This brand’s remarkable growth is not just about Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce
When Travis and Jason Kelce joined the ownership team at Garage Beer in June 2024, the two superstar football players were at the peak of their popularity. Perhaps peak isn’t the right word; the brothers’ starpower endures and shows no sign of dimming. The brand is benefiting not only from their celebrity and immense likeability but also from some smart business decisions and changing consumer habits. (See our previous post to learn the complete story of Garage Beer.)
Whatever the formula, it’s working and Garage Beer is growing by leaps and bounds in a beer marketplace that is largely struggling. When the Kelce brothers jumped into the beer game, the beer was available in six states. Now, just one year later, it is available in all 50 states. Andy Sauer, one of the company’s owners not named Kelce, told Brewbound that sales are up 400% or 500%, depending on whether you measure it by consumption or shipments.
Garage Beer says it is on pace to produce 300,000 barrels of beer by the end of 2025. That would likely make it one of the top 12 craft brewers in the nation, according to the Brewers Association definition of craft brewer. (Learn about how the BA defines craft brewer here.)
If you are wondering where they make the beer, that’s a tricky question. Garage Beer, now its own entity, was originally a product from Braxton Brewing in Cincinnati. The same folks who own Braxton are still involved in Garage Beer. Today, the brand enjoys co-packing arrangements with City Brewing in Tennessee and Founders Brewing in Michigan.
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Bucking the trend
As Garage Beer soars, the struggle is real in the craft beer industry. There are some bright spots here and there, but overall craft beer sales are down. According to the Brewers Association, craft brewer volume sales declined by 4% in 2024. Data shows the trend continues in 2025. It extends beyond craft. All beer sales are suffering lately.
So how is Garage Beer bucking the trend? You might think it is all because of the spotlight that Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce shine on the brand, but you’d be wrong. Sure, it helps a lot, but the company says it is actively trying to preserve its identity as Garage Beer and not become Kelce Brothers beer. Corey Smale, the VP of Marketing at Garage Beer, told Brewbound, “It’s important that we are still Garage Beer, and more Garage Beer than Kelce. We’re very cognizant of maybe a 70/30 split.”
If not the Kelce brothers, then what?
In a couple of ways, Garage Beer’s timing couldn’t be better. If you’ve paid attention, you know that in recent years lager-style beers have increased in popularity among craft beer consumers. At the same time, one of the biggest light lager brands has slipped from its pedestal, with its once-loyal fan base seeking alternatives. Not everyone replaced Bud Light with Modelo.
Garage Beer bridges the gap between the light lagers produced by the mega-sized corporate breweries and the beers brewed by your neighborhood brewery. It is managing to maintain a heartfelt, real connection with its consumers. The company says it focuses, first, on making the best light beer it can, and then, second, creating a fun brand. It has purchased a stake in the ownership of an indoor football team, the St. Joseph Goats. It ran a giveaway for a bed with an attached keg-a-rator. The list goes on.
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But those kinds of shenanigans will only get a brand so far. The brand’s nationwide availability is largely attributed to its alignment with the Molson Coors distributor network. In other words, in much of the country, the same truck that delivers Coors Light to the grocery store also delivers Garage Beer. There is value in that, though such an alliance may not jive with the ethos of some craft beer enthusiasts.
The company says the expansion is also related to its placements in about 80% of Walmart’s footprint. It also says the brand has benefited from placement with Kroger, the massive national grocery store chain. As these new markets have come online across the nation, the company continues to focus on “digging deeper” in its core Northeastern and Midwest markets, which might explain why its still unknown to many folks out west.
Out here in Seattle, I’ve seen the billboards but cannot say I’ve seen a lot of Garage Beer otherwise. That might be attributable to the fact that I tend to frequent bars and pubs that focus on local craft beer. Also, I don’t shop for beer in big grocery stores. Regardless of whether I am seeing it at my local haunts, there’s no denying that the brand’s growth is remarkable given the overall temperature of the beer industry these days.
