In the challenging year that was 2020, Colorado-based Bootstrap Brewing Company celebrated successes. Despite the doom and gloom of COVID and election year, the brewery grew its annual sales more than 25-percent, launched new lines of both tasty non-alcoholic beers and Sparkalicious hard seltzers, and made significant additions to its brewhouse technology.
Innovations and Beer Launch
Bootstrap released new products and packaging in 2020, including a 12-can Party Pack featuring five award-winning craft beers and the popular Sparkalicious hard seltzer. The mix of beer and seltzer in the pack makes it an easy grab-and-go option for households who need a variety of options.
The brewery also launched the first in its lineup of Strapless non-alcoholic beers, the award-winning Strapless IPA. As the first NA release for Bootstrap Brewing, Strapless IPA is made to drink like a traditional craft beer while providing the ability for longer days on the trail or longer nights with friends.
Sales Growth
With a total 8,821 bbls produced in 2020, Bootstrap Brewing saw a 25.7-percent growth in 2020 and a 541-percent increase in barrels produced since 2015.*
Led by flagship Insane Rush IPA, which grew 49.92-percent, overall off-premise sales of the Bootstrap lineup grew 38.6-percent.** Distribution of the brewery’s new Party Pack and its lineup of Sparkalicious seltzers was up 67-percent in the final quarter of 2020, with more than 600 points of distribution.*
Investments
In August, Bootstrap co-owners and founders, Steve and Leslie Kaczeus, added two notable Colorado craft beer industry names to their team. Geoff Hess, former regional director of national accounts at CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective, joined Bootstrap in the role of director of sales, and Dale Katechis, founder of Oskar Blues Brewery, the home of the original craft beer in a can, joined as an advisor, investor and out-of-the-box thinker.
The brewery also made large scale investments to its 30-bbl brewhouse in 2020, adding three 90-barrel fermenters, a Ska Fab depalletizer, and special equipment for experimental projects to increase efficiency and production.
“Our latest investments in the brewhouse are significant for our future growth,” said Steve. “We’ve been able to increase manufacturing capacity by 50 percent, improve the speed of our canning process, buy equipment for R&D projects, and implement production software. Equally as important, we were able to beef up our lab by purchasing equipment to continue to ensure high quality, stable products.”
A significant addition to the brewhouse is ABV Technologies’ Equalizer, an on-site alcohol-removing machine, that allowed the brewery to perfect the recipe for Strapless, its lineup of non-alcoholic beers that actually taste like beer. The brewery is the first in Colorado to partner with ABV Technologies for this innovative process.
Awards
- Insane Rush IPA — USA Beer Ratings Gold, Best Value, and Best Packaging
- Wreak Havoc Imperial Red Ale — USA Beer Ratings Gold
- Lush Puppy Juicy IPA — USA Beer Ratings Silver
- Chillax Pineapple Gold — USA Beer Ratings Silver
- Stick’s Pale Ale — USA Beer Ratings Silver
- Imperial Red — 2020 U.S. Open Beer Championships Gold
- Strapless IPA — 2020 U.S. Open Beer Championships Bronze
- Sparkalicious Greyhound Hard Seltzer — 2020 U.S. Open Cider & Beverage Championships Gold and 2020 Fizz Fight Silver
Data Sources:
*Internal Brewery Shipments
**Colorado IRI Food
Raymond
