New Belgium Brewing Company is a nationally distributed

brewery 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 ...

in the United States. The brand produces Fat Tire Ale, Voodoo Ranger IPA, Mural Agua Fresca Cerveza, and La Folie Sour Brown Ale, among other regular and seasonal beer varieties. Founded by Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch in 1991 in

Fort Collins A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, the company expanded to

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, in 2016 and

Denver, Colorado 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 ...

, in 2018.

History

New Belgium Brewing Company was founded in 1991 by Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch. Lebesch left the company in 2009. The Fat Tire recipe originates from a co-founder's bicycle trip through

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

from brewery to brewery. The company promotes its Fat Tire ale locally by the public placement of colorful vintage bicycles outside its brewery, which is located adjacent to the public bike path along the

Cache La Poudre River The Cache la Poudre River ( ), also known as the Poudre River, is a river in the state of Colorado in the United States. Name The name, , is a corruption of the original , or " cache of powder". It refers to an incident in the 1820s when F ...

. In 1999, New Belgium became the first wind-powered brewery in the United States. Before 2002, New Belgium distributed in only 16 states; by 2015, it had become the fourth-largest craft brewer in the country and the eighth-overall largest brewer in the United States.New Belgium Brewing bringing its craft beer to Mississippi
Feb. 21, 2014. As of August 2017, New Belgium beers were available in all 50 states. As of February 2018, New Belgium was distributed in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, Australia, Japan,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. In 2019, New Belgium was acquired by the Australian subsidiary of Kirin beverage group of Japan,

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

. In January 2023, New Belgium changed the recipe of its flagship Fat Tire ale, changing it from an amber ale to a lighter colored crisper ale. In early 2023, New Belgium acquired a production brewery in Daleville, Virginia from

Constellation Brands Constellation Brands, Inc. is an American producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits. A ''Fortune'' 500 company, Constellation is the largest beer import company in the US, measured by sales, and has the third-largest market share (7.4 pe ...

, where they will focus on brewing Voodoo Ranger's ''Juice Force IPA'' and ''Fruit Force IPA.'' On June 13, 2023, New Belgium Brewing CEO Steve Fechheimer stepped down after six years. CFO Danielle McLarnon was named interim CEO while they search for a new CEO for the company. In September 2023, New Belgium integrated an industrial heat pump which is projected to reduce its

greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

es as well as its overall

carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...

. In March 2024, a new beer was developed in collaboration with

Tombstone (pizza) Tombstone is a brand of Frozen food, frozen pizza. It is available with a variety of toppings, including pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, onions, bell peppers, and sausage. The package design typically includes images of a cactus and the pizza. His ...

called ''I(Pizza)A'' for National Beer Day.

Business and production

New Belgium's main brewery is in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 2013, New Belgium had some 480 employees and more than $180 million in sales.Leigh Buchanan
The 25 Most Audacious Companies: It's All About Ownership
''Inc.'', Apr. 18, 2013. 2016 saw new additions to the brand, debuts of Voodoo Ranger and Day Blazer line. ''Esquire'' selected Fat Tire Amber Ale as one of the "Best Canned Beers to Drink Now" in a February 2012 article. In May 2014, New Belgium began work on a second brewery in

, which became fully operational in May 2016.New Belgium Brewing to start work on $175m Asheville facility, DBR, March 17, 2014. The brewery is positioned along the

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman, North Carolina, Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston R ...

on Craven Street in Asheville's River Arts District.Tony Weiss
Asheville brewers cheer planned New Belgium expansion in River Arts District
''Asheville Citizen Times'', April 6, 2012. New Belgium's brewery, which is , has capacity to produce up to a half-million barrels of beer. In Canada New Belgium has a partnership with Steam Whistle Brewing of Toronto. Steam Whistle brews Vodoo Ranger IPA and Fat Tire in their Toronto Brewery for the Canadian Market. In July 2024, Kirin announced that it was moving its production from Anheuser-Busch to New Belgium Brewing Company, starting in 2025.

Label design

Most of New Belgium's beer labels were initially designed by Anne Fitch, a watercolorist whose work appeared on all New Belgium beers for 19 years. In 2006, New Belgium changed its logo because it realized that beer drinkers could identify the Fat Tire label, but "didn't recognize the brewery label, or make the connection that New Belgium brewed Fat Tire and other best-selling brands, such as Sunshine Wheat." The company's new logo "pays homage to the well-known Fat Tire brand bicycle" drawn by Anne Fitch. Kim Jordan, the president of New Belgium Brewery, credits the success of the company in part on Fitch's artwork: "Our beers were good, our labels were interesting to people, and we pretty quickly had a fairly robust following."Interview with Kim Jordan
Beerscribe.com Accessed 3/21/08 In 2010, however, New Belgium unveiled its four-beer Explore Series, whose labels featured a different design.

References

{{Commons category Kirin brands Beer brewing companies based in Colorado American beer brands Beer brands Privately held companies based in Colorado American companies established in 1991 Food and drink companies established in 1991 1991 establishments in Colorado Companies based in Fort Collins, Colorado B Lab-certified corporations Benefit corporations