ALAMOSA — The Colorado Farm Brewery made history on Friday by hosting a brewing collaboration that is the first of its kind for the San Luis Valley.

Josh Cody of The Colorado Farm Brewery (TCFB) and his brother Jason had the opportunity to brew in Helsinki, Finland and learn about an ancient variety of beer known as Sahti. Through this process the Cody brothers met Aaron Stueck, the head brewer and overseer of research and development for BJ’s Brewhouse a national brewing and restaurant chain with facilities in Boulder. Cody and Stueck found that that they had a common interest in the process that goes into the making of Sahti and decided that they should work together.

As a winner of multiple gold and bronze medals at the Great American Beer Festival, Stueck has experimented with a vast variety of beers. Josh Cody pointed out that he sees the opportunity to have a brewer of Stueck’s acclaim come to TCFB as “quite exciting.”

The flavor that makes Sahti particularly unique is the use of bark and berries from the Blue Juniper. Another difference is that hops are not usually an ingredient.  However, in this particular instance hops were used since they are a requirement. Cody and Stueck have also had the opportunity to speak about their work at the “Big Beers” event in Breckenridge, Colorado which is one of the premier brewing events in the state. The collaboration was deemed a success.

The Colorado Farm Brewery is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this new opportunity that breweries of their size don’t often get to see. The Codys are looking forward to what is ahead.