Colorado Pint Day Brings Hope, Revenue To Struggling Breweries

DENVER (CBS4) - Craft beer fans can enjoy a pint and help their favorite craft breweries at the same time during Colorado Pint Day on Wednesday. The annual fundraiser is put on by the Colorado Brewers Guild, a nonprofit trade association aimed at promoting, protecting, and propelling independent craft breweries in the state.

More than 150 breweries are taking part this year, which is a record for the event.

"We've been busy straight from open," said Josh Patton, general manager of the taproom at Epic Brewing. "Everybody coming to get them, and we'll be sold out by the end of the day today."

These days, Patton is thankful for anything that'll fill the seats at Epic Brewing, and so far, Colorado Pint Day is doing just that.

Each year, participating breweries sell unique Colorado Pint Day glasses to beer lovers, and this year a sticker is included as well. $1 of every purchase goes to the Colorado Brewers Guild.

"It's a one-off glass every year," Patton said. "People love to collect them."

The theme of this year's glass is "Catch a Pint," and incorporates elements of the outdoors and wildlife. Brooks Engel of Nowhere Land Supply is responsible for the design.

"It brings together brewing, the outdoors: basically the two things that make Colorado great," Patton said.

This year, the fundraiser comes after the pandemic hit the industry hard. At Epic Brewing, Patton and his coworkers have relied on their resilience and creativity to endure cancellations and shutdowns.

"Everybody had to really make a lot of sacrifices in order to keep things going," Patton said.

Since March 2020, 33 Colorado breweries have closed and nearly all of the remaining 392 reported flat or declining sales, the Colorado Brewers Guild reported. Because of that, Patton said this year's fundraiser is "twice as important" as ever before.

"They're not just going to come buy a glass, they're going to get a pint, probably going to get three," Patton said. "It's just a really good way for us to get people in the door and share our product."

Patton is also enjoying the taste of normalcy that comes with a somewhat busy taproom. He is hopeful the participation with this event is a sign of what's on tap for the industry this summer.

"This is just kind of like a reopening of brewing where we can start doing community events again and bring people in and rebuild the craft beer community," He said.

A list of participating breweries can be found on the Colorado Brewers Guild website.