This Colorado brewery is emerging as the state's new beer ambassador

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.

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