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Breckenridge Brewery is an American brewing company based in Littleton, Colorado. Select beers can be found in 42 US states. The company was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2016 and resold to Tilray in 2023.[1]

History

Founding

Breckenridge Brewery was founded in Breckenridge, Colorado, by Richard Squire in 1990.[2] It was Colorado's third craft brewery.[3] In 1991, Squire brought on Todd Usry, who took over as brewmaster in 1994. Usry became director of production and sales in 2008, and was ultimately named the company's president.[4][5]

Expansion

In 1992, the brewery expanded operations beyond Breckenridge, opening a manufacturing facility in Denver adjacent to what would become Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies.[3] In 1996, Breckenridge moved the brewing, kegging and bottling of its beer to a new facility south of downtown. The original Denver location, Breck on Blake, remains open, with brewing no longer taking place there.[3] In 2010, Wynkoop announced a merger with Breckenridge to form the holding company Breckenridge-Wynkoop LLC. The company also owns the Wynkoop Brewing Company, Phantom Canyon Brewing, and several restaurants.[6] In January 2013, Breckenridge Brewery announced that its facility, by then producing 64,000 barrels of beer per year, was at max capacity and would be moving to a new brewery complex.[7][8] In June 2015, Breckenridge Brewery left Denver and moved into its new $36 million, 12-acre, 85,000-square-foot campus in Littleton, Colorado, which includes three buildings: a brewhouse and office building, a building for fermentation and packaging, and its 300-seat Farm House restaurant and beer garden.[5][9]

Breckenridge Brewery ranked #50 on the Brewers Association's 2014 list of the largest US craft breweries,[10] and #47 on the 2015 list.[11] The Brewers Association ranked Breckenridge Brewery as Colorado's fifth-largest craft brewer by barrels produced in 2015.[12] Early on, Breckenridge Brewery produced roughly 1,000 barrels of beer per year.[5] By 2015, the company was producing over 70,000 barrels of beer,[13] with its beers sold in 35 states in the US.[14]

Interior of Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado in 2015.

Purchase by Anheuser-Busch InBev

On December 22, 2015, Anheuser-Busch InBev announced its intent to purchase Breckenridge Brewery from Breckenridge-Wynkoop LLC, as part of its High End craft and import beer brand unit.[13][15] The acquisition, completed in 2016, included Breckenridge Brewery's production brewery and Farm House restaurant in Littleton, as well as its brewpub in Breckenridge.[14] In an open letter to Breckenridge Brewery consumers, Usry said the brewery would continue to make its own decisions regarding the beer it creates.[15]

Partnerships

Every year since the inaugural 2012 Denver Comic Con, Breckenridge Brewery has collaborated with the convention to brew and sell a limited edition beer, with a comic-themed name chosen through an annual contest.[16]

Since 2013, Breckenridge Brewery has regularly collaborated with Never Summer Industries for the creation of limited edition Artist Series snowboards and special release beers.[17][18]

List of beers brewed

Beer Category Available Style ABV% IBU
Agave Wheat Mainline Year round Unfiltered Wheat ale 4.4% 13
Avalanche Ale Mainline Year round Amber ale 5.0% 19
Breck IPA Mainline Year round IPA 6.3% 66
Breck Lager Mainline Year round Lager 4.5% 14
Lucky U IPA Mainline Year round IPA 5.7% 68
Mango Mosaic Pale Ale Mainline Year round Pale ale 5.5% 29
Oatmeal Stout Mainline Year round Oatmeal stout 5.0% 36
Vanilla Porter Mainline Year round Vanilla porter 5.4% 16
Nitro Vanilla Porter Nitro Series Year round Nitrogenated vanilla porter 5.4% 16
Nitro Lucky U IPA Nitro Series Year round Nitrogenated IPA 5.7% 68
Autumn Ale Seasonal Fall Brown Ale 6.0% 21
Christmas Ale Seasonal Winter Winter ale 7.1% 22
Snow Glare Hoppy Wheat Seasonal Spring Wheat ale 6.0% 23
Summer Pils Seasonal Summer German Pilsner 5% 15
King's Dish Small Batch Limited Burton ale 6.8% 55
471 Small Batch IPA Small Batch Year Round Double IPA 9.2% 70
72 Imperial Small Batch Limited Imperial chocolate cream stout 7.2% 11
Palisade Peach Wheat Seasonal Summer/Fall Wheat Ale 5.3% 7
Hazy Pilsner Seasonal Saaz dry-hopped Pilsner 5% 30
Hop In Hand - Idaho 7 American IPA 7.7%
Hugs & High Fives American Lager 5.3%
Imperial Porter American Porter 7.5%
Juice Drop Pineapple Orange Mainline Year Round New England IPA 7.2% 44
Mile High City Golden Ale CO Exclusive Limited American Ale 5.5% 20
Oatmeal Stout Ver. 2.0 Oatmeal Stout 6%
Peanut Butter Stout American Porter 5.9%
Peerless Summer IPA American IPA 6.4%
Summer Pils Shandy Mainline Year Round Fruit and Field Beer 4.3% 10
Vienna Lager Vienna Lager 5%
Buddy Pass Whiskey Barrel-Aged Oatmeal Stout Small Batch Limited American Imperial Stout 10.5% N/A
Juice Drop Hazy IPA Mainline Year Round Hazy IPA 7% 60
Strawberry Sky Mainline Year Round Kolsch 4.8% 23

References

  1. ^ https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tilray-brands-announces-agreement-acquire-200500452.html
  2. ^ Elizabeth J. Goodgold, "Brand-Spankin' Brew," Entrepreneur, January 2003.
  3. ^ a b c Lee Williams, "Behind the Scenes at Breckenridge Brewing Co., Denver, Colorado," Serious Eats, May 13, 2012.
  4. ^ T. Ballard Lesemann, "Breckenridge Brewery celebrates 20 years," Charleston City Paper, July 28, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c Loren Green, "Breck Brewery's Brewmaster Talks Expansion, Big Bottles and Leftover Salmon," Paste, July 18, 2015.
  6. ^ Jonathan Shikes, "Breckenridge Brewery's Todd Usry Explains the Sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev," Westword, December 23, 2015.
  7. ^ Eric Gorski, "Breckenridge Brewery building $20 million brewery project in Littleton," Denver Post, January 31, 2013.
  8. ^ Loren Green, "Breckenridge Doubles Capacity, Opens New Restaurant," The Growler, June 9, 2015.
  9. ^ Clayton Woullard, "Littleton hopes new Breckenridge Brewery becomes tourist draw," Denver Post, November 25, 2014.
  10. ^ John Kell, "Anheuser Busch-InBev Buys Third Craft Brewer in 5 Days," Fortune, December 22, 2015.
  11. ^ John Kell, "These Are America's 10 Largest Craft Breweries," Fortune, April 5, 2016.
  12. ^ Steve Raabe, "Colorado places five craft brewers on list of nation’s 50 largest," Denver Post, March 31, 2015.
  13. ^ a b Alicia Wallace, "Breckenridge Brewery sold to giant Anheuser-Busch's 'High End'," Denver Post, December 22, 2015.
  14. ^ a b "Anheuser-Busch buying Colorado's Breckenridge Brewery," Chicago Tribune, December 22, 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Anheuser-Busch InBev Buys Large Colorado Craft Beer Brewery," The New York Times, December 23, 2015.
  16. ^ Jonathan Shikes, "Fight evil with the Fantastic Pour, a Denver Comic Con/Breckenridge Brewery beer," Westword, June 15, 2012.
  17. ^ Kelli Lynn Hargrove, "Breckenridge Brewery & Never Summer team up to throw down for Opening Day, Nov. 8," Snowboard Magazine, November 7, 2013.
  18. ^ Ben Landreth, "From Beer to Bacon, Sixteen Tastiest Events on the Culinary Calendar," Westword, November 6, 2015.

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