14 Colorado Breweries Split from State Craft Brewers Guild to Form Craft Beer Colorado

Fourteen Colorado breweries have split from the state's long-unified Craft Brewers Guild to form Craft Beer Colorado. In an open letter shared on Porchdrinking.com, Craft Beer Colorado cited the following reasons:

1. We need legislative and regulatory leadership and vision. Historically the CBG has reacted to changes; we need a proactive agenda.

2. There has been, for many years in the CBG, a culture of information control and director behavior that is the opposite of transparent. This is not healthy for our trade association and we are no longer willing to condone this management style.

3. With the changing landscape of craft where multinational brewers are buying craft brewers and blurring the lines, our by-laws and articles of incorporation don’t reflect what we believe to be membership’s wishes.

The breweries which have left are as follows: 4 Noses Brewing, Bristol Brewing, Epic Brewing, Mountain Sun Brewing, Great Divide Brewing, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, New Belgium Brewing, Funkwerks Brewing, TRVE Brewing, Renegade Brewing, Odell Brewing; Oskar Blues Brewing LCC, Wibby Brewing, and Left Hand Brewing. Many of these breweries and their owners were founding members of the Colorado Brewers Guild, which formed in 1996.

The news comes on the heels of Colorado's passing of Senate Bill 197, which will allow sales of full-strength alcohol in grocery stores; the most significant alcohol legislation for the state since the repeal of Prohibition. In regard to the legislation, Brian O’Connell, founder of Renegade Brewing said “We need leadership that will pursue the interest of craft beer before it gets to legislation and lands on the Governor’s desk.”