Breckenridge Brewery is an American

brewing company A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

based in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

. Select beers can be found in 42 US states. The company was purchased by

Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest brewer in the world, and in 20 ...

in 2016 and resold to Tilray in 2023.

History

Founding

Breckenridge Brewery was founded in

Breckenridge, Colorado Breckenridge is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule town that is the county seat and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Summit County, Colorado, Summit County, Colorado, United ...

, by Richard Squire in 1990. It was Colorado's third

craft brewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

.Lee Williams
"Behind the Scenes at Breckenridge Brewing Co., Denver, Colorado,"

Serious Eats Serious Eats is a website and blog focused on food enthusiasts, created by food critic and author Ed Levine. A Serious Eats book was published by Levine in 2011. Serious Eats was acquired by Fexy Media in 2015 and then by Dotdash in late 2020. ...

, May 13, 2012. In 1991, Squire brought on Todd Usry, who took over as

brewmaster A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

in 1994. Usry became director of production and sales in 2008, and was ultimately named the company's president.Loren Green
"Breck Brewery's Brewmaster Talks Expansion, Big Bottles and Leftover Salmon,"
''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'', July 18, 2015.

Expansion

In 1992, the brewery expanded operations beyond Breckenridge, opening a manufacturing facility in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

adjacent to what would become

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995 Major League Baseball season, 1995, the park is located in Denver's LoDo, Lower Downtown neighborhood, ...

, home of the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

. In 1996, Breckenridge moved the brewing, kegging and bottling of its beer to a new facility south of downtown. The original Denver location, Breck on Blake, remained open until April of 2018 when it became the second location for famous Denver restaurant The Cherry Cricket. In 2010, Wynkoop announced a merger with Breckenridge to form the holding company Breckenridge-Wynkoop LLC. The company also owns the

Wynkoop Brewing Company LoDo (Lower Downtown) is an unofficial neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, and is one of the oldest places of settlement in the city. It is a mixed-use historic district, known for its nightlife, and serves as an example of success in urban rein ...

, Phantom Canyon Brewing, and several restaurants. In January 2013, Breckenridge Brewery announced that its facility, by then producing 64,000 barrels of beer per year, was at max capacity and would be moving to a new brewery complex. In June 2015, Breckenridge Brewery left Denver and moved into its new $36 million, 12-acre, 85,000-square-foot campus in Littleton, Colorado, which includes three buildings: a brewhouse and office building, a building for fermentation and packaging, and its 300-seat Farm House restaurant and beer garden. Breckenridge Brewery ranked #50 on the

Brewers Association The Brewers Association is an American trade group of over 5,400 brewers, breweries in planning, suppliers, distributors, craft beer retailers, and individuals particularly concerned with the promotion of craft beer and homebrewing. Two of th ...

's 2014 list of the largest US craft breweries, and #47 on the 2015 list. The Brewers Association ranked Breckenridge Brewery as Colorado's fifth-largest craft brewer by barrels produced in 2015. Early on, Breckenridge Brewery produced roughly 1,000 barrels of beer per year. By 2015, the company was producing over 70,000 barrels of beer,Alicia Wallace
"Breckenridge Brewery sold to giant Anheuser-Busch's 'High End',"
''Denver Post'', December 22, 2015. with its beers sold in 35 states in the US.
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', December 22, 2015. Breckenridge Brewery Interior 2015

Purchase by Anheuser-Busch InBev

On December 22, 2015,

announced its intent to purchase Breckenridge Brewery from Breckenridge-Wynkoop LLC, as part of its High End craft and import beer brand unit."Anheuser-Busch InBev Buys Large Colorado Craft Beer Brewery,"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', December 23, 2015. The acquisition, completed in 2016, included Breckenridge Brewery's production brewery and Farm House restaurant in Littleton, as well as its brewpub in Breckenridge. In an open letter to Breckenridge Brewery consumers, Usry said the brewery would continue to make its own decisions regarding the beer it creates.

Partnerships

Every year since the inaugural 2012 Denver Comic Con, Breckenridge Brewery has collaborated with the convention to brew and sell a limited edition beer, with a comic-themed name chosen through an annual contest. Since 2013, Breckenridge Brewery has regularly collaborated with Never Summer Industries for the creation of limited edition Artist Series snowboards and special release beers.Ben Landreth
"From Beer to Bacon, Sixteen Tastiest Events on the Culinary Calendar,"
''Westword'', November 6, 2015.

List of beers brewed

References

External links

Official website
{{portalbar, Beer, Companies, Drink American beer brands Beer brewing companies based in Colorado American companies established in 1990 Food and drink companies established in 1990 1990 establishments in Colorado