Colorado craft brewers, grocery stores gear up for liquor-law battle

DENVER — Local brewers and liquor stores are bracing for another push to allow Colorado grocery stores to sell wine and higher alcohol-content beer, a move opponents see as a threat to the craft beer industry.

The debate has played out many times in the state Legislature, but this time it’s moving toward the 2016 ballot for voters to decide.

Although no paperwork has been filed yet, a group with backing from grocery chains has started drumming up support through Facebook and an online petition to change Colorado’s Prohibition-era liquor laws.

Brewers, meanwhile, have created a special beer dubbed “Keep Colorado LocALE,” a…