The Bavarian Oompah music is playing and the beer suds are flowing as tens of thousands of people make their way from tap to tap. Walking through the crowded Colorado Convention Center is Jackson Lage. In his hand, he holds several pretzel and sour peach ring necklaces held up by a carabiner.
鈥淲e've got about like eight pounds of necklace here, and my neck couldn't hold it,鈥� he said 鈥� homemade snack necklaces are a time-honored tradition for beer fest attendees aiming to sustain their thirst for a full night of sipping.
Lage came prepared for the 42nd annual Great American Beer Festival. More than 600 breweries from Colorado and across the United States brought more than 2,500 different types of IPAs, sours, porters and more for the people to taste.
The breweries arrived ready for the fun too, some with wild and wacky concoctions in tow. Neil Fisher, the founder of WeldWorks Brewery in Greeley, says one of their most popular beers at the event was a soy sauce, barrel-aged sushi Gose. It鈥檚 a sour brew with rice, pickled ginger, seaweed and wasabi, rich with umami flavor.
鈥淲e made a tradition doing these really food-inspired, out-there beers that almost everybody's going to groan a little bit when they hear it at first, and then they come try and they're like, 鈥業 just don't know how they do it, but it works,鈥欌�� he said.
Attendees also brought some flavor to the event. Though Halloween is still weeks away, many were in full costume. Some wore Oktoberfest dirndls and lederhosen. Others designed their own unique look, like one woman who made an entire skirt out of beer koozies or a group of friends that sported matching Where's Waldo outfits.
It鈥檚 a tradition for many festival-goers. Natalie Berkey has been coming with her partner, Kyle, since 2010.
鈥淚t's our favorite holiday of the year,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t's the Halloween for adults,鈥� her partner Kyle added. 鈥淓veryone gets to dress up and have fun drinking.鈥�
But the data behind the industry isn鈥檛 as merry. The Brewers Association craft brewer volume sales were down by one percent in 2023 nationwide. Production and imports in the whole industry dropped five percent. Additionally, last year 鈥� an increase from 2022 鈥� and openings are decreasing.
Fisher said WeldWorks has thankfully bucked that trend, seeing about seven percent of growth last year. But he knows that he can鈥檛 just maintain the status quo in the shifting industry.
鈥淚 think if you're doing the exact same thing today that you're doing three years ago, and just getting frustrated with maybe your sales aren't where they were, maybe your costs are up, and you haven't done anything to adapt, it's going to be really hard to survive as a business,鈥� he said.
He added that investment and taking some risks is key, without letting the data control every decision.
鈥淚t's just making sure we're adapting to that without losing our identity,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o it's kind of a tough balance. We don't want to just completely chase whatever's new and trending.鈥�
Hannah Barnett with Firestone Walker Brewing Company in California was also pouring beers at the festival. She finds the numbers a bit scary, but they haven鈥檛 deterred her faith in the brewery community.
鈥淭he breweries that are really passionate and doing it because they love it are gonna have no problem,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think events like this are so important, because they give us a moment to, like, take a breath鈥e get to celebrate our craft as brewers and be surrounded with people who appreciate that and are excited about it.鈥�
She hopes that other breweries never lose sight of the joy of the industry and the drink of the people.
鈥淲e get to work in beer. What we do is awesome,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o many people have to go to their jobs where they sit in a cubicle, and I get to sell beer and get to play with people鈥檚 palettes.鈥�
The festival finished with an awards ceremony for beers and ciders, with more than 40 awards going to businesses in Colorado. In the Northern Colorado region, New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins won for Best Smoke Beer. And Bootstrap Brewing in Longmont won for Best Strong Red Ale. The rest of the winners are .
