News of another craft-on-craft deal has emerged, this time in Colorado.
Lafayette, Colorado-headquartered Westbound & Down (W&D) has acquired Aspen Brewing and Capitol Creek Brewery from High Country Brewing LLC.
The deal, which closed December 1, includes Aspen’s 7,000-barrel capacity production facility and both breweries’ brewpubs. Aspen operates a brewpub in downtown Aspen, and Capitol Creek has one in the Willits Town Center development of its hometown, Basalt.
“Aspen Brewing’s location and long-standing, dedicated fan base and Capitol Creek’s fresh look and dedication to high-quality food and beer were both attractive out of the gate,” W&D director of brewery operations Jake Gardner said in a press release.
W&D, which was founded in 2015, recorded +123% production volume growth in 2022, according to the May/June issue of the Brewers Association’s (BA) New Brewer magazine. Last year, the brewery produced 3,350 barrels of beer.
In addition to its Lafayette brewpub and pizzeria, W&D operates a brewpub in Idaho Springs and a popup taproom in Denver. The brand’s beers will begin pouring on “curated guest taps” at Aspen’s brewpub, and W&D “will continue to assess capabilities at Aspen’s production facility,” according to a press release.
“We are excited to continue to build on the rich brewing tradition that these two brands have established in the Roaring Fork Valley while doing what Westbound & Down has always done in continuously seeking ways to improve internally,” Gardner told Brewbound via a spokesperson. “We’re excited to learn more about how the community connects to these two brands locally and will assess their growth opportunities once we have a better idea.”
High Country Brewing, the former parent company of Aspen and Capitol Creek, is the former Legacy Breweries, which acquired Aspen in 2019. At the time, Legacy was Ninkasi Brewing’s parent company and aimed to become an acquisitive craft platform, but the partnership wound down in 2020 as the pandemic upended the industry. Ninkasi has since merged with Wings & Arrow to become Great Frontier Holdings, a Pacific Northwest-based platform that recently announced the acquisition of Ecliptic Brewing.
Legacy acquired Capitol Creek in 2021. Last year, the brewpub produced 315 barrels, according to the BA. Aspen’s production volume was not published.
Adding the duo will help W&D expand its hospitality business, which has been “a goal for some time” for the brewery, Gardner said in the release.
“Although we were originally looking into opening completely new projects in unoccupied spaces, this serendipitous opportunity was brought to us and continues to align with our dream of operating Colorado brewpubs that serve as gateways to the outdoors and the mountains,” he said.