Blue Moon Brewing, the preeminent brand of Tenth & Blake, MillerCoors’ craft division, has announced plans to build a new brewery in Denver’s emerging River North Art District.
A spokesman with the company said the new facility would have projected capacity to produce about 10,000 barrels per year. Slated for a 2016 opening, the “innovation and pilot brewery,” as the company describes it, will also come equipped with a tasting room and space for both indoor and outdoor events.
The company would not disclose how much the project is expected to cost, nor would it reveal 2014 sales volumes.
However, according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research company, sales of Blue Moon’s flagship Belgian White were up 4.9 percent in 2014, totaling 7.3 million cases across multi-outlet and convenience channels. The entire Tenth & Blake portfolio — which also includes offerings from Leinenkugel’s and Pilsner Urquell among others — was down 1.2 percent, per IRI.
Blue Moon’s original Sandlot brewery at Coors Field will remain operational, the company said.
Additional information can be found in the press release below:
DENVER, Colo. – In 1995 a young brewer released a cloudy, Belgian-style wheat beer from Blue Moon Brewing Company at the SandLot , a small brewery inside Coors Field. Since then, beer drinkers around the world have fallen in love with BlueMoon’s artistic approach to brewing. This year marks Blue Moon Brewing Company’s 20th anniversary and it’s marking that milestone by building another brewery.
“We just locked-down a prime location in the heart of Denver’s rapidly growing RiNo Art District,” said Keith Villa, founder and head brewmaster at Blue Moon Brewing Company. “We founded Blue Moon on a belief that brewing is equal parts art and science. So it’s pretty cool that 20 years later we get to design a new brewery in an area where we’ll be surrounded by fellow artists.”
This innovation and pilot brewery will include a tasting room, tours and plenty of indoor and outdoor space for events. The new Blue Moon brewery in RiNo is tentatively slated to open its doors in 2016. As the birthplace of Blue Moon, the Blue Moon Brewing Company at the SandLot will continue to serve its loyal fans as it has for the last two decades in the ballpark neighborhood in Denver. When the new brewery opens, it will join Blue Moon Brewing Company at the SandLot as the brewing team’s canvas for creating, testing and perfecting new Blue Moon beers.
A Denver native, Villa founded Blue Moon Brewing Company after earning his Ph.D. in brewing from the University of Brussels in Belgium, an honor only a handful of brewers have achieved. Since then the brewing team at Blue Moon Brewing Company and the SandLot Brewery have won a combined 54 medals at the Great American Beer Festival®.
For more information about Blue Moon Brewing Company visit www.BlueMoonBrewingCompany.com.
About Blue Moon Brewing Company
At Blue Moon Brewing Company, everything we do flows from our artistic approach to brewing. We craft our broad array of beers with flavorful ingredients for an inviting taste, perfect for enjoying the moment with friends. It’s been that way since we added our first flavorful twist back in 1995 in Denver, and that’s why we say our beer and everything we do is artfully crafted. More information is available atwww.BlueMoonBrewingCompany.com.