For decades, craft brewers carved out their niche by separating themselves from the likes of Coors and Anheuser-Busch with bigger, bolder and more experimental recipes that pushed the boundaries of beer. But over the years, competition has continually increased while sales have largely flattened, leading several Colorado beverage makers to embrace the motto, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ‘em.”
In the last year and a half, Knotted Root Brewing Co., Tivoli Brewing Co. and Stem Ciders launched macro-style lagers to both compete for market share with the big brewers and offer drinkers something craft-made at a lower price point than $16 four-packs. Not only that, but they’ve also set up separate brands around their products in hopes of making them more approachable to beer drinkers who don’t currently shop in the craft aisle.
This strategy, beverage makers say, aims to grow their customer bases and boost their bottom lines during a time when some breweries in Colorado are folding.
They’re hardly the first. For years, California’s Firestone Walker Brewing Co. has built brand recognition around a single recipe, 805 Beer, a crushable blonde ale that’s now ubiquitous at Walmart, Target and grocery stores across the country.
“It’s no secret that craft beer has had a rough go for the past couple of years,” said Ari Opsahl, CEO of Tivoli in Denver. “Let’s say we wanted to double the sales of our IPA. Well, doing that in a declining market is a hell of a lot harder than trying to grow a less expensive light beer. You’re swimming in a way bigger pool.”
According to the Brewers Association, craft beer sales accounted for about 13.2% of all beer sales in 2018 and 13.6% in 2019 — the highest share the trade group has ever recorded — before dropping due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales have rebounded slightly, representing 13.2% market share in 2022, the BA reported. The remaining sales were attributed to domestic and import brands.
So far, swimming in the bigger pool appears to be working for Tivoli. The brewery launched Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer in January 2022 and it’s quickly become its highest-selling brand, outpacing sales for its entire craft portfolio combined, Opsahl said.
Drinkers shopping in the domestic section of their local liquor stores may not even realize that a local craft brewery makes Outlaw. Its bright blue box prominently features the brand name and the silhouette of a deer in gold, but the brewery’s name is showcased much smaller. Outlaw also has its own social media channels separate from Tivoli, which was intentional.
“It is the same reason why Anheuser-Busch doesn’t stamp Bud Light on a Breckenridge can,” Opsahl said, referring to the company’s ownership of Colorado-born Breckenridge Brewery. “We had concerns that the same consumer who loves our Mountain Squeeze IPA would see Outlaw next to it and say, ‘Wait a second, maybe their quality is going down.’ Obviously, it’s not, but we didn’t want to confuse consumers.”
The beer, which is 4.2% ABV and boasts 105 calories, is available at Tivoli’s taproom, and its suggested retail price is $9.99 for a 12-pack of cans and $17.99 for a 24-pack.
Chris Marchio, founder and brewmaster at Knotted Root Brewing Co., said the inspiration for its new American lager called Home, released in April, came from his own experience pining for a refreshing, no-frills beverage at the end of a hard workday.
Home, which Marchio says is unique because it’s made almost entirely with American malts, is a far departure from the experimental styles his Nederland, Colorado, brewery is known for. So much so that it’s released by Circular Beer Co., a newly established sister company to Knotted Root. And since Marchio’s capacity in Nederland is fairly limited, he partnered with Four Noses Brewing Co. to brew and distribute Home, saving himself the cost and risk of adding production space.
“Because we identify it more as a macro-style American lager with a craft lens as opposed to a craft lager, we really want to create a statewide and regional presence with this. In order to do that, you have to make a certain volume and reach a certain price point to reach that much of a demographic,” Marchio said.
Home’s suggested retail price is $11.99 for a six-pack of 12-ounce cans. Eventually, Marchio would like to package the beer in bottles, too.
Stem Ciders revived Howdy Beer last year after purchasing the brand from The Post Brewing Co. in Lafayette, Colorado. Having a beer in its portfolio is more attractive to distributors and retailers, and allows Stem to capitalize on locals’ thirst for both cider and beer, according to Patrick Combs, the company’s director of liquids (yes, that’s his real title).
After the acquisition, Stem retooled the recipe to be less bitter and more sessionable, Combs said. The new Howdy Beer debuted last summer with a pop-up bar in Denver’s RiNo Arts District and widespread distribution. It’s now in 13 states, Combs said, and the company plans to introduce new packaging formats soon, such as 30-packs of beer and 19.2-ounce tallboy cans.
“We’re not doing this because we’re trying to grow our beer brand so big we don’t make cider anymore,” Combs said. “We want to come to the table with multiple options versus just that of the cidery.”
For now, all three companies said their macro competitors will remain single-beer brands, but they’re not ruling out adding additional styles under the Outlaw, Home and Howdy umbrellas in the future.
As for competition in the category, Opsahl said he hopes more craft brewers will join the trend. For one, he sees a need for more quality light lagers on the market. Plus, Tivoli’s craft sales are now seeing a boost.
“It’s helped not only put a stamp on what we think local light beer should look like, but it’s also reinvigorated our craft portfolio,” he said.
