New Belgium and Odell sales grow in 2019, while Oskar Blues and Left Hand fall

FORT COLLINS and LONGMONT — The year 2019 was a mixed bag for sales growth among the region’s largest craft brewers compared with the 4% growth in craft beer sales across the country last year.

According to sales data released in the latest edition of the Brewers Association’s magazine, New Belgium Brewing Co. sold the equivalent of 886,500 barrels, for a growth of 4% in the year, while fellow Fort Collins outfit Odell Brewing Co. sold 132,396 for a growth of 5% in the last full year before the company completed a CEO transition.

This is the last year that New Belgium will be included in the survey, as its sale last fall to a subsidiary of Japanese brewing conglomerate Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd. means that it no longer fits the association’s definition of a craft brewery.

The two largest craft breweries in Longmont fared worse in 2019. Left Hand Brewing Co. reported selling 60,296 barrels last year, amounting to a 6% drop in sales from 2018. Oskar Blues Brewery sold 150,000 barrels, a 9% sales decrease from 2018.

Yet Canarchy, the brewers collective founded by Oskar Blues and headquartered in Longmont, said in January that Oskar Blues’ sales in grocery stores increased 33% in 2019

Greeley’s WeldWerks Brewing Co. reported that it sold 7,367 barrels last year, good for a 29% increase over 2018 and making it the top-selling taproom brewery among companies listed in the Mountain West area.

Editor’s note: The WeldWerks production numbers listed here were updated after the original publication of this story and are not as reported in the Brewer’s Association magazine.

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