WeldWerks expands to become a beer ambassador for Colorado
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Photo: Courtesy of WeldWerks Brewing
WeldWerks Brewing is now Colorado's ambassador to the craft beer world.
The Greeley brewery boasts a national — and international — distribution footprint and is poised for 10% growth this year at a time when the industry overall is posting negative production numbers.
Why it matters: With its stature, WeldWerks is replacing well-known brands like New Belgium, Avery and Oskar Blues — all of which sold to larger out-of-state conglomerates — as Colorado's hallmark destination for great beer.
State of play: A recently completed $2 million expansion of its brewhouse — after the acquisition of its entire downtown parcel — is propelling WeldWerks and its flagship Juicy Bits hazy IPA to new levels.
- The beer maker distributes beer in 30 states, from California to Massachusetts, and ships to 10 different countries, particularly the United Kingdom and Japan, where demand for American IPAs is booming.
- Out-of-state sales now account for roughly half of WeldWerks' business, with domestic sales at roughly 40-45% and international markets adding 2-4% more, founder and owner Neil Fisher tells us.
The latest: Earlier this month, WeldWerks announced a line of canned cocktails called Booz with its trademark whimsical flavors such as PB&J Bourbon Smash and Orange Creamsicle Crush.
Context: The growth defies the trends in the craft beer industry, which in 2023 posted its first negative sales numbers in history after a flat 2022.
- The dynamic is leading most breweries to cut back their distribution footprint, focus on core brands and curtail one-off creations to save the bottom line.
What they're saying: "We just continue to do what had success in Colorado, we just found a bigger audience," Fisher said after a recent brewery tour. "It's find something a little bit on the innovative side but make it really well-executed, maintain quality and still make it in an approachable way."
Flashback: WeldWerks, founded in 2015, built a national reputation far before it could send beer outside Colorado.
- At the height of the craft beer boom, fans would travel across state lines and wait hours to score the brewery's special releases, from its decadent Medianoche barrel-aged stouts to fruited sours. The brewery also made public its Juicy Bits IPA recipe to a national audience of homebrewers.
Between the lines: The exposure seeded the ground for a slow-growth expansion to coastal states far from the brewery's Weld County roots. And its debut in new markets generated huge buzz with sales continuing to grow year-over-year, especially for its IPAs.
- "We took a little bit of a conservative approach," Fisher acknowledges.
What's next: For now, WeldWerks plans to steam ahead and make as many as 150 beers this year and approach 20,000 barrels in production in time for its 10th anniversary next year.
- The expansion may end there. Fisher says he plans to re-evaluate the company's growth at that point and doesn't believe the market could support a brewery the size of New Belgium.
- "If you push it out too fast, then you end up in a position where you have to make concessions on freshness, quality, even creativity," he says.