Signs that craft brewing has turned a page on the boom-time chapters are hard to ignore, even for those sporting the rosiest of glasses.

For not the first time in recent memory, more breweries closed than opened over a six-month period in Colorado, according to a 2025 mid-year report from the Boulder-based Brewers Association.

A number of high-profile closures and sale announcements in Colorado Springs and Denver — perhaps, just down the street from wherever you live in the Centennial State — have spurred some to speculate about the overall health of the industry.

Insiders, however, say that while the tides are certainly shifting, the undertow isn’t as strong or as bad as it might seem.

“I think that’s one of the challenges that we’ve had with this has been so much press about sort of the negative parts of it,” said Mike Bristol, whose iconic Springs-based brand marked its 31st anniversary in June. “It kind of makes it seem like the beer industry is going away, and I just don’t think that’s the case at all.

“The sky is not falling.”

That doesn’t mean craft brewing isn’t weathering stormy times. The sobering news isn’t the whole story.

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Not tapped out

Before singing a dirge for local draft, consider some context:

The Brewers Association reported in July that 494 craft breweries were “operating or have operated” in Colorado in 2025.

“This is closely aligned with the total brewery counts from 2019-2021,” said Matt Gacioch, staff economist for the Boulder-based association.

And while brewery closures were outpacing openings mid-year, he said that things could still level out as the calendar rolls on.

“There tends to be a lot of openings/closing activity at the end of the year, so I wouldn’t expect this figure to necessarily remain through the whole calendar year,” he said.

Even if it does, the numbers aren’t anything akin to a shockwave.

In 2024, for example, Colorado brewery openings stood at 5% of the total number of breweries, while closings were at 6%.

“This net -1% is in line with the national average,” Gacioch said.

Such perspective doesn’t ease the pain for customers who must bid farewell to a spot to which they’ve developed an emotional attachment, he added.

So far in 2025 in Denver, such erstwhile, beloved waterline holes include Banded Oak, Over Yonder and TRVE Brewing, as well as Burns Family Artisan Ales, which closed in May.

In Colorado Springs, shakeups include the closure of Metric Brewing Co., the sale of Brass Brewing Co. to Gunslinger Brewing Co., (now open at 318 E. Colorado Ave.), and news that two of the city’s more established and award-winning breweries are for sale (both Cerberus Brewing Co. and Cogstone Brewing Co. remain open).

Bristol said that while it’s unfortunate to see some of his brothers and sisters in brewing feel forced to call it a day, it’s part of the seismic growth pangs of an industry figuring out how to chart a new way forward.

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A combination of forces

In some places, forces at play are easy enough to pin down.

Metric Brewing in the Springs lost its address to an operation able to pay higher rent.

Banded Oak Brewing’s owner told Denver7 the decision to close Sept. 6, after almost 10 years, was due to a combination of rising rents, safety concerns, and a “shifting customer base along Denver’s South Broadway.”

“Each of them closed for different reasons,” said Shawnee Adelson, executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild. “Things are different than they were five years ago, but it’s not the end of craft beer.”

“Costs are going up, and that’s for everybody, but for breweries particularly,” Adelson said.

That included rising rents, rising property taxes, aluminum prices for cans spiked by U.S.-China tariffs and — especially for Denver businesses — a minimum wage of $19.29 starting in 2026. That’s one of the highest in the nation.

“Ten years ago, we were seeing so many breweries open, and you think about the lifespan of a lease,” Adelson said. “Most of them are five or 10 years. So, when they renegotiate their lease, that might look very different than it was 10 years ago.”

Adelson noted that many breweries went into Denver’s River North neighborhood “because warehouse space wasn’t very expensive and breweries fit well into warehouses …. (a)nd a lot of businesses followed,” she said.

Great Divide Brewing Co. was one of those breweries. But it closed its RiNo taproom earlier this year and sold its Barrel Bar and Packaging Hall as part of a consolidation plan.

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Palates evolve

Modern times have brought much greater competition for a beverage consumer’s dollar, alongside an expanded menu of options including hard seltzers, ciders and marijuana-infused beverages, as well as non-alcoholic drinks, hop waters and distilled alcohol.

“Gone are the days when we as brewers were able to kind of tell customers what they should be excited about,” said Charlie Berger, chief development officer for Wilding Brands, which is also the owner of Great Divide Brewing Co.

The adventuresome appetite that inspired drinkers to belly up in the first place may be the same thing now tugging them onward.

“The craft beverage industry is full of creatives, artists and scientists,” said Berger. “And because customers have diverse palates, they want to try what’s new and different.”

Of course, that’s also probably why hardly any one blinked an eye when it was announced the Great American Beer Festival, for the first time, will include distillery booths with bourbon, whiskey, vodkas and gins.

“We haven’t heard a single negative response to including spirits at this year’s Great American Beer Festival,” Gacioch said. “I think it’s because at this point, breweries are so familiar with either producing or serving across every alcohol category.”

Tickets are still available for every session of the 43rd GABF, Oct. 9-11 at the Colorado Convention Center,  which annually draws hundreds of brewers and thousands of fans to the Mile High City for the end-all-be-all of beer face-off/tastings.

Prior to 2018, the three-day event routinely sold out for all sessions within hours of opening ticket sales, six months ahead of time.

“The world of consumer events has undergone significant changes, particularly in our post-pandemic era and challenging economic times,” said Ann Obenchain, vice president of marketing and communications for the Brewers Association, which puts on the annual event. “The Great American Beer Festival remains the G.O.A.T. — it’s the largest beer festival in the nation and continues to evolve, creating new experiences that reflect consumer preferences and what brewers and makers are offering.”

Keeping it real

Though many challenges await the industry as it reshapes itself, a number of insiders say the biggest is affordability. For business owners, and their customers.

Consumers are being more cautious with their money, craft beer isn’t cheap and doesn’t appear poised to become so (is anything?).

“If people tighten their belts, that’s a real threat,” Berger said. “But we can’t lose too much sleep … because it’s not in our control. We think we have great products and we can control the margins by a little bit of scale.”

At a brewery’s core is creating community. Successful tap rooms will continue to do that, with an eye on what history has taught them about what’s happening now, and what lies ahead, Mike Bristol said.

The best times were never meant to last. If so, it wouldn’t be a superlative.

“We’ll still be brewing beer in 1,000 years,” he said. “At some point, there will be the right number of breweries for the right level of demand.”