SweetWater Brewing has entered Oregon and Washington with Columbia Distributing, the brewery announced today.
For the Atlanta-based craft brewery, Oregon and Washington mark its 39th and 40th states, respectively. The rollout comes on the heels of SweetWater’s statewide expansion in California with the Reyes Beer Division earlier this month.
“The SweetWater brand has managed to expand across three west coast states in the past month, which has been an exciting journey and accomplishment for us,” SweetWater business development manager Zack Koenigsberg said in a press release. “Our rapid growth speaks to the ongoing success our quality craft brews have had over the past 25 years, and we’re excited to continue delivering high quality and innovative products for years to come.”
Global cannabis firm Tilray acquired SweetWater in late 2020, and expanded its beverage-alcohol portfolio again in late 2021 with the acquisitions of Colorado’s Breckenridge Distillery and California’s Green Flash Brewing and Alpine Beer Co.
To support SweetWater’s westward expansion, Tilray acquired a brewery and taproom in Fort Collins, Colorado, from Red Truck Brewing, which reopened under the SweetWater banner in December.
“There’s no better way to celebrate our 25th anniversary than to raise some pints of 420 with our new friends on the other side of the country,” SweetWater co-founder and CEO Freddy Bensch said in the release. “West-coast styles brews are what inspired the creation of SweetWater 25 years ago, and we’re excited to bring our beers and culture into these great craft beer states with more to come.”
According to SweetWater’s beer finder, the 10 states where it does not yet sell its beer include Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii.
“After months of planning, we’re thrilled to finally be launching SweetWater and its brands across our distribution footprint,” Columbia Distributing CEO Chris Steffanci said in the release. “As they continue to expand and grow within these new markets, we are pleased to be a partner alongside them as together we bring SweetWater brews to a wide-range of consumers across the Pacific Northwest.”
SweetWater is the beer category’s 25th largest vendor in off-premise dollar sales, according to market research firm IRI. Year-to-date through January 23, SweetWater’s dollar sales have declined -5.1%, to $4.1 million, in IRI-tracked multi-outlet food and convenience stores.
In 2020, SweetWater was the nation’s 11th largest craft brewery by volume, according to the Brewers Association. That year, its volume declined -13%, to 226,639 barrels of beer.