{"id":27975,"date":"2024-04-26T13:50:37","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T19:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorados-craft-beer-boom-may-be-winding-down-as-tastes-shift-and-costs-rise\/"},"modified":"2024-04-26T19:50:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T19:50:37","slug":"colorados-craft-beer-boom-may-be-winding-down-as-tastes-shift-and-costs-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorados-craft-beer-boom-may-be-winding-down-as-tastes-shift-and-costs-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado\u2019s craft beer boom may be winding down as tastes shift and costs rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jake
Jake Bryant, left, and Jason Jones, both with Ska Brewing Co., place kegs of beer onto a pallet before it's loaded onto a semitrailer Sept. 30 at the brewery\u2019s shipping warehouse in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The smell of fresh hops permeated the air as Shawnee Adelson sat at Joyride Brewing Company in Edgewater. As Adelson set up her office for the day, workers were preparing a fresh batch of craft beer.<\/p>\n

For Adelson, visiting breweries before they open is part of the job. She\u2019s the president of the Colorado Brewers Guild, the trade association for Colorado\u2019s 400-plus craft breweries. She\u2019s been with the guild for nearly nine years, and has seen the industry grow exponentially during that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a long history of craft beer, one of the longest histories in the U.S. and one of the largest craft beer markets in the U.S.,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That market is mighty. According to the nationwide Brewers Association<\/a>, Colorado\u2019s brewing industry consistently punches above its weight. It has the fifth most breweries per capita in the U.S. and it generates over $2.4 billion in economic impact, including jobs created and revenue generated.<\/p>\n

While the last decade has been a high point for craft beer enthusiasts in Colorado, recent consumer trends indicate the industry may be entering a down period.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, beer sales were down about 1 percent in 2023. In Colorado, Adelson said sales dipped by 6 percent.<\/p>\n

That drop may sound small, but it’s the worst on record since the Brewers Association started tracking industry numbers in the late 1970s. Adelson attributes the downturn to a changing consumer base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s definitely more competition in the marketplace as people start drinking other types of alcohol and lean towards non-alcoholic options as well,\u201d Adelson said. \u201cWe’ve seen a younger generation that is overall drinking less than older generations, so it definitely impacts obviously anybody that’s in the alcohol industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 2019, breweries have seen production costs go up substantially \u2013 not just ingredients like hops and yeast, but also packaging materials. That\u2019s on top of labor costs, which are steadily increasing under new minimum wage laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings like malt, paperboard, cans, all of their inputs have gone up about 20 to 50 percent since 2019,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you’re thinking about when you go to a taproom and you say, \u2018Oh, the beer costs a little bit more than it used to,\u2019 these breweries are actually not raising prices as much as the prices are being raised on them. So a lot of breweries are trying to figure out how to make do with less money right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breweries are innovating to adapt<\/div>\n

Adelson said the effects of these trends aren\u2019t being felt equally, and businesses\u2019 responses are not uniform. Some breweries are consolidating to cut down on overhead costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see an example of Dry Dock and Great Divide Brewing, which have merged their production facilities into one because there was excess capacity there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dry Dock and Great Divide still operate their own independent taprooms. But some are rejecting the concept of a physical hang-out space altogether.<\/p>\n

Brandon Boldt co-owns Primitive Beer<\/a> alongside his wife, Lisa. They closed their Longmont-based taproom and production facility at the tail end of 2023 after a nearly 7-year run.<\/p>\n

They now operate as what they call a \u201cnomadic\u201d brewery, surviving through can distribution as far as China and France, as well as occasional pop-up bars at other breweries. Those limited events have been successful. Even at 3 p.m. on a random Monday, a handful of superfans came out for their pop-up event at New Image Brewery in Wheat Ridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the people that are here today actually have made the trek from, we’ll say, Boulder County and Longmont and all that down to Denver,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Primitive\u2019s pop-up format means the Boldts, who have a second child on the way, can make beer without the expensive overhead of a large permanent space. And they can do it on their own terms. Before closing their Longmont location, they were teetering dangerously close to burnout.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t say that we are good business people,\u201d Boldt said. \u201cI don’t know that our decisions are necessarily going to pan out in the end, but for us, just in our basic Excel spreadsheets and all of that, this seems like the most logical choice to be able to still create what we love, but survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the industry changes, your favorite brewery\u2019s future may be at risk<\/div>\n

Matthew Fuerst is the co-owner of Grandma\u2019s House, an eclectic brewery in Denver\u2019s South Broadway neighborhood. He knows the reality of burnout all too well.<\/p>\n

After over 10 years serving beer in a taproom that invited customers to play retro video games, cross-stitch and bingo nights, Fuerst is tapping out at the end of April.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve burnt a candle from both ends for quite some time. This is the longest job I’ve ever held and I haven’t had much time to get away from it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Grandma\u2019s House is closing primarily due to issues between Fuerst and the landlord. Even so, he said he\u2019s not sure if the brewery will ever return. If it does, it will probably look a lot different to keep up with industry trends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably want to incorporate different spirits and cider and wine and non-alcoholic beverages have been a big thing for us too, and we will continue to do that and incorporate a food element,\u201d Fuerst said.<\/p>\n

Adelson, the Brewer\u2019s Guild president, says there were over 30 brewery closures statewide in 2023, and only 25 openings. But there\u2019s still room for growth if you look outside the oversaturated Denver metro market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re seeing quite a few breweries open up on the eastern plains in small towns that really just want a community gathering place, a place that somebody makes their own beer and that community can go and grab a beer and hang out with their friends,\u201d Adelson said.<\/p>\n

Some breweries trust that growth will continue for themselves<\/div>\n

There are still some breweries that appear to be thriving. 4 Noses Brewing Company<\/a> recently opened a large production facility and taproom in Denver\u2019s Park Hill neighborhood after outgrowing its Broomfield location.<\/p>\n

Dustin Rainey, the company\u2019s marketing director, said its initial focus when it opened in 2014, was to lean into distribution into liquor and grocery stores. But, they quickly realized their Broomfield taproom was exceeding expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pivoted a little bit more back into that taproom to really create a community environment for Broomfield and what they wanted since they clearly wanted a place to hang out and drink, let’s give them what they want,\u201d Rainey said.<\/p>\n

Rainey acknowledged that developing a taproom culture and community at their new Park Hill location will be harder than Broomfield, given the saturated nature of the brewing industry in Denver.<\/p>\n

But he said they know what brings people in, like weekly trivia, events, and food trucks. He said the company is confident they\u2019re headed in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Some brewers just try not to dwell on the trends others are feeling. Jake Gardner is the co-founder of Westbound & Down, a brewery that first started in Idaho Springs. His business sense is, if they brew it, people will come.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s like the world isn’t going to quit drinking beer. I’m pretty positive of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Brewers said if you\u2019re worried about what change may be around the corner, observing one of Colorado\u2019s time-honored traditions can help \u2013 heading to the neighborhood brewery and cracking open a can or two.<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bryant, left, and Jason Jones, both with Ska Brewing Co., place kegs of beer onto a pallet before it's loaded onto a semitrailer Sept. 30 at the brewery\u2019s shipping warehouse in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)Jerry McBride The smell of fresh hops permeated the air as Shawnee Adelson sat at Joyride Brewing Company in Edgewater. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[431,120,582,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-27975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-general","tag-colorado","tag-craft-beer","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27975"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=27975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}