| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Fort Collins, Colorado, USA |
| Products | Beer |
| Production output | 582,000 US barrels (2009) |
| Owner(s) | Employee-owned |
| Employees | 372 |
| Website | newbelgium.com |
New Belgium Brewing Company is a regional brewery located in Fort Collins, Colorado. It opened in 1991 after Jeff Lebesch, the brewery's founder, took his home-brewing passion commercial. In 2009, it produced over 582,000 barrels of its various labels.[1] As of 2010, it was the third-largest craft brewery and seventh-largest overall brewery in the United States.[2]
Fat Tire, an amber ale, is the company's flagship beer.
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The Fat Tire recipe originates from a co-founder's bicycle trip through Belgium from brewery to brewery. The company promotes its Fat Tire ale locally by the public placement of colorful vintage bicycles outside its brewery, which is located adjacent to the public bike path along the Cache La Poudre River.
In 2006 NBB changed its logo. They did so because the company realized that beer drinkers could identify the Fat Tire label, but "didn't recognize the brewery label, or make the connection that New Belgium brewed Fat Tire and other best-selling brands, such as Sunshine Wheat."[3] The company's new logo "pays homage to the well-known Fat Tire brand bicycle" drawn by Anne Fitch.[3]
Before 2006, New Belgium distributed in only 15 states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Colorado). New Belgium expanded operations in 2002 to be able to distribute to California.
In spring 2006, the brewery began to distribute some of their beers in other markets. Bottles of Fat Tire distributed in Chicago claim "Chicago Inaugural: The 1st Fat Tire Ale served (legally) in the second city." In June 2007 Fat Tire, Skinny Dip, 1554 and Mothership Wit became available in Illinois. By the summer of 2007, New Belgium expanded distribution again to include select areas of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Minnesota metro area and Iowa. As of July 2008, Fat Tire, 1554, Mothership Wit, and seasonal brews are also served in Tennessee. In March 2009, these beers also became available in North Carolina.[4] In April 2009, in response to huge demand, Fat Tire became available in Indiana.[5] In May 2009 Fat Tire became available in Georgia, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
In 2011, the company added Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. to its territory, bringing the total distribution to 29 states.[6]
New Belgium beer labels are designed by Anne Fitch, a watercolorist.[3]
Kim Jordan, the President of New Belgium Brewery, credits the success of New Belgium Brewery in part on Anne's artwork, "Our beers were good, our labels were interesting to people, and we pretty quickly had a fairly robust following."[7] In 2006, her artwork appeared on each of the over 125 million bottles sold by New Belgium;[8] the company's new brewery will allow the company to double production.[9]
The brewery was founded by husband-and-wife (now divorced)[10] team Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan in 1991 and emphasizes eco-friendly practices and employee ownership in its marketing materials. It is located in northeast Fort Collins near the Cache la Poudre River on the grounds of the former Great Western Sugar plant.
In 2008, New Belgium Brewing Company was named the best place to work in America by Outside Magazine. This could be attributed to the brewery's efforts to ensure the "wellness" of their employees. Once a month the brewery's Wellness Committee meets to discuss activities, such as bike tours, for employees to participate in.[11]
New Belgium Brewery has made it a goal to be entirely wind-powered.[12] Rather than directly using wind-generated power, the brewery elects to pay an increased rate for their electrical energy, which is supplied by the City of Fort Collins Utilities to ensure it comes from the cleanest source possible.[13][14] About 10% of the brewery's power comes from methane gas created as a byproduct of their on-site water treatment plant.[15]
The brewery also uses an energy-efficient kettle for the brewing process. The Steinecker Merlin kettle heats twice as quickly by boiling thin sheets of wort in the entire kettle at once. This provides significant savings in natural gas consumption.[16]
Tour de Fat is a bicycle parade and festival sponsored by New Belgium. The events, which take place annually in various large- and medium-sized cities around the West, include music, New Belgium beer, circus- and vaudeville-type acts, bicycle dance troupes, and the main activist spectacle, a giant group bike ride/parade wherein the participants, many costumed fancifully, ride through town.[17] The activist climax of the tour, however, is the bike trade, in which a local participant transfers the keys and title of their motor vehicle to New Belgium in exchange for a new commuter bike and trailer in order to promote bike riding and sustainability.[18] The "Fat Tire" bike is so strongly associated with New Belgium Breweries that employees of the brewery are given a 'cruiser bike' "like the one pictured on its Fat Tire Amber Ale label" on their one-year anniversary with the company.[19]