At Blue Moon Brewing Company®, we believe brewing is an art. And it’s been that way since our head brewmaster and founder, Keith Villa, first created Blue Moon® Belgian White Belgian-Style Wheat Ale back in 1995 in downtown Denver, Colorado.

It all started with Keith’s idea to craft a beer inspired by the flavorful Belgian Wits that he enjoyed while studying brewing in Belgium. He brewed his interpretation using the highest quality ingredients like Valencia orange peel, versus the traditional tart Curaçao orange peel, for a subtle sweetness. Then he added oats and wheat to create a smooth, creamy finish that is inviting to the palate. As a final touch, he garnished the beer with an orange slice to heighten the citrus aroma and taste.

We started brewing at the corner of 22nd & Blake in downtown Denver, Colorado, at the beginning of the '95 baseball season. We only call out baseball because our brewery is located in a baseball stadium. We were called The SandLot Brewery®, and we focused on brewing craft beer for the fans at games. By the middle of the season, our roster of beers was ready to start pouring. It included Slugger Stout, Rightfield Red, and a fan favorite called Bellyslide Wit.

As the season went on we kept hearing the same thing from fans: “Give me a Bellyslide.” With an overwhelming fan-favorite we knew we had a special beer on our hands, but we needed a name that could live outside of the baseball stadium. So one day, when a bunch of us were tasting beers, our admin called out, “You know, a beer that tastes this good comes around only once in a blue moon.” And with that phrase ringing in our ears, the Blue Moon Brewing Company® was born, and Bellyslide became Blue Moon® Belgian White*. Oranges, get ready.

Why, yes it is.

When we first started distributing Blue Moon® Belgian White* across the country, we noticed something: lemons. Lots of them. All curiously hanging off the sides of Blue Moon Belgian White*, which is common practice for traditional Belgian Wits that are tart. But Blue Moon® Belgian White* is not tart; it’s slightly sweet. So after a little thinking, Keith suggested garnishing our Belgian White* with an orange slice to heighten the citrus aroma and taste from the Valencia orange peel used to brew the beer. Needless to say, it caught on and Belgian White* was the first American beer that called for an orange.

Based on the response we got from fans and locals, we knew Belgian White* was a beer that should be shared. Not just in Colorado, but across the entire country. Well, it turns out, that’s easier said than done.

From 1995 to 2005, Keith and crew hit the road. They went bar to bar, store to store, telling the story of Blue Moon Brewing Company® and our Belgian White*.

Starting in 1997, they would even go as far as dropping off bags of oranges to garnish the beers at bars. Then a funny thing happened. Keith started getting calls from the bar owners who ran out of oranges. They told him how people loved the beer garnished with an orange slice. The only catch was, bars didn’t stock oranges as a drink garnish, so they wanted Keith to deliver more bags of oranges. Guess you could say it was a good problem to have.

In addition to Belgian White*, one of the first beers our brewmasters created was a Raspberry Cream Ale. It’s a classic cream ale brewed with black and red raspberries for a fresh raspberry aroma with a hint of tart sweetness. One day at the brewery, Keith got the idea that he wanted to do a black-and-tan, but not a traditional one. He wanted to do one the Blue Moon way, using the Raspberry Cream Ale.

Maybe it’s having a brewery located in a baseball stadium, but something inspired him to use peanuts for the “tan” part. Never having brewed with peanut butter before, the brewmasters were up for the challenge.

After a couple test batches and some pretty good kettle-made peanut brittle, they perfected their recipe using real peanut butter to capture that roasted peanut taste in a beer. They blended the Peanut Butter Ale with the Raspberry Cream Ale, and with that, a festival favorite was born. To this day, you can still get one at select beer festivals.

Our first seasonal beer, Pumpkin Ale, was first brewed in the fall of 1995. This fan favorite is crafted with harvest spices and pumpkin to capture the taste of the season. Still brewed today (currently known as Harvest Pumpkin Ale), it was the first pumpkin beer to be nationally distributed.

Next came our Mountain brew, Blue Moon^® Mountain Abbey Ale (originally brewed as a year-round beer). We wanted a beer for those cold Colorado nights. Inspired by Belgian Abbey Ales, our Mountain Abbey Ale is crafted with dark Belgian candi sugar and roasted malts for a rich, caramel-toffee taste.

We’ve gone on to add a wide variety of seasonals and limited seasonal releases. Sometimes, we wish there were more seasons in the year.

Hard to believe that it’s been 17 years since that first spring day back in 1995. We’ve brewed a lot of beer since then (3,269 batches, according to the logbook), and our brewmasters are always excited to experiment with new beers for our fans. Hard to believe that it's been 17 years since that first spring day back in 1995. We've brewed a lot of beer since then (3,269 batches, according to the logbook), and our brewmasters are always excited to experiment with new beers for our fans.

You just never know what will come next from the Blue Moon Brewing Company®.