “Don’t Tease Me, Bro” and “Morally Dankrupt.”

All breweries must be members of the Colorado Brewers Guild.

“What makes Collaboration Fest different is that every beer featured at the fest is designed and brewed specifically for Collaboration Fest,” according to the event webpage. “Each original beer is collaboratively brewed by two or more breweries and is likely inspired by a fun nod to a forgotten style, an inside joke around the brewery, a showcase in hops, or another fun connection made through friends brewing with friends in the industry.”

The Fest’s first year was 2014 but the pandemic curbed the show in 2020 and 2021.

Affectionately known as “CollabFest,” the event is expected to draw around 1,500 participants, according to Carrie Knose Wilson, communications manager for the guild.

“Collaboration Fest has grown to become one of the most beloved craft beer festivals in the state because this is an event where brewers can team up with other industry peers and create something completely new and different or do something that they’ve long wanted to do,” Wilson said. “The stories behind these collaborations have only gotten more compelling over the years. Brewers have brewed beers while rafting down a river, and incorporated unexpected ingredients like ramen and smoked pork.”

The 166 participating breweries this year include 20 out-of-state breweries, offering more than 120 unique beers.

For the three of the beers previously mentioned: “Bock of Ages” is a bock and chile bock beer by Bent Barley Brewing Co. and Danico Brewing; “Don’t Tease Me, Bro,” is a tea pale ale by Black Shirt Brewing and Westminster Brewing; and “Morally Dankrupt,” is a west-coast IPA by Cannonball Creek and ISM Brewing from California.

“It’s an opportunity to drink all new and different beers that you get to experience out in the wild,” said Dave “Beef” Mierra, former owner of Boggy Draw Brewery in Sheridan and longtime Collabfest participant. “You might find one of the collab beers at a tap for about a month after, but then they’re gone.

“It’s what craft beer is supposed to be: A full experience of a one-off beer.”

See a full list of the beers offered here.

“The festival has also become a launching pad for trends, including Brut IPA, Cold IPA, and the use of thiols to enhance flavor,” Wilson said. “That reputation has drawn a growing number of breweries to participate with each passing year.

The event, presented by On Tap Credit Union, runs from 2 p.m. (early entry) to 6 p.m. Saturday, at the Westin Westminster, 10600 Westminster Blvd., Westminster.

Tickets are still available for purchase here.