The westward expansion of Atlanta’s SweetWater Brewing Company under Canadian cannabis firm Tilray continues.
After adding distribution in Colorado earlier this year, the company will go deeper in the Centennial State with the acquisition of a 32,450 sq. ft. production facility, taproom and restaurant in Fort Collins that previously housed the U.S. operations of Canada’s Red Truck Brewing Company since May 2017, and Fort Collins Brewery before it.
In addition to the new production facility, the company will also open the SweetWater Mountain Taphouse at Denver International Airport this week, as part of a partnership with Concessions International (CI). The Denver airport is SweetWater’s second airport bar collaboration with CI, following the SweetWater Last Call Bar and Grill at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
SweetWater founder and CEO Freddy Bensch said in a press release that the Colorado expansion “truly brings things full circle,” returning the team to where their brewing careers began at Boulder Brewing Company in 1992.
“We have a lot of respect for the beers and brewers from Colorado and look forward to raising a glass in this great state,” Bensch said. “There’s not a more perfect location to expand our brand and help grow the reach of our heady, high-quality brews with beer drinkers throughout the West Coast.”
The move appears to be a little abrupt. In mid-June, the Coloradoan reported that Red Truck had pitched an expanded beer garden to the city of Fort Collins. That story noted that the brewery’s taproom and restaurant, then known as the Truck Stop, had been closed to the public since March 2020. Social media posts indicated that the company was still producing beer for distribution.
SweetWater said it will offer Red Truck employees roles with the company and hire additional workers. Laird Mulderink, who served as general manager of operations for Red Truck for the last 3.5 years, will continue running the facility under the SweetWater banner. Assisting Laird with the “transition, expansion and re-opening” will be Bensch, SweetWater brewmaster Mark Medlin, VP of hospitality Steve Farace, and CMO Brian Miesieski.
It’s unclear how soon SweetWater’s operations will begin at the Fort Collins facility. The facility will produce cans and kegs of core offerings such as 420 Extra Pale Ale and H.A.Z.Y. IPA and specialty offerings for distribution on the West Coast.
The company said the Fort Collins brewery “will undergo an extensive renovation,” including “enhancements to the brewing and packaging areas,” and a “facelift for the taproom and restaurants.”
SweetWater will also honor existing contract brewing arrangements that are ongoing at the facility.
Year-to-date through June 13, off-premise dollar sales of SweetWater 420 Extra Pale Ale have declined -12.6%, to nearly $8.7 million, according to market research firm IRI. Those numbers come against the backdrop of tough year-ago pandemic-driven comps and a largely reopened on-premise channel. 420’s dollar share of the craft beer market so far this year has declined -0.05%, to 0.39%, the firm reported.
SweetWater produced 226,639 barrels of beer in 2020, a decline of -13%, according to the Brewers Association’s (BA) New Brewer magazine. That made SweetWater the 11th largest BA-defined craft brewery by volume.
SweetWater’s offerings are sold in 34 states and Washington, D.C.