It really is not a surprise to those of us in Colorado, but newly released data from the Beer Institute shows that Colorado is the largest beer producing state in America! Colorado beat out several large states including California, New York, and Texas. Colorado is home to several large breweries, such as the Coors brewery in Golden, the Budweiser and New Belgium Breweries in Fort Collins, and a very large number of microbreweries scattered in almost every city across the state. Even the homebrewers, several brewing associations and Charlie Papazian got their start in Boulder (probably at the same time Robin Williams got his start in Mork and Mindy).
Beer brewing, and all of the beer related industries, contributes $12.4 billion USD annually to the Colorado economy. Denver is also the host for the Great American Beer festival.
“Colorado is tremendously important to the beer industry and produces a number of high quality brews enjoyed by adults around the country,” said Jeff Becker, president of the Beer Institute. “With a strong beer culture and a rich brewing history, it’s no surprise the state has become number one.”
