This week, I am bringing you the delicious food I discovered while in Fort Collins. In my last post, I brought you beer and onion rings from Vermont, I though this would segue nicely into bringing you the ones I discovered in Fort Collins.

Brett and I spent the second night of our Western Road Trip in Fort Collins. Earlier this year, I was in Boulder and discovered several hidden gems that University if Colorado students are lucky to frequent. How would Colorado State stand in comparison?

 Cooper Smith’s is located on College Ave in downtown Fort Collins. It is a brewery, restaurant, and pool hall. Basically a place that you and your friends could spend an entire evening at. Brett and I decided to dine outside on the patio, the weather was nice and provided a great view of College Ave for awesome people watching. Being at a brewery, I had to give the beer a try. There were quite a few to choose from, but there was one that stuck out and I had to try…

A normal beer ? Be careful, looks can be deceiving. This is the Sigda’s Green Chili beer. Yes that is right, a green chili flavored beer. This Golden Ale is made with Anaheim and Serrano chilis that gave it an interesting kick. Before trying this I was hesitant as to what I would experience. The idea of drinking chilis was not something I do everyday. The beer had the taste of chili peppers, but without the heat. It was quite interesting. With each sip it tasted like you were biting into a pepper, but when you would expect the heat to kick in it was not there. There was a slight feeling of the heat, but not like I had expected at all.

What do you order to wash down a chili flavored beer? Well, I have found that fried foods always pair well with beer. In Vermont, the onion rings were very lightly battered. With this style the focus was on the onions and the light seasoning of the batter. In Charleston, I had an onion ring the size of a doughnut. All the attention was on the batter leaving you barely tasting the onion.

The onion rings at Cooper Smith’s were in between these two extremes. The batter was thicker than Vermont, but not like Charleston. With this style, equal importance was on the batter and the onion. Finish them off with ranch and you have a great appetizer to go with your beer.

Stay tuned for the rest of my food discoveries from Fort Collins.