Growing craft-beer industry the toast of state’s economy

BOULDER — The craft-beer industry is on pace for significant gains again in 2015, with mid-year production up roughly 15 percent versus the same point a year ago, according to a new report released by the Boulder-based Brewers Association.

From January through June of this year, craft brewers produced about 12.2 million barrels, up from 10.6 million in the first half of 2014. Perhaps more impressive is that the 2015 figure is nearly double that of just three years ago, when craft brewers produced 6.4 million barrels in the first half of 2012.

Helping spur the production growth was the net increase of 699 craft breweries since June 30, 2014, bringing the nation’s total to 3,739, more than double the 1,776 the nation had at the midpoint of 2011.

“The continued growth of small and independent brewers illustrates that additional market opportunities and demand are prevalent, although competition in the sector is certainly growing and the need for brewers to differentiate and produce world-class, high-quality beer is more important than ever,” Brewers Association economist Bart Watson said.

Meanwhile, the Washington, D.C.-based Beer Institute reports that the industry directly accounted for 24,395 jobs in the state of Colorado in 2014. The Beer Institute unveiled economic-impact figures for the beer industry as a whole both on national and local levels.

The Beer Serves America report, which was to be presented during a congressional briefing, was compiled by economics firm John Dunham & Associates and is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and private companies.

Nationally, the report touts the industry as accounting for $252.6 billion in economic output and $48.5 billion in tax revenue. It notes that brewers and importers directly employ 49,576 Americans.

The Colorado direct-job figure includes those attributable to brewing (4,917), wholesaling (2,184) and retailing (17,294). When the impacts on suppliers and other indirect economic impact is factored in, the industry helps support a total of slightly more than 50,000 jobs in Colorado, the report states.

The Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado clearly play a large role in that impact, with the areas serving as the epicenter for the state’s craft-beer boom, not to mention the presence of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s brewery in Fort Collins.

In Colorado’s Second Congressional District, which includes most of Boulder and Larimer counties, the report states that the beer industry directly accounts for 5,135 jobs. The industry directly accounts for another 2,176 in the Fourth Congressional District, which includes Weld County.

“It can be said that beer truly serves America,” Beer Institute president and chief executive Jim McGreevy said in a prepared statement. “Beer is more than our nation’s favorite adult drink; it is a powerhouse in job creation, commercial activity and tax revenue.”

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