This month in 2011, CBN noted that in a limping economy, in a down beer industry, the world of Colorado craft brewing felt like "an alternate universe." Of the half dozen or so brewers CBN recently visited, "every one without exception is building, expanding and/or growing rapidly." New Belgium broke ground on a new $8+-mil canning line, after just completing huge $20-mil bottling line. Odell had just finished an $8.5-mil expansion. Oskar Blues was spending many millions to keep up with rapid growth. Avery was "pretty maxed out," said sales dir Ted Whitney, but looking for land to buy and build a 100K-bbl brewery in Boulder County. At Great Divide, construction was underway to expand to 55K bbls. New Fort Collins brewers Equinox and Funkwerks were already making expansion plans. Whew! In Colo, there was "tremendous chatter about the smallest of the small," said First Beverage Group's JB Shireman. "There's a whole new wave of entrepreneurial spirit. Beer styles are evolving. People are starting to hone in on styles and be specialists," added Oskar Blues prexy John Bryant. Talk about a different era.

Colorado saw more brewery closings than openings in 2023, according to Axios report. It found 28 brewery locations closed vs 20 opened, Axios shared citing "new data" from Brewers Assn. And "the majority" of CO indie craft brewers declined in 2023 vs 2022. But there were plenty of growth cos too, with those like Prost accelerating in 2024 (see above). And there are still plenty of openings and other one-in-one-out situations across the state, including Tilray's plan to turn SweetWater's Ft Collins facility into a Breckenridge Brewery outpost, and Upslope plans to open a new taproom in Silverthorne, CO, according to Denver Post.

Creature Comforts is the latest craft brewer looking to add a distilling arm. The 2d-biggest brewer in GA (behind Tilray-owned SweetWater) submitted plans to enclose 800 sq-ft of its existing downtown Athens brewery, with proposal scheduled for Athens-Clarke County review late last wk, the Atlanta Biz Chronicle reported.

After opening its big new brewery in Northglenn, CO with a current annualized run rate of 50K-bbls, Prost Brewing "installed eight 200 bbl horizontal lagering tanks in June, more than doubling its volume potential," co announced this wk. And it ain't stopping there. Prost "plans to expand production even further," with "continued investment and capacity planned over the next year." Co's done about 4,500 bbls of contract volume so far in 2024, announcement notes, previously aiming to contract brew 20-25K. But latest expansions suggest it could be gearing up for more than that.

Midway thru 2024, Blake's Beverage Company believes it's risen to the top of indie cider standings. The conglomerate that spans Blake's Hard Cider, Austin Eastciders and Avid Cider "currently stands as the largest independent hard cider company nationwide," Blake's declared in latest announcement. That doesn't include Boston Beer's Angry Orchard, of course, and may not encompass ABV's Bold Rock either. Tho at very least, it'd put the Blake's portfolio ahead of other top cideries like Schilling and 2 Towns.

On heels of investment from NFL stars Travis and Jason Kelce, Columbus-based Garage Beer made its next big move this wk, taking a sizable step up in mktg talent. Kevin George, a 30-yr vet who spent 6 yrs as global CMO at Beam Suntory and 13 yrs at Unilever, will take the reins as Garage Beer CMO. He's already been advising CEO Andy Sauer, who recall acquired the brand from founding co Braxton Brewing a couple yrs back. Kevin also spent time on board of New Belgium, co noted. As Andy looks forward to adding Kevin "full-time to help accelerate our growth even further," he said, Kevin touted the brand's "distinctiveness" and "simplicity" as reasons it's "really struck a chord with drinkers looking to have a quality craft light beer with friends and family." Now in 13 states, Garage Beer eyes a quick natl expansion, planning "dozens of new states this year."

As parent co Heineken reported first half 2024 results yesterday, there was no mention of Lagunitas once again. That's even as Lagunitas shared plans to close its Chicago brewery during the qtr, expecting all production to shift to Petaluma, CA facility by Aug. Notably, Heineken's "global leader in 0.0" slide for its earnings presentation didn't depict Lagunitas as one of its core non-alc brands. Further indication that Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher sales are cooling off just 1.5 yrs after global earnings release touted that brand as "an adult beverage proposition of hop-infused sparkling water that can compete with carbonated soft drinks." Lagunitas sales in US scans declined 6% by $$, 10% by volume YTD thru Jul 14 in Circana multi-outlet + convenience data. For last 12 wks, $$ slipped 8% with volume -12%, driven down primarily by flagship Lagunitas IPA $$ down 9% and Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin' -11% for period.

Here's a viral bev trend that may be tuff to get into a bottle as packaged item if it sustains: Fluffy Coke. Summer refresher calls for glass to be coated with marshmallow fluff using spatula, then filled with ice cubes and Coca-Cola. Dubbed "diabetes in a cup" by skeptics, new TikTok craze is being credited to content creator Emma Grace and her grandma, nicknamed "Memama," whose Southern drawl renders recipe as "Fluffy Cocola." "I could drink like 4 of these," Grace swoons in video that's garnered 3.7 mil views, as NY Post tallied a few days ago.