For decades, Front Range brewers have staked out annual hop harvests at Western Slope farms, sometimes chartering planes together to collect hops and return to brew the same day.

Brewers also frequently collaborate with universities and private growers to develop experimental hop strains that exhibit unique qualities. Hop extracts, infusers, and bevies of special equipment have followed trends for bigger, bolder IPAs. The recently launched Broken Hops brewery in Northglen however, is taking a different look at the ubiquitous IPA in the spirit of creativity and collaboration that define the current Colorado craft brewing season.

Chris O’Connor faced a market awash in hop bombs and continual one-upmanship to make the “hoppyest” ale. He chose a different path to the IPA, though. Applying his award-winning German brewing pedigree, gained as Vice President of Operations at Prost Brewing, O’Connor pursued a modern vision of the style, instead of pumping up a single ingredient.

His quest to reveal novel facets of traditional IPA ingredients led O’Connor to ultimately launch a new IPA-focused brewery: Broken Hops. While IPAs are traditionally influenced by English yeasts and methods, Broken Hops is reinventing the style using German lagering techniques.

“I created Broken Hops to showcase my love for German brewing principles, looking to the past for inspiration on what the future of IPAs could be,” said O’Connor. “With these modern IPAs as the vehicle, Broken Hops showcases how clean and vibrant the style can be, and how these techniques can make an unforgettable finished product.”

O’Connor leverages a centuries-old knowledge base of Central European brewing techniques, e.g., endosperm mashing, decoction, open fermentation, extended lagering and natural carbonation, to innovatively create a sensory experience few IPA hounds have encountered before. The brewery’s first two IPA models, released in March, are proving to be more than just ales brewed at lager temperatures or hoppier, heavier lagers.

Rather, Broken Hop’s flagship West Coast IPA elegantly defines puritanical style lines. With the lithe mouthfeel of a lager and bright “west coast” hop characters, this new beer straddles two worlds. Smooth and easy drinking, while packed with fresh hop bite, the novel pale ale offers an herbal grapefruit nose and firm bitter finish against a bready malt backbone.

The brewery’s new Hazy IPA also creates an experience beyond the pale of English brewing principals, ripe ester-fueled aromatics that leap from the glass. The modern hazy pale ale delivers a casual, refreshing bitterness attributable to copious dry hops — five pounds per barrel — rich with peach, strawberry, citrus, and stone fruit hop notes, and a finish that is anything but dry. That very magic borne of blending traditions is also at the heart of Colorado’s craft beer history, reflected in generations of established breweries coaching start-ups, recent regional independent brand consolidations and co-brewing partnerships, and especially at the original collaboration beer festival: Collaboration Fest.

The Colorado Brewers Guild will again promote that history as it hosts CollabFest on April 19 at the Westminster Westin. This year’s event offers 140 examples of the State’s independent collaborative spirit from 180 craft breweries, sharing visions of the next stage in craft beer.

The short list of stand out innovative entries begins with the 2025 welcome beer: a fresh New Zealand-style Pilsner brewed by the CBG board of directors at Odyssey Brewing. The recipe marries light biscuit malt from Loveland’s Root Shoot Malting with a dank hybrid hop (Alora) from Hopsteiner, and German yeast sourced by Propagate in Golden. The pilsner is a fugue of bold flavors born in dark monasteries and verdant south Pacific islands, grounded by the subtleties of Colorado-grown and kilned malt.

Red Cripsi Boi by Black Shirt and Seedstock breweries also pushes the envelope. The ruby-hued Düsseldorf Altbier melds German, Czech, and English ingredients in a play on a traditional malty Rheinland altbier, elevated with the toffee, dark chocolate body and citrusy undertones of Black Shirt’s Red Ale Project recipe. A bright and floral “old beer” indeed!

Broken Hops, along with Colorado’s deep bench of innovative craft breweries, continue to expand their art can-by-can. Their commitments reveal how vital collaboration is to the future of the industry, in-house and across town. Be it in modernizing beers styles, or in brands sharing brewhouses and logistics, craft beer remains a vital thread of our local identities. The craft beer spirit of creativity remains worth far more than the sum of its parts, and quite refreshing while it’s at it. Enjoy the adventure.

Cyril Vidergar can be reached with ideas and comments at beerscoop@gmail.com.