Friday, January 14, 2011

Silverton Brewing to expand distribution

Silverton Brewing Co. has worked out a deal with Fort Collins Brewery to bottle and distribute its beers on the Front Range, Westword reports.

Two Silverton beers, Ice Pick Ale and Bear Ass Brown, should be available statewide by February, according to the Denver weekly.

Contract brewing has really caught on lately as an inexpensive way for small breweries to expand. (In Durango, Ska is now brewing and canning Steamworks beers).

Those of us in Durango can already find Ice Pick Ale and Bear Ass Brown on liquor-store shelves. I like the IPA quite a bit, while the brown ale doesn't do much for me.

It'll be interesting to see how Silverton fares in the very competitive Front Range market. With breweries such as Breckenridge, New Belgium, Oskar Blues, Odell, Left Hand, Wynkoop, Great Divide, Upslope, Avery, Ska and Steamworks .... you get the picture. It's no longer an immature market begging for new entrants.

It's a big jump for a small-town brewpub to start elbowing its way onto liquor-store shelves in Denver and environs.

Welcome to the big leagues, Silverton, and good luck.

Note: This post has been corrected from an earlier version. 

3 comments:

  1. Sounds like Fort Collins Brewery will be bottling Silverton's beers. I wonder if the sticker on a blank can approach would have gone over well with Front Range beer drinkers?

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  2. Hmm ... you appear to be correct about bottling vs. canning. I should have read the Westword piece more closely. I guess I was just used to seeing their cans, sticker and all!

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  3. Don't ever forget-Sticker on a can is how Oscar Blues started. Rock on Silverton!

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