Breckenridge Brewery

Breckenridge Brewery
IndustryAlcoholic beverage
Founded1990
FounderRichard Squire
Headquarters
Littleton, CO
,
United States
Area served
USA
Key people
Todd Usry (president)
ProductsBeer
OwnerTilray
Websitebreckbrew.com

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,[3] remained open until April of 2018 when it became the second location for famous Denver restaurant The Cherry Cricket.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8][9] 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][10]

Breckenridge Brewery ranked #50 on the Brewers Association's 2014 list of the largest US craft breweries,[11] and #47 on the 2015 list.[12] The Brewers Association ranked Breckenridge Brewery as Colorado's fifth-largest craft brewer by barrels produced in 2015.[13] 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,[14] with its beers sold in 35 states in the US.[15]

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.[14][16] The acquisition, completed in 2016, included Breckenridge Brewery's production brewery and Farm House restaurant in Littleton, as well as its brewpub in Breckenridge.[15] In an open letter to Breckenridge Brewery consumers, Usry said the brewery would continue to make its own decisions regarding the beer it creates.[16]

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.[17]

Since 2013, Breckenridge Brewery has regularly collaborated with Never Summer Industries for the creation of limited edition Artist Series snowboards and special release beers.[18][19]

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. ^ "Tilray Brands Announces Agreement to Acquire Eight Beer & Beverage Brands from Anheuser-Busch, Fueling Tilray's Future in the U.S. Craft Beer Industry". 7 August 2023.
  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. ^ Antonation, Mark. "New Ballpark Cherry Cricket Aims for April 17 Opening". Westword. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
  7. ^ Jonathan Shikes, "Breckenridge Brewery's Todd Usry Explains the Sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev," Westword, December 23, 2015.
  8. ^ Eric Gorski, "Breckenridge Brewery building $20 million brewery project in Littleton," Denver Post, January 31, 2013.
  9. ^ Loren Green, "Breckenridge Doubles Capacity, Opens New Restaurant," The Growler, June 9, 2015.
  10. ^ Clayton Woullard, "Littleton hopes new Breckenridge Brewery becomes tourist draw," Denver Post, November 25, 2014.
  11. ^ John Kell, "Anheuser Busch-InBev Buys Third Craft Brewer in 5 Days," Fortune, December 22, 2015.
  12. ^ John Kell, "These Are America's 10 Largest Craft Breweries," Fortune, April 5, 2016.
  13. ^ Steve Raabe, "Colorado places five craft brewers on list of nation’s 50 largest," Denver Post, March 31, 2015.
  14. ^ a b Alicia Wallace, "Breckenridge Brewery sold to giant Anheuser-Busch's 'High End'," Denver Post, December 22, 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Anheuser-Busch buying Colorado's Breckenridge Brewery," Chicago Tribune, December 22, 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Anheuser-Busch InBev Buys Large Colorado Craft Beer Brewery," The New York Times, December 23, 2015.
  17. ^ Jonathan Shikes, "Fight evil with the Fantastic Pour, a Denver Comic Con/Breckenridge Brewery beer," Westword, June 15, 2012.
  18. ^ Kelli Lynn Hargrove, "Breckenridge Brewery & Never Summer team up to throw down for Opening Day, Nov. 8," Snowboard Magazine, November 7, 2013.
  19. ^ Ben Landreth, "From Beer to Bacon, Sixteen Tastiest Events on the Culinary Calendar," Westword, November 6, 2015.
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