On April 2nd 2024, it was announced that Grandma was going to die.

Located in the Antique Row stretch of Denver’s South Broadway, Grandma’s House Brewery posted to its social media accounts on this day that it was closing after having been open for the previous 10 years. And if current trends in the Colorado craft brewing industry don’t change quickly, this decade-old business will be the first casualty of many.

To find out if the situation is as dire as it seems, I reached out to Troy Casey of Casey Brewing and Blending to find out what’s causing this once-booming industry to falter so drastically. I also wanted to know what, if anything, state legislators are doing to help. Spoiler alert: nothing … it’s nothing.

Having opened Casey Brewing and Blending a little over 10 years ago, Casey was there for the financial feast that craft breweries experienced in the 2010s. When I asked him about the current state of the business in comparison to the prior decade, his answer revealed that this same industry is now in a famine.

“Small breweries are struggling right now. There’s been an increase in [the cost of] raw materials, there’s a decrease in consumption right now occurring in the younger generation, and it’s harder to get shelf space and accounts. On-premise accounts (restaurants and bars), they’re becoming more price-sensitive, so it’s really hard for a small brewery like ours, who has a higher price-point product, to get placement. The breweries that have often relied upon distribution, it’s tough right now.”

He continued, “We’re not in a ‘bust’ if you will, but we’re definitely not in the ‘boom’ that we had eight years ago.”

In addition to this lack of consumption by the younger generation, Colorado legislators have also decided to add more fuel to the fire by bucking a tradition dating back to 1981 and imposing new state excise taxes on alcohol production. Brought forth by Senators Kevin Priola (D-13th District) and Chris Hansen (D-31st District), SB 24-181 (The Alcohol Impact & Recovery Enterprise) would be a 200% hike in alcohol taxes. According to Casey, this could be a death knell.

“For some brewers, a thousand dollars a month is the difference between paying yourself or not. In a world where there’s a lot of small breweries that are shutting down, a thousand bucks here, a thousand bucks there, it does make a difference for sure.”

Because Casey’s brewery makes less than 1,000 barrels per year, he understands the need to make every penny count. In fact, it’s because of how tight the margins are for a brewery the size of his that he’s had to become creative when it comes to finding new ways to maintain a profit.

“Like how do you cut costs? Like what do you do? So, for us, we’re not thinking at all about cutting costs—as far as quality goes, as far as the beer goes—but we’re looking to find more affordable locations to brew at. We’re looking to figure out how to be more efficient with our staff and things like that. It’s definitely a challenging time to be a small brewery.”

And when considering the state excise tax increase, Casey’s answer wasn’t all that surprising when I asked him if local lawmakers have ever given any tax breaks or other special benefits to local breweries in order to help keep them afloat. “Not that I’m aware of. Since the post-COVID, like the PPP loans—the federal stuff—since then, no, I’m not aware of anything.”

In fact, Casey explained that the ONLY benefits that have come to craft brewers have all been through federal lobbying done via the Brewers Association (BA) and the Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG). “If I remember correctly, in the last 10 years, they got that break for the [federal] excise tax, and they got it extended. They’ve been great.”

The break he’s talking about comes in the amounts paid in federal taxes to the government in relation to the amount of alcohol produced. If a brewer produces less than, or equal to, 2 million barrels, they pay $3.50 per barrel for the first 60 thousand barrels—which increases to $16 per barrel once over the 60 thousand threshold.

Casey made it clear that if it weren’t for these organizations, he doesn’t believe anything would have changed for the better. “If we didn’t have the BA, we’d definitely not be in the position we’re in now, 100%. It’s just having somebody, whether it’s the Brewers Association or the Colorado Brewers Guild, having the local representation at the table to fight for our interests is incredibly important.”

I believe most craft brewers agree with Casey when he claimed, “If you’re like me, you want to pay your fair share in taxes, but you want it to be appropriate and manageable.” Knowing how a couple of thousand dollars in new taxes could cultivate a “make-or-break” scenario for a number of Colorado breweries, I find it difficult to believe that the state’s plan to increase excise taxes on alcohol production is either “appropriate” or “manageable.”

However, even with all of this negativity present, there is hope.

One thing Casey stressed throughout the interview that we both believe could be the keystone to the success of smaller breweries is unity. “From a craft brewers standpoint, collectively we’re a much bigger voice when we’re all together and we have the lobbyists that are united, as opposed to trying to have a bunch of medium or larger breweries having their own lobbyists.”

I hope all of Colorado’s craft brewers will join forces quickly to create a united front with the CBG at the helm to help stave off the possibility of any new state excise taxes. It’s either that or they’ll have to start a “Christmas in July campaign” where all the state lawmakers wake up to a refreshing, ice-cold 12-pack sitting on their front doorsteps as a “special gift” from their friends at “insert brewery name here.”