Talbott’s Cider Company used to package its hard cider mimosas in colorful cans purchased for 12 cents each from a Westminster supplier. But a monthslong supply crunch has forced the Palisade cidery to get creative: Now, the cans come blank from Korea and are wrapped by hand in a waterproof label — more than doubling […]
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Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, News, Politics and Government
Small liquor stores in Colorado felt pinched by new alcohol laws. Now more changes are coming.
Days into the new year, the owner of Morgans Liquor in Denver sat down with his financial books. The pandemic gave him a small boost in 2020 sales, but a troubling slide continued: His customer count continued to decline. “My dollars were up, the rings (on the register) were bigger, but my customers were still […]
Posted inBusiness
As virtual GABF arrives, craft beer industry faces difficult moment confronting racism and pandemic
The craft beer industry — like much of America — is facing a reckoning on two levels right now: A pandemic ended more than a decade of growth well short of the industry’s goal to become 20% of the national beer market by 2020 and a racial justice movement highlighted craft brewing’s dominant white male […]
Posted inBusiness
To make beer slushies and beer ice cream, one Colorado brewery is breaking all the rules
GREELEY — On a recent hot summer day at a brewery in an old warehouse perched along the railroad tracks, the drink of choice is pink, slushy and served with a Slurpee straw. Wiley Roots Brewing calls it a beer slushie. And if it doesn’t look or taste like a traditional beer, they don’t mind. […]
Posted inNews
Take a tour of Denver’s beer history from home by pairing this new book with local breweries
A year after Denver was founded in 1858, the city’s first brewery opened. The local newspaper declared the first batch of beer from the Rocky Mountain Brewery “the best we ever tasted” — surely in part because of the free keg delivered to its offices. Today, the history seems quite fitting given that Denver now […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID
With breweries shut down, homebrewing sees a resurgence in Colorado amid coronavirus
Like most during the coronavirus pandemic, Carl Hjort is stuck at home. No skiing. No hiking. No biking. Instead, he finds himself turning to another hobby: brewing beer. “I’m brewing more and a lot of my friends in the club are as well,” said Hjort, an attorney and the president of the Foam on the […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID
Colorado’s craft beer industry is sobered as brewers predict mass closures if social distancing continues
The existential crisis in the Colorado beer world is palpable right now as an industry built on social gathering comes to realize that social distance is the new normal. As much as 15% of craft breweries expect to close by the end of the month if social distancing remains in place, according to a national […]
Posted inBusiness
Hop terpenes are redefining brewing. And Colorado is one of the only places to taste the revolution.
Aroma gushes from beer can. A pop of citrus. The dankness of pine. And even a hint of pineapple. The bouquet packed in Telluride Brewing’s rotating Colorado-style IPA series showcases how hops — those leafy cones depicted in so many brewery logos — can add an aromatic punch to beer. But the beer also represents […]
Posted inBusiness, Technology
A Colorado company wants to let you decide how much alcohol to put in your beer
IDAHO SPRINGS — Imagine a day when you can order any beer and decide how much alcohol to include in the glass. If you want one beer, keep it moderate. If you plan to drink for longer, make it lower or even move to nonalcoholic. All on demand in any style with similar quality. The […]
Posted inNews
Craft beer is at a “precipice.” Colorado can relate after Boulder Beer closure and New Belgium sale.
BRECKENRIDGE — A beer festival, by its nature, is festive. And the 20th edition of the Big Beers festival that attracted many of the nation’s best brewers to Breckenridge was no exception. This year, however, the mood seemed less merry. In between sips of barrel-aged stouts, blended sours and boozy barleywines, the conversation at the […]