New Belgium Brewing

Yellow background with a brown illustration of a man in a suit riding a bicycle overlayed by light brown filigree in the center of the button; to the right of the primary illustration is a small circle with brown bicycle on a yellow background in the center and white text on a brown background around the rim

New Belgium Brewing’s story began in June 1988, when co-founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch took a life-changing bike trip through Belgium. Inspired by the country’s rich brewing traditions, they returned home to Fort Collins, Colorado, eager to start crafting their own beer. By 1991, Jordan and Lebesch had transformed their basement into a small brewery. That June, they launched test batches of two brews nicknamed “Fat Tire” and “Abbey,” which later debuted at the Colorado Brewers’ Festival. Just two years later, their “Abbey Ale” won a gold medal in the Specialty Category at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

As the brewery grew, so did its identity and values. In 1999, New Belgium established a tradition of gifting every employee a custom cruiser bike on their one-year anniversary as a nod to the company’s origins.

New Belgium’s commitment to social and environmental responsibility also helped shape its legacy. In 2009, the brewery installed what was, at the time, Colorado’s largest solar array. The company further advanced its sustainability goals in 2020, when “Fat Tire” became America’s first certified carbon neutral beer.

For much of the brewery’s history, local watercolor artist—and Kim Jordan’s neighbor—Ann Fitch created the artwork featured on New Belgium’s bottle labels. Her illustrations also inspired the bicycle-themed logo shown on this button. However, in 2013, the company opted for revamped designs with hopes of attracting newer generations of beer drinkers, though Fitch is still largely credited for the success of their early branding.

As of 2025, the company’s slogan sums it up best: “We were born on a bike. The rest is history.”