8 OCTOBER 1-7, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Half Empty / Half Full WE LOOKED INTO THE STATE OF COLO- RADO CRAFT BEER IN 2026. BY RYAN PAC HMAYER One could be forgiven for thinking that Colo- rado craft beer in 2026 is similar to 2025 and even 2024. On the surface, this may seem true: There continues to be more closures than openings. Most new locations are ex- pansions of existing breweries. Consumer demand remains stagnant or slightly down. Yet many breweries have somewhat settled into this new normal, fi nding ways to sustain and sometimes even grow. Expanded menu options, a focus on improving the quality of beer and hosting a whole bunch of events are taking things in a slightly different direction. As we slide into yet another Great Amer- ican Beer Festival this week, let’s take a moment to assess the state of brewing in Colorado, which can most accurately be described as “half-empty, half-full.” Expanding for Scale Newer openings (and announcements of openings) have mostly been expansions of existing breweries. Cerebral announced an expansion into Parker, while Bruz Beers announced a future brewery in Golden. Westbound & Down is opening a fl agship brewpub in Wheat Ridge on the border of Denver, in summer 2027, while also add- ing a customer-facing space in the former Bootstrap production facility in Longmont. Meanwhile, Prost recently opened its own Wheat Ridge location, and plans to open a Colorado Springs taproom this winter. One brand-new brewery this year was ZoiglBräu. It opened in April, in the former Dry Dock South space in Aurora. Former brewery spaces are certainly becoming tougher for landlords to rent out, as the number of new breweries continues to shrink and the used brewing equipment market collapses. But for the breweries that are opening, having that purpose-built brewhouse space can be a valuable thing. Closures Outpace Consolidation Breweries are continuing to close for a variety of reasons. Landlords are certainly a major factor: With fi ve- to 10-year leases coming up for renewal, and the rates some- times doubling, or landlords wanting to develop the properties for different uses, it can be too much to overcome. This is especially true for breweries that were just skirting by in a tough, competitive market. Economic hardships have claimed some excellent breweries recently, like Call to Arms and Goldspot last winter. Copper Kettle is probably the most public example of a landlord-tenant dispute, with the result being the closure of a longtime brewery. Denver also lost a very prominent Latino-owned brewery last October, when Raíces was seized by the city for failure to pay its tax bill. Last year brought plenty of consolida- tion, as well — from Wilding scooping up Station 26, Upslope and Great Divide, to Dry Dock joining the Left Hand Collective — but consolidation has been nearly absent from the scene in 2026. Bootstrap joined the Left Hand Collective in February, but Wilding has been quiet, and international giant Til- ray, which owns brands like Breckenridge Brewery, Breckenridge Distillery, 10 Barrel and Sweetwater, has also stood pat. Bart Watson, President and CEO of the Brewers Association, says much of Colo- rado’s consolidation could be over for now, pointing out that many breweries that fi t the acquisition prototype already have. Still, he cautions there will likely be more mergers and buyouts ahead, simply because of how many producers are in Colorado’s market. Event-Led Strategies Clear solutions there were here during the growth years just around to latch on to anymore. Back then, you could make trendy IPAs, barrel-aged stouts and sour beers, or learn how to take advantage of scarcity and parlay that into effective marketing to launch a new brand. Those things felt very true 10 years ago across the market, whether you were a brewery like Casey in Glenwood Springs, Weldwerks in Greeley, or Black Project in Denver. Today, breweries serve vastly different types of consumers, depending on where they are located and the type of space and offerings they have. Some of the more successful breweries are hosting different types of events. Beer- wise, events like Niwot brewery Fritz Fam- ily’s Kölsch Service (Wednesdays all summer long, 5 to 7 p.m.) helped provide the brewery with a modest infusion of customers on what would be an otherwise slower evening. At Aurora’s Milieu Fermentation, co- owner Andrew Bergeron says that the brew- ery’s unique location and constantly changing guests mean that weekly events like trivia don’t work so well. Instead, the brewery focuses on having “one new, bigger event each month.” Milieu has been experimenting with of- fering “lager service,” a play on Kölsch Ser- vice. The Oktoberfest event, where 7-ounce Festbier pours were three for $18, went over well and will likely return next year. “We also see daily discounts being a driver to keep people in their seats,” notes Bergeron. Other breweries have seen success with traditional weeknight events, such as trivia, or even book clubs and computer meetups. These non-beer events won’t always lead to big profi ts for a brewery, but when you successfully bring community members into the brewery on a regular basis, it can provide a sustained amount of revenue, especially on slower days, and more opportunities throughout the year. On the more wacky side, Hogshead has planned a 100-mile, 100-ounce, “completely unsanctioned and wild” bike ride. It’s also a good deal – $50 includes all of your beer, food, snacks and electrolytes, with $15 going to the Tennyson Center for Children. Festivals Continue to Evolve With hype beer all but dead and craft beer now widely available and normalized, festivals have mostly taken on a new purpose. At events like Castle Rock’s Oktoberfest, Wheat Ridge’s Ridgefest and Taste of Arvada, breweries can easily be found among a wider group of interests and activities. Gone are the days when breweries would line up on Saturdays with a full staff and do- nated beers, just for the promise of exposure to beer drinkers. “I tell festival promoters, I’ve been around nine years,” says Woods Boss owner Jordan Fink. “If they don’t know who I am now, I don’t know if going to a festival is gonna change it.” Instead, Fink works fewer than a hand- ful of festivals a year, such as Castle Rock’s Oktoberfest. “They pay well, and you go through a lot of kegs,” he says. He also focuses on festivals that support the Colorado Brewers Guild, like Collabfest and the Lake Dillon Beer Fest. CAFE FIND MORE FOOD & DRINK COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/RESTAURANTS Colorado’s current beer scene can be described as “half-empty, half-full.” Bruz Beers knows how to fi ll a room. MICHAEL CHUANG PROVIDED BY CHRISTOPHER AUSTIN