2025 Market Facts VRP - Flipbook - Page 89
ECO NO MI C PRO FI L E & MA R K ET FACT S 2025 | 81
COURTESY RYAN COX PHOTOGRAPHY
Staff from Westbound & Down
Brewing Co., which operates a
brewery, taproom and pizzeria
in Lafayette, celebrating at the
Colorado Brewers Cup.
BREWING
Costs, consumer choices,
competition challenge craft brewers
The Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado are home to some of the
nation’s biggest and most beloved craft breweries — and Fort Collins
counts a plant operated by macro-brewing giant Anheuser-Busch among
its beer-making facilities — but the brewing industry both locally and
nationally faces significant headwinds.
Domestic brewers of craft beer produced 23.1 million barrels last year,
down 4% from 2023, according to a recent report from Boulder-based craft
beer trade group the Brewers Association.
Industry challenges include “rising ingredient costs, shifting consumer
preferences, and increased competition in a saturated market,” according
to BA. “Tariffs on imported brewing equipment, steel kegs, aluminum cans,
and key ingredients such as hops and malt only exacerbate these financial
pressures. These added costs can be particularly challenging for small and
independent breweries, which often operate on tight profit margins. As
a result, many are forced to delay expansion plans, raise prices, or absorb
losses — further compounding the headwinds already challenging the craft
beer industry.”
Consumers are increasingly choosing hard seltzers and non-alcoholic
drinks instead of craft beers, and now that grocery stores carry wine and
beers, local craft operators are competing for traffic and shelf space.
To stand out and make trips to breweries and tap more experiential,
brewers are thinking outside of the box.
“Novelties like going to a spa to drink local brews and soak in a tub
with various brewed ingredients are also growing, and Denver now has two
breweries connected to dog parks,” according to CU’s Colorado Business
Economic Outlook report. “Some breweries are combining businesses
to include daytime specialty teas and coffees, and one is growing into a
coworking space.”
In addition to the hundreds of breweries and distilleries operating in
the state, Colorado was home to “140 wineries, 12 meaderies, 20 cideries and one sake producer” as of 2023, according to the CU report. “The
potential for growth in all of these diverse producers (can) be seen at the
Great American Beer Festival, with the return of cider, kombucha, and
mead that were added in 2023 and the 2024 addition of ready-to-drink
canned cocktails, hard soda, tea, and other malt-base beverages…”
The trend of consolidation appears poised to continue in the local
brewing scene. Longmont-based craft brewing stalwart Left Hand Brewing
Co. acquired Aurora’s Dry Dock Brewing Co. in April, the same month that
Wilding Brands, a Lafayette-based, founder-owned family of craft beverage
brands, absorbed Denver-based Great Divide Brewing Co.
Brewing Resources
Brewers Association
www.brewersassociation.org
Colorado Brewers Guild
www.coloradobeer.com
Colorado Distillers Guild
www.coloradodistillers.org
Colorado Wine Industry Development Board
www.coloradowine.com
CSU Ventures
www.csuventures.org
Colorado State University Superclusters
www.superclusters.colostate.edu
Innosphere
www.innosphere.org
