The nonprofit amphitheater in Ruby Hill Park, which opened in 2017, will this season present about 40 free, all-ages concerts and community events, according to executive director Meghan McNamara. The 2026 free-concert season is currently scheduled to kick off Saturday, May 23, with Rock de Mayo featuring Denver act iZCALLi (see the full list below).

People can RSVP in advance for the shows at , or walk in off the street, at least while there’s still lawn capacity at the 6,500-person venue (there usually is).

Levitt also presents a handful of paid shows each season to bolster its bottom line, including the previously announced Hip Hop on the Hill with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Dizzy Wright, Lil Eazy-E, and Seuss Mace on (Friday, May 22) and, for the first time, The Great American Beer Festival, Oct. 10–11, which is going outdoors for the first time.

Check out the current list of free shows below.

Levitt Pavilion Denver 2026 free concerts

May 23 — Rock de Mayo ft. iZCALLi
May 29 — Between Friends, Fly by Midnight
May 30 — Brazilian Day
June 5 —  The Sapphic Social Club presents Pride Kickoff with Tiana Major9
June 6 — Steph Strings
June 7 — Central City Opera Presents Drag Me to the Opera
June 12 — Fleetmac Wood
June 13 — Sunsquabi
June 20 — Lettuce
June 26 — The Bright Light Social Hour
June 27 — J. Roddy Walston & The Business
July 3– High Fade
July 4 — Flobots with Espiaille and DCI Tour
July 11 — Andy Frasco & The U.N., The Cultet
July 12 — Soul Rebel Reggae Fest with Black Uhuru
July 17 — LCAC & MSU Presents Las Cafeteras
JuLy 18 — Girls Rock Denver Showcase (headliner TBA)
July 31 — Dessa, Kayla Marque
Aug. 1 — Shakedown Street Presents Jerry Day
Aug. 2 — Boulder Philharmonic
Aug. 7 — Fiesta Colorado with Mariachi Sol De Mi Tierra, Chicano Heat
Aug. 8 — Afrik Impact Cultural Day Celebration ft. Élage Diouf
Aug. 9 — AMRC ft. Snotty Nose Rez Kids with Cary Morin and Sierra Spirit
Aug. 13 — Shwayze with Claire Wright
Aug. 14 — Rebirth Brass Band, Deltaphonic
Aug. 16 — Silverada with Blake Brown & The American Dust Choir
Aug. 22 –Inspector with Roka Hueka
Aug. 23 — Rainbow Girls
Aug. 29 — The Rock and Roll Playhouse Plays Music of Phish + More for Kids
Aug. 30 — Kyle Hollingsworth Band (of The String Cheese Incident)
Sept. 4 — Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Sept. 5 — Mo Lowda & the Humble
Sept. 11 — Chali 2na and Cut Chemist
Sept. 12 — Cool Vibes Reggae Fest with The Wailers
Sept. 13 — Gamelan Tunas Mekar presents Pasar Southeast Asia
Sept. 18 — La Santa Cecilia
Sept. 20 — Japan Fest with JA-NE Cultural Mixtape
Oct. 1 — Rez Metal with Soulfly

This article was updated with new concerts on Tuesday, April 7.

It’s the first time that the event, in its modern form, will be under the open skies — something that is always risky in the fall in Denver. The goal is to blend GABF’s “legendary beer lineup with live music .. and a more immersive festival experience,” the organization said in a statement.

“Taking the festival outdoors lets us reimagine what����ap possible, and we’re excited to bring fresh energy to the festival and provide an experience that feels uniquely Colorado,” said Ann Obenchain, vice president of marketing and communications of the Brewers Association, in the same statement.

“This isn’t just a venue change for us, it����ap an evolution,” she continued. “We’ve listened to our attendees and we’re creating an outdoor festival that invites people to explore, discover, and celebrate craft beer in a completely new way — one that����ap all about gathering your friends, finding your spot on the lawn, and enjoying great beer and good times together.”

Both Levitt and the convention center are owned by the City of Denver, and the organizations worked together to move GABF, said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver, which helps manage bookings at the convention center.

“With the economy, we are seeing a lot of groups reinventing themselves. I think [the Brewers Association] was looking for something new, and they wanted to try something fresh,” he said.

Ruby Hill is more than five miles south, and a little west, of the convention center and even further from the hotels, bars and restaurants that attendees typically frequent during the weekend. It is located in a residential neighborhood. (Levitt executive director Meghan McNamara didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment for this story.)

Scharf said attendees will likely continue to base themselves downtown, just as they do for other big events that are further afield, including the National Western Stock Show and games at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

The Brewers Association said the festival will be reduced to two sessions over two days, down from four sessions over three days a few years ago. This year’s event will be Oct. 10-11 from noon to 4 p.m. (rather than Oct. 8-10, as had been previously announced). Tickets go on sale in June. Attending the festival will cost $60 this year, down from $85-$95 in 2025.

Other details provided by the Brewers Association:

• “The event will be rain or shine. We will be prepared for any weather and expect attendees to come prepared as well.”
• Paired, a food pairing event, will continue. “More details to come.”
• “We are working on event details and layout and still expect hundreds of breweries.”

The festival, often described as the largest or among the largest commercial beer fests in the world, began in Boulder in 1982 before moving to Denver two years later, first to the now-demolished Currigan Hall and later to the Colorado Convention Center. It reached its peak in the early 2010s when tickets sold out within seconds.

Attendance began to slip before the COVID-19 pandemic, however, as interest in craft beer leveled out. GABF was canceled in 2020 and 2021 before returning as a smaller event. The Brewers Association has repeatedly changed formats over the years and added other alcoholic beverages, like cider, seltzer and spirits, in an effort to stay relevant.

Levitt, at 1380 W. Florida Ave, is a nonprofit amphitheater in Ruby Hill Park. It opened in 2017 and is owned by the city of Denver. It typically presents 40-50 concerts and events between May and October each year.

This story was updated several times on Tuesday with new information.

Fast-forward a decade, however, and the scene is much different. Gone are the days when people would line up in advance for a special beer release, and tickets to the Great American Beer Festival would sell out within hours. Gone are the days when selling $7 pints could cover a brewery’s overhead. And with than the generations that came before it, according to industry pros, a new cohort of would-be customers is now tougher to come by.

In 2024, – a first in nearly two decades. and in Colorado, where at least 31 breweries have shuttered in 2025 alone, according to the Colorado Brewers Guild.

But Berger, Foster, and Lincoln don’t see these challenges as insurmountable. Instead, they believe this new era calls for a new way of thinking and, importantly, a new business model.

In January 2025, the three longtime friends combined their respective operations under one entity, called Wilding Brands, with the ultimate goal of keeping the spirit of independent craft breweries alive. Joining forces felt like a natural step, they said, as each company sought to adapt in the current market. They have since purchased three other major Colorado breweries, the most recent of which, Boulder’s Upslope Brewing Co., was the largest.

“We’re looking forward at the industry and how we can best continue to innovate and continue to grow and continue to produce in a profitable manner going forward,” said Foster, who serves as Wilding’s CEO.

“We realized that we could do some stuff together that we probably could not do individually,” said Berger, the company’s chief development officer.

While most of the country’s 9,000-plus breweries operate independently, partnerships are becoming more common as businesses seek to share costs on materials and real estate, maximize their production capacity, and strengthen their distribution channels, said Matt Gacioch, staff economist at the Boulder-based Brewers Association.

“Especially now, a lot of breweries that started in the mid-2010s are at this point and, over the past five years, have been at the point of lease renewal. So they’re seeing their costs associated with the properties going up substantially,” he said. “On the materials side, a lot of that has been going up while the overall economy has seen significant inflation. Certainly, brewers haven’t been immune to that.”

Options for every kind of drinker

As one of the leaders in the craft beer movement, Colorado’s scene has seen perhaps more than its fair share of collaborations in recent years.

For example, 4 Noses Brewing Co. in Broomfield was contract-brewing for hazy IPA pioneer Odd13 before buying the company in 2021. In 2023, Westbound & Down Brewing Co., which started in Idaho Springs, expanded its footprint further into the mountains by purchasing two taprooms in Aspen and Basalt. And last April, legacy beer makers Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont and Dry Dock Brewing Co. in Aurora merged to become a single company and pool resources.

What makes unique, however, is the rate and scope of its growth strategy, which aims to reach consumers with a wide variety of products and places to drink. In its first year, the company merged its three founding brands, made several high-profile acquisitions, and built a new brewery in Arizona from the ground up.

The company started with Denver Beer Co.’s lineup of easy-drinking American beer styles, Funkwerks’ niche in Belgian-style beers and Stem’s ciders, which appeal to gluten-free and non-beer drinkers. Add in Howdy Beer, a pilsner that Stem Ciders purchased in 2022, and Wilding had a little something to offer everyone.

“The initial platform came together really quickly just because of synergies that exist kind of on the back end and production side, but also because the brands stand alone and differentiate themselves well,” Foster said.

As Wilding set out to expand, it looked for beverages and brands to further fill the gaps in its portfolio. The company shocked Denver beer drinkers when it purchased both craft stalwart Great Divide Brewing Co. in April and local staple Station 26 Brewing Co. in June. Then, in November, it scooped up Boulder-based Upslope Brewing Co., one of Colorado’s largest independent beer makers and most successful retail brands.

Beer production for all three breweries now takes place at Wilding’s so-called “Canworks” facility in the Sunnyside neighborhood, which started as a Denver Beer Co. brewery in 2014. That����ap also where the company brews Funkwerks’ recipes and packages brands Howdy Beer, ¡Venga! and Easy Living Hop Water. Two of Denver Beer Co.’s taprooms still make small batches and specialty recipes onsite, but Wilding didn’t purchase Great Divide’s two Denver taprooms (which are now closed), however, or Upslope’s two Boulder locations (which will remain open). So, those locations no longer brew beer. Station 26 no longer brews its own beer either.

But Wilding did keep Station 26’s taproom with plans to maintain the vibe that has drawn a passionate well of drinkers to the Park Hill watering hole for 12 years, said Corey Dickinson, vice president of marketing. “They have a fantastic, loyal following and so it gives us an ability to continue to engage with that part of town even at local level.”

Going forward, however, Wilding has signaled it won’t rely strictly on traditional brewery and tasting room models. In November, Funkwerks closed its taproom after 15 years in Fort Collins. And , a subsidiary of Denver Beer Co., has been reduced to a single packaged brand, ¡Venga! Mexican lager. Meanwhile, its taproom in Denver has been reimagined as a pop-up space called , which opens solely for special events.

As for Great Divide, it boasts four full-service restaurants in Denver’s River North Arts District, Lakewood, Castle Rock and Lone Tree where the bars serve staple beers like Yeti imperial stout, as well as Stem Ciders, Funkwerks beers, cocktails and wine. Those spots — which are owned and operated by a company called Vibe Concepts, which licenses the branding — serve as opportunities to showcase Wilding’s broader selection of beverages while simultaneously creating a different kind of hospitality experience, Foster said.

“We don’t really want to make every taproom a Wilding Brands taproom. That just doesn’t make sense with how these brands have served the community over the years,” he said. For example, it����ap unlikely that Denver Beer Co.’s five brick-and-mortar locations in the Mile High City, Littleton and Arvada would ever sell Great Divide beer.

“But we do look for opportunities where we can cross and where we can represent multiple brands in one location,” Foster added.

That����ap true at Wilding’s two restaurants in Lafayette, and . Acreage, which is also the cider production facility, opened in 2018 with a massive patio and mountain views that encourage guests to stay, dine and drink awhile. Ghost Box Pizza, a concept born out of the pandemic, specializes in Detroit-style pies and has a more modest footprint that includes a dining room and arcade. Both feature a robust selection of Wilding products to drink – a model the company expects to replicate going forward.

“Beer bars-slash-restaurants that focus on all of the portfolio – we like that,” Foster said.

Beyond Colorado, Wilding moved to grow its regional presence with an original concept in Phoenix called . The brewery, opened in September, brews beer onsite to pair with burgers, sandwiches and other pub fare. The bar menu also goes beyond house-made beers to include – you guessed it – Stem Ciders, Howdy Beer and Easy Living Hop Water.

“By really focusing and investing behind these brands, we can create something that hasn’t existed before in the craft bev marketplace,” Berger said. “It’s cool solutions for our accounts. It����ap opportunities for employees. And we think we can do a lot with what we have, right now.”

One such opportunity came by way of Planet Bluegrass, the Lyons-based production company that throws the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, RockyGrass Festival and Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, among other events. Vice President Zach Tucker said Planet Bluegrass previously worked with Stem as a beverage provider and enlisted Wilding to stock the bars with beer, cider, seltzer and more at its 2025 and 2026 events.

“They cover most of our drink offerings with beer/seltzer/cider/NA,” Tucker said by email. “Our festivarians were very receptive to all their offerings, including their non-alcoholic options this year. We are excited to work with them again as they are great teammates in putting the events together, our companies align in our sustainability efforts, we love that they are local to Colorado, and we both believe in the value of bringing people together around shared experiences.”

This kind of partnership would be difficult to pull off for just one brewery, Dickinson said. “But by coming together, we have access to not only more resources but we have a better opportunity to provide a better experience at an event like that – where we can say, ‘here’s a selection of amazing products coming from one place’ but (it) gives the consumer better choice.”

Unsurprisingly, the Wilding team plans to introduce new products to meet evolving consumer tastes. Stem recently released its first non-alcoholic cider in hopes of catching Dry January buzz.

Are craft conglomerates different?

With its recent flurry of deals, Wilding has brought mergers and acquisitions back into the beer industry spotlight. A decade ago, it was commonplace to hear about conglomerates like Anheuser Busch-InBev and Molson Coors purchasing craft breweries to tap into market share, but as consumer tastes have changed, some of those companies are reversing course.

Just last year, Molson Coors sold its craft portfolio and discontinued its experimental arm, AC Golden Brewing Co., effectively exiting the craft market to invest in more lucrative endeavors. AB InBev, meanwhile, unloaded Breckenridge Brewery and other formerly independent beer makers that it had purchased.

Foster maintains that Wilding Brands is inherently different from players in the previous era of M&A. “We really are a founder-led craft beer platform,” he said — one that has quietly become one of the Centennial State’s largest alcoholic beverage producers.

Lincoln said its current annual output exceeds 80,000 barrels, making Wilding now Colorado’s third-largest craft brewer, behind only Odell Brewing Co. and Monster Brewing Co., according to the Brewers Association — and that’s before you add in the 10,000 barrels of cider and 3,000 barrels of other beverages like hard tea and lemonade it is on track to make in 2025.

“As you look at what craft was versus what craft is today, it����ap a completely different environment with completely different scales of budgets and available capital to do some of these things,” Foster said. “So clearly as we come together and form a larger entity, we’re stronger in that regard. We have a better balance sheet, we have bigger budgets to do some of these things and better compete with the now-macro-back-to-craft companies out there.”

Gacioch at the Brewers Association, too, thinks these types of partnerships will bolster the industry because the craft ethos remains core to the business. The teams selling the beer understand the market and vernacular, for one, and aren’t also promoting the country’s most popular light lagers, he said.

“These are reasons to think this kind of consolidation we’re seeing recently is going to raise all boats, whereas the M&A that we saw maybe 10 years ago was more of ‘purchase this, see how it goes and stick with it or divest.’ It wasn’t central to the success of the acquiring business itself,” Gacioch said.

With all that transpired over the last year, Wilding Brands is taking time to integrate the companies and teams that it brought together, Berger said. The company employs more than 400 people who used to be competitors and now need to leverage their experience toward a common vision.

But one thing is for sure, Wilding isn’t done yet. “The phone is ringing,” Berger said.

Updated at 11:15 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2025 to include year-end total barrels of cider and other beverages. 

Or, if you’ve logged too many late-night hours watching the Discovery Channel, it brings to mind the premise of “Moonshiners,” a couple of dudes in overalls distilling questionable concoctions in rusty bathtubs somewhere deep in the Appalachian Hills: Complete with clouds of steam, clinking mason jars and the looming threat of spontaneous blindness from improperly distilled hooch.

Homebrewing in Colorado couldn’t be further from the world of hidden stills and midnight chases. In Colorado, homebrewing is a warm, sweetly scientific pursuit. For the few thousand brewers living in the Centennial State, it’s a ritual that has more in common with baking sourdough or crafting a perfect espresso than dodging the law. Homebrewing in Colorado, even before it was legal, always leaned more “curious neighbor with a kettle” than “Appalachian moonshiner with a still.” In fact, today’s homebrewer is just as likely to debate yeast strains and hop varieties as a sommelier is to wax poetic about terroir.

Homebrewing, the small-scale craft of making beer, cider, or mead in-house, has a rich history in the United States. Though the practice was illegal for decades after Prohibition, President Jimmy Carter’s 1978 legalization sparked a modern resurgence that found fertile ground in Colorado’s curious, do-it-yourself culture. Central to this movement, the (AHA) was founded right here in Colorado in 1978 by Boulder-based brewer Charlie Papazian, who also founded .

The idea behind the Homebrewers Association was to foster community and promote education among fellow fermenters. Over time, the association would balloon into 37,000 members, launch its own magazine, Zymurgy, and play host to the world’s largest homebrew competition.

Under Executive Director Julia Herz’s leadership, the AHA entered a new era in 2025, becoming an independent nonprofit dedicated to supporting homebrewers across the U.S. and Canada, with events like Homebrew Con, Big Brew and Home Fermentation Day.

If you drink craft beer in Colorado, Herz’s name is probably already familiar. As a longtime homebrewer and industry advocate, Herz wears many hats — literally and metaphorically, as she’s often seen sporting an array of baseball caps and smart-looking fedoras. She brews in her backyard, writes and speaks about beer across the country, and co-hosts the YouTube series and podcast “Sense of Beer Style.” She also co-wrote the book , a guide that’s a staple for anyone trying to match a saison with a seared scallop. If you want to know what����ap bubbling up in Colorado’s beer world, or where homebrewing is headed next, Herz is the person you call.

Herz’s introduction to homebrewing came through a lifelong fascination with beer’s diversity.

“Before I was even 10, I found myself thinking about different beers in different colors, in different packages, with all kinds of labels from around the world,” Herz said.

After starting with a Scottish ale homebrew kit at age 21, brewing alongside a friend, Herz was hooked.

Although her path to leading the AHA was unconventional. A broadcast journalism major who briefly worked for CNN in Washington, D.C., Herz left the newsroom to explore new adventures, which led her on a cross-country trip. Volunteering at the Great American Beer Festival in Colorado was a turning point.

“Volunteering at GABF blew my mind,” Herz said. “During that trip, I thought, maybe I’ll homebrew more, maybe I’ll work in a brewery, something like that.”

Drawn by the people, beer, geography and hiking, she settled in Colorado, eventually joining the Brewers Association and now executive director of the AHA.

Homebrewing remains robust in Colorado but faces a shifting landscape, she said.

“The homebrewing scene in Colorado is very active, and no one can dispute that, but changes have definitely been happening,” Herz said.

Aging hobbyists sometimes step back, and the wide availability of craft beer has changed how some engage with the hobby. Still, Herz said she sees opportunity ahead.

“The climate is actually poised for another resurgence,” Herz said. “We just announced our new vision: a homebrewer in every neighborhood, and a homebrew club in every community. That����ap the new vision we’ll be working towards in the coming years and decades.”

Recently, the AHA split from the Brewers Association, marking a major shift — and a chance to refocus on growing the hobby from the ground up.

Herz said while brewing might start as a solo project in the kitchen or garage, it rarely stays that way.

“Often, you’ll invite people over to help with bottling,” Herz said, “or you’ll plan a ‘brew-in,’ where everyone brings their setup to one place and you all brew together. It����ap really fun and very community-oriented, but also educational.”

Recipes are shared freely, much like family recipes passed down through generations.

“If you have a beer from another homebrewer and you love it, you just ask for the recipe and they’ll usually give it to you,” Herz said.

The AHA supports this sharing by offering thousands of , with access to those who subscribe, and publishes gold medal-winning recipes from the annual National Homebrew Competition.

Homebrewing’s appeal goes beyond the beer itself, though, Herz said. It offers a rhythm and meaning that contrast sharply with modern digital overload.

“We need good things, wholesome things, to take us away from the computer,” Herz said. “Homebrewing connects you not only to the process but to the community. Whether you brew with people or not, you’re almost always going to share it.”

In Herz’s community, she brings a homemade brew to neighbors to mark life’s milestones.

“When someone in my cul-de-sac has a baby or loses a loved one, I walk them over a homebrew, not a lasagna,” she said. “That����ap meaningful.”

Honestly, who wouldn’t welcome a cold beer over a soggy grief casserole? The point is, the cycle of sourcing ingredients, brewing, bottling and sharing creates a nurturing rhythm amid the chaos of modern life.

Herz emphasizes the connection to place and ingredients as central to homebrewing’s spirit.

“Brewing also connects you to agriculture and ingredients,” she said. “Foraging is a big part of it for me. I love to make English bitters, and I’ve had a lot of fun working with foraged ingredients, like wild plums. I made a Belgian golden strong ale with them recently, just these beautiful purple plums I picked five minutes from my house. Right now, I’m noticing amaranth everywhere, those red leafy bushes. I haven’t brewed with it yet, but it����ap on my list. I really love the intersection between the act of brewing and the ingredients that grow all around us.”

For those ready to dip a toe (or a mash paddle) into the hobby, there’s no shortage of help to turn to in Colorado. The American Homebrewers Association offers a deep well of resources, to a vast collection of tried-and-true recipes for anyone eager to start brewing at home.

As Herz put it: “Brewing is for everyone. It����ap one of the best ways — in my opinion — to discover your surroundings, work with your hands, connect with other people, and remember what it means to be human.”

Thursday-Saturday. The Great American Beer Festival returns to Denver Thursday, Oct. 9-Saturday, Oct. 11, with hundreds of breweries from across the country serving thousands of beers inside the Colorado Convention Center. This year, festival organizers are including a spirits-tasting area for the first time, with 20 distilleries, offering 0.25-oz pours. In addition, there will be cider, hard seltzer, ready-to-drink cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages. Tickets, $85-$95 per session, are available at .

The festival also means there will be dozens of tappings and other events taking place all over metro Denver, with rare and special beers available at many of them. Some of the hot spots this week will be Hops & Pie, 3920 Tennyson St., which has nightly tappings of dozens of brews; Finn’s Manor, 2927 Larimer St., along with Walter’s 303; Fire on the Mountain; and Ephemeral Rotating Taproom. Some of the local breweries to check out include Cerebral Brewing, Full Frame Beer Co., Ratio Beerworks, Renegade Brewing, and Westbound & Down Brewing’s taproom in the Dairy Block Alley. – Jonathan Shikes

Champagne and … French fries?

Saturday. Champagne Tiger, the self-described “joyously fabulous American-diner-meets-French-bistro,” hosts the 11th annual Great American Bubbles & French Fry Festival – or GABFFF – a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Great American Beer Festival, which also takes place this weekend. But this party is decidedly different because it includes bottomless champagne from NV A. Bergère, drag queens Pony & Anita Goodman, a piñata stuffed with caviar, 13 styles of French fries (from shoestring, curly, side winders to tots), and “every sauce worthy of dipping.”

The party, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., also marks Champagne Tiger’s one-year anniversary at 601 E. Colfax Ave., in Denver. Dress code: “sequins welcome, sweatpants forgiven.” Tickets to the 21+ event start at $98, but there are VIP packages as well. Call 303-942-0593 or visit for more details. — Jonathan Shikes

Aurora Borealis Fest

Friday-Saturday. The second Aurora Borealis Festival, an artist-driven gathering of light and sculpture, takes place at High Prairie Park in Painted Prairie, Friday, Oct. 10-Saturday, Oct. 11, with plenty of family-friendly spectacle. It features glowing installations and performances from across the state, including vibrant projects such as Cody Borst’s “Fictive” (an interactive greenhouse with colorful orbs and mysteries to solve) and B.J. Nolletti, Jenny Beran and Martin Beran’s “Forest of Confusion,” which “immerses families in a 60-foot grove of glowing Blue Spruce that change colors and build to a collective light show when touched,” organizers wrote.

The event, which is also sporting another Global Gift Bazaar and Flavors of Aurora Food Court, takes place 4-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 21448 E. 59th Place in Aurora. Tickets are $17.33, including taxes and fees; kids 4 and under are free. Visit for more information. — John Wenzel

El Día de Muertos

Saturday. Longmont’s Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) party happens to be the longest-running event of its kind in Colorado. This year’s 25th anniversary celebration finds The Longmont Museum partnering with various organizations for “an experience for Día de Muertos that is rooted in respect and authenticity,” organizers wrote.

That makes the colorful Mexican appreciation of departed ancestors one of the best in the state, with a free, all-ages street festival in downtown Longmont that includes “traditional live music and dance performances, sugar skull decorating, face painting, crafts, cultural education, food trucks, a kids’ play zone, local vendors and a Gigantes Procession,” according to organizers.

11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at Fourth Avenue and Main Street in Longmont. See more information and check out related events at and . — John Wenzel

Wednesday. Full Frame Brewing, 1139 20th St., in Denver,  hosts its first-ever Pale Ale Festival with a Colorado-centric lineup of hoppy beers. Breweries in attendance will include Our Mutual Friend Brewing, Weldwerks Brewing, Milieu Fermentation and Westbound and Down. The party will go on all day long. The Los Dos Potrillos food truck will be on hand.

Wednesday. The 4th annual Krispy King Lager Competition and Festival kicks off at 2 p.m. at Barrels and Bottles Brewery, 1055 Orchard St., in Golden. “All beers are submitted in kegs and judged from those same kegs. We then tap those same kegs and serve them to the customers. You are drinking the exact same beer that the judges had,” the brewery said. There will be food, live music and vendors on site, along with beers from 45 breweries around the country.

Wednesday. Kick off GABF week with a fantastic lineup of beers, many of them unusual or rarely seen in Colorado, at Hops & Pie Artisan Pizzeria, 3920 Tennyson St., Denver, Breweries include: Alvarado Street, Austin Beer Garden Brewing, Brujos, Cellarmaker, Foam Brewers, Fort George, Gold Dot Beer, Grains of Wrath, Highland Park, Live Oak, Monkish, North Park, Other Half, Perennial, pFriem, RIIP Brewing, Sante Adairius, Side Project, Wayfinder and more. Hops & Pie will have equally awesome lineups from different breweries all week long.

Wednesday. The Colorado Brewers Guild and Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, which is owned by the brewery’s original founder rather than the Monster energy drink company, bring back their State of Craft Beer Showcase from 6 to 10 p.m. The curated draft list includes “over 30 brewers’ favorite beers” from across Colorado, organizers said. Oskar Blues Grill & Brew is at 1624 Market St.

Thursday. Cannonball Creek Brewing, at 393 N. Washington Ave., in Golden, hosts the 2nd Annual Punk Lager Fest, featuring lagers from breweries across the country, including Riip, Grains of Wrath, Shred, Wayfinder, ABGB, Meanwhile, Blind Tiger, La Cumbre, Craft Coast, Ism, Ratio, Joyride, Westbound & Down, Bierstadt, Comrade and Call to Arms. You can get there for free by taking the Lagerwagon from Ratio’s location in River North (see the schedule at eventbrite.com). Cannonball opens at 3 p.m. and there will be live music starting at 6 p.m. Doublewide will be in the house grilling up smashburgers.

Thursday. The taps are always flowing at Finn’s Manor, 2927 Larimer St., where there will be new beers on every night. Tonight’s Banger Sesh, running from 5 p.m. to midnight, features Trillum, Bow & Arrow, Outer Range, Our Mutual Friend, Cohesion, Tripping Animals, Schilling, Other Half and more.

Thursday. Ephemeral Rotating Taproom, 2301 E. 28th Ave., in Denver, which focuses on a new brewery or two every month, will feature Brooklyn’s standout hazy IPA specialist Other Half Brewing and Portland, Oregon’s Grand Fir Brewing with a tap takeover starting on Thursday. Ephemeral will also have other events and tappings this week.

Friday. Cerebral Brewing will stock West Coast-style IPAs at its new Highland Square location, 3257 Lowell St., in Denver, and East Coast-style IPAs at its original spot at 1477 Monroe St. The East vs. West showdown will also include guest taps all day long. The first location to kick all their kegs (or whoever kicks the most kegs) “wins” the showdown.

Friday and Saturday. Cohesion Brewing brings out the lagers for Pivo Park, which takes place in the park space across from the brewery, inside the York Street Yards business park at 3851 Steele St. You’ll find beers from Outer Range, Lawson’s Finest, Forbidden Root, pFriem, Creature Comforts, Live Oak and more. Cohesion itself specializes in Czech-style lagers.

Saturday. Ratio Beerworks presents the 9th Annual GABF Karaoke Party, which runs from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. at 2920 Larimer St. in Denver. This industry-focused event closes out GABF week with good tunes and bad pitch. Get a free beer if you sign up.

Saturday. Larimer Square and Monster Beverage, the energy drink company that owns Oskar Blues Brewing, host their second annual Beer Block party from 2 to 7 p.m. on Larimer Street between 14th and 15th streets. There will be live music from three bands and beverages from Oskar Blues and several other Monster subsidiaries, including Florida’s Cigar City Brewing, Texas’s Deep Ellum Brewing and more. The Beer Block is free to enter larimersquare.com/events/beer-block

Sunday. Wrap everything up with a GABF Hangover Party at River North Brewery, 3400 Blake St., starting at noon. There will be breakfast tacos from Moya’s food truck as well as “cold pours to cure that hangover in style,” the brewery said.

The brewery plans to open a stylish, full-service restaurant and taproom at 5540 W. 29th Ave. in Wheat Ridge, just a few blocks northwest of Denver’s Sloan’s Lake. The location is close to Joyride Brewing, Hogshead Brewery, Cerebral Brewing and Barquentine Brewing.

Related: Why this award-winning Colorado brewery wants people to invest in its business at a time when the beer industry is struggling

But construction will take some time since it will involve the complete renovation of two adjacent buildings and the addition of a 1,600-square-foot rooftop patio (with views of the mountains) and an outdoor courtyard between them, according to plans revealed by Westbound. The company is hoping to finance the purchase of the property with another public offering.

The new location is expected to open by late 2026 or early 2027, Westbound said.

When it is finished, the 4,000-square-foot interior will feature 18 taps upstairs and another 18 downstairs, along with a full kitchen serving pizza, sandwiches and elevated pub fare.

“Denver has long been one of our strongest regions, but we haven’t had a true home there – until now,” Jake Gardner, Westbound CEO and Director of Brewing Operations, said in a statement. “This new location will bring our beer, food, and hospitality under one roof in a space designed for connection while helping accelerate retail adoption in Denver and beyond.”

Westbound currently runs a small taproom in the stylized alley behind the Dairy Block, at 1800 Wazee St. in Denver. The company was founded in Idaho Springs in 2015 and still operates a restaurant and brewery there. Its primary brewing facility, along with another pub, is in Lafayette. Westbound also owns a production facility in Aspen and taprooms in Aspen and Carbondale.

It is known for IPAs like Spirit of the West, Juice Caboose and Tropical Arts, and lagers like Infinity Pils and Italian Pils. It has won nine Great American Beer Festival medals, including three in 2024.

Westbound & Down has been using the crowd-funded platform DealMaker to raise capital and help continue its growth. The brewery aims to quadruple production by 2028.

For the first time in its 43-year history, GABF will serve liquor as part of what it����ap calling . Twenty spirits companies, mostly from Colorado, will be on the festival floor serving quarter-ounce samples of whiskey, gin, vodka and more. As with beer, all samples will be poured for free.

Founded in 1982, GABF remained staunchly a beer-only event for four decades. But as consumer tastes shifted in recent years, the festival broadened its offerings. In 2023, some breweries were permitted to serve seltzer, cider and hard kombucha. Last year, the festival added ready-to-drink cocktails (RTDs) to the menu.

The pivot to beverages beyond beer also mimics what is happening in the brewery scene, where many companies have created different drinks to widen their consumer bases, or sought liquor licenses that allow them to sell wine and spirits.

Greeley’s WeldWerks Brewing Co., for example, expanded into the RTD space in 2024. In addition to pouring coveted beers like its Medianoche stout at GABF, the brewery will also serve its Strawberry Margarita and Orange Creamsicle canned cocktails. Similarly, Montrose-based Shelter Distilling makes both spirits and beer in-house and will serve both at GABF this year.

GABF comes to the Colorado Convention Center Oct. 9-11 and beverage makers will be set up in themed areas, such as Prost!, a traditional German biergarten; Score! With a sports vibe; and Fright!, a Halloween-themed experience. There will also be costume contests, a silent disco and surprise flash mob performances. The festival’s ancillary Paired event, which pairs beverages and food, will also make a return, though it requires a separate ticket.

General admission to the fest costs $85 (plus fees) on Thursday and $95 on Friday and Saturday — or $220 for a three-day pass. Find tickets and information at .

What Lafayette-based Westbound & Down Brewing is doing with its crowdfunding campaign, though, is something different — and it will cost supporters a lot more.

In April, Westbound & Down began seeking investments through a type of public offering called “.” The brewery wants to raise up to $1.24 million to increase beer production fourfold, expand its distribution footprint, and eventually open new brewpubs, including one in Denver. For a minimum of $735.75, anyone can buy shares in the 10-year-old company — at $2.25 each — and support its future plans.

The public offering, , comes at a time when the craft beer industry is struggling. compared to the year prior, trade group the Brewers Association recently reported. Additionally, last year was the first time in two decades that the number of brewery closings outpaced openings nationwide.

The economic headwinds have inspired major ownership consolidations in the craft beer sector.  Molson Coors, for instance, offloaded its craft portfolio and shut down its in-house craft incubator, while AB InBev, the maker of Budweiser, sold large pieces of the breweries it had acquired over the past 10 years. In addition, independent beer makers have joined forces, including Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, which merged in April with Dry Dock Brewing; and Denver Beer Co. and Great Divide Brewing, which have been rolled up into a single entity.

However, Westbound & Down CEO Jake Gardner said his brewery is different — it’s on the upswing, so much so that production isn’t keeping up with locals’ thirst for its beer.

“Every time we’ve added more equipment, we’ve been sold out of beer,” said Gardner, who is also the co-founder and head brewer. “We’ve added a considerable amount of equipment recently and we’re still sold out of beer. Hopefully, at some point, (we can) keep the beer on the shelves.”

In December, Westbound & Down inked a distribution deal with to bring its products to more parts of the state and recently spent $750,000 on major upgrades, including six new fermentation tanks, which will help increase brewing capacity. In 2024, the brewery made 6,000 barrels of beer (equivalent to around 12,000 kegs), up from just 900 barrels in 2019.

Westbound plans to increase that to 19,000 barrels by 2028 (and to make $3 million in annual profits), according to the investment documents. But to take that step, Gardner knew he’d need access to more capital. Though Westbound has sought more traditional avenues of funding in the past, including bank and Small Business Administration loans, finding an inventive way to raise money and build a legion of fans who are literally invested in their success is a win-win, he said.

“We liked the ability to connect with our everyday customers,” he said about crowdfunding. The brewery has offered stock to friends and family. “But at some point, you run out of friends and family. If we’re taking on people we don’t know, I’d rather they be our fans.”

A deep dive into the numbers

With regulation crowdfunding, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allows companies to use online platforms like Dealmaker and Wefunder to raise up to $5 million in a year without registering with the agency. But to do so, they must comply with SEC disclosure requirements, meaning they have to publicly lay out their accounting books, goals and other information.

In this case, those documents provide an extraordinary amount of transparency into the finances of a private company. For instance, the SEC filings show that, in 2024, Westbound had a net loss of $1.52 million on total revenues of $10.2 million. It has total assets of nearly $7 million and debts of nearly $7.5 million.

Though the business is currently operating at a loss, Gardner said breweries become profitable at scale as they increase buying power on raw materials, like malt and hops, and keep the cost of labor consistent while ramping up production. Westbound & Down has also been investing in growing its brand. In December 2023, it paid $1.8 million tobuy High Country Brewing, the holding company for Aspen Brewing and Capitol Creek Brewery in Basalt.

“We have had profitable years,” Gardner said. “Years where you double top in revenue and purchase Aspen Brewing Co. (are) not going to be that year.”

Still, Gardner said the company has valued itself at nearly $24 million because of its plans to scale up. In other words, the more beer and food it sells while keeping operating costs low, the more revenue it will bring in.

Westbound & Down’s most popular beers are the West Coast-style Westbound IPA and its hazy cousin, Juice Caboose. Despite being maxed out and winning the title of mid-sized brewpub of the year at 2019’s Great American Beer Festival, it is still a relatively small operation.

If production ramps as anticipated, by 2028 the brewery will still be smaller than Left Hand Brewing and Denver Beer Co., which brewed 28,313 barrels and 21,849 barrels of beer in 2023, respectively. By comparison, Colorado’s largest craft brewer, Odell Brewing, made more than 105,000 barrels the same year.

Enthusiasm so far has exceeded expectations. Gardner said 215 people have invested and another 600-plus have started the paperwork to do so. That gets Westbound & Down to the majority of its target goal and means fundraising could close as soon as May.

One thing investors should know: Since shares aren’t publicly traded, they can’t be easily sold. Westbound & Down plans to reinvest all profits into the business for the foreseeable future, so this should be considered a long-term investment, Gardner said. In fact, the only way to get a return is if Westbound is sold or goes public.

“These are both considered long-term exits, taking approximately 5-10 years (and often longer),” the brewery said in its prospectus. “Sometimes there will not be any return, as a result of business failure.”

A growing trend

Though somewhat novel, “regulation crowdfunding” efforts like Westbound & Down’s are becoming more popular in the beer and spirits industries. One reason is that platforms like DealMaker lower the cost for microinvestments, Gardner said. “Their technology, in a way, democratizes investing in privately owned companies.”

In January, Golden’s gluten-free beer maker closed a similar campaign and to fund a multi-state distribution plan. In mid-April, – which opened its 14,000-square-foot, flagship brew-stillery in Montrose in 2024 – to help grow its inventory, capital reserves and marketing efforts.

Similarly, Colorado beer stalwart Left Hand Brewing Co. closed a regulation crowdfunding campaign in February, which collected about $820,000 from 396 individual investors. That money helped the company buy Dry Dock Brewing Co. in Aurora, and will also be put to use expanding Left Hand’s sales and marketing personnel and acquiring additional real estate, said spokesperson Jill Preston.

This was Left Hand’s first crowdfunding effort in its 32-year history, and Preston said it was a success because drinkers are privy to the industry’s challenges.

“Staying independent requires collaboration, and we’re working to build a platform that not only helps us stay strong but also supports other like-minded beverage companies,” Preston said by email. “We believe our investors see the long-term value of that vision and want to be part of building something that supports future growth.”

A new champion

Growth has been the mantra for Westbound & Down, which started with a single location in Idaho Springs in 2015 and has since expanded to five, including a state-of-the-art brewhouse in Lafayette. Distribution sales, meanwhile, have ballooned 1,835% since 2019, the brewery states in its offering.

What makes this brewery, specifically, a good investment?

“Really, it comes back to quality,” Gardner said. A decade ago, when craft beer was booming, “people overinvested in growth and underinvested in quality with this assumption that everybody was on the rise.” Westbound, he added, is doing the opposite, starting with quality.

Its next steps would be to expand sales into other states, like Nebraska, Illinois, Texas, New York, California and Oregon. The company’s leaders also plan to open more brewpubs — beginning in Denver, and before crossing state lines.

Since 2022, Westbound has operated a small taproom near Denver Union Station, but it only serves beer. Gardner said the company thrives when it can offer a fuller hospitality experience. He hopes to identify a new Denver location by the end of this year.

Not to say the beer isn’t worth a stop alone. Westbound & Down is one of Colorado’s most awarded breweries, consistently earning accolades at prestigious competitions like the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup. As market forces trim out some existing breweries, Gardner believes his company can emerge as a leader.

“Colorado craft beer, which I’m very proud to have been part of for a long time, needs a new champion,” he said. “Every day, we’re confident we’re going to continue the pursuit of keeping that legacy of Colorado craft beer excellence alive, and we believe people in Colorado want that.”

But as the craft beer market evolves, those two groups have distinctly different needs. To address them, the industry’s most prominent trade group is preparing to undergo a transformation.

In January, the American Homebrewers Association announced that it would part ways with its parent organization, the Brewers Association, after more than four decades, and will become an independent nonprofit by the end of 2025.

Founded in 1978, , the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) aims to bring together and empower hobbyist beermakers through online forums, recipe sharing and more. Its establishment preceded the Brewers Association (BA), which represents the interests of professional brewers. Both Boulder-based groups have coexisted under one umbrella since the early 1980s, and both were co-founded by brewing pioneer and author Charlie Papazian.

Executive director Julia Herz said splitting the two associations is the first step in reinvigorating the AHA. At its height in 2019, the organization boasted 46,000 members who comprised its homebrewing community. Today, membership has dropped by half to 23,000 people.

Since Herz became the AHA’s leader in 2021, discussions about separating from the BA have been percolating, she said. As the organization outlined its strategic planning last year, the benefits became evident.

For example, under one umbrella the BA and AHA share one pool of resources but maintain very different goals for its members. Independently, the AHA will be able to fundraise and put money toward advocating for homebrewers and cultivating community, she explained.

“Benefits will allow the American Homebrewers Association to iterate and innovate in new, different ways that it just simply can’t under the current structure. It will allow us to be a little more irreverent. It will bring even more engagement and empowerment to the members,” Herz said.

The AHA now has its own board of directors who will help shape the future of the organization. While Herz isn’t sure exactly what the next chapter will look like, she hopes current AHA members will help inform the vision and priorities.

Generally, she wants to better support the thousand-plus homebrew clubs across the U.S. The more people who homebrew, the more business goes to the retail shops that supply ingredients and equipment, she added.

One topic top of mind for Herz is lobbying to change regulations on the national level. Shipping home-brewed beer to competitions, for one, remains difficult because each carrier has different restrictions and licensing requirements. The United States Postal Service , except for cooking wine.

“Even though homebrewing is legal in all 50 states, it doesn’t mean that those rights and privileges are a slam dunk and equal in all those states,” Herz said.

Herz hopes the new future of the AHA includes events where homebrewers can share their love of beer. The organization put its popular in 2024 and 2025 because it couldn’t find a cost-effective way to produce the event. Hertz hopes it will return in 2026. (The entry window for AHA’s , however, is now open, she added.)

As for the Great American Beer Festival, which has also evolved in recent years, Herz anticipates the AHA will be involved in some way or another.

“The American Homebrewers Association did help found and start the Great American Beer Festival, and I’m excited in some form to absolutely always have an ongoing connection between the AHA and GABF,” she said.