Where Is Blue Moon Belgian White Brewed? (Explained)

Blue Moon Belgian White is a craft beer known for the iconic orange garnish, as opposed to the lemon slice generally associated with Belgian Witbier. Founded in 1995, it has made its way to the top of the craft beer market and is currently the number one craft beer sold in the US, making about 370 million USD in revenue in 2021. But where is all this beer made?

Although their most famous beer is Belgian style, Blue Moon for the US is brewed in the Rino District in Denver. It was first created at the Sandlot brewery, also located in Denver.

However, this is not all you need to know about this brewery. Interested in learning more about where they were founded & why they are sometimes mistaken for a Belgian beer brewery? Continue reading!

Yes, we do taste the beer we write about

Where is Blue Moon brewed in the US?

All Blue Moon beers are made in the Rino Disctrict in Denver. Their brewery moved here in 2016 and is currently located in a state-of-the art building that also houses the Blue Moon restaurant. Here, there are over 20 beers on tap for you to try with, or without, a meal.

Some of these beers you might have already tried at home, but some are only available at this brewery. So, even if you’ve already tried all their beers, you’ll still discover new ones here.

Any food served at the restaurant is locally sourced and also offers gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options.

If you’re wanting to have a look at how their beer is sold, this isn’t really an option right now.

Unfortunately, Blue Moon does not currently offer guided tours, but their website does hint that these are coming soon. Until then, any brewery visitor is welcome to peruse the self-guided tour hallway.

Interested? Here’s the address:

BLUE MOON BREWERY, RINO DISTRICT, 3750 Chestnut Place, Denver, CO 80216

Where Is Blue Moon Headquarters?

The Blue Moon headquarters are in the same location as the brewery in Denver. However, Blue Moon is actually part of MillerCoors, which has its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.

It might be surprising to read that Blue Moon is actually owned by MillerCoors, considering it calls itself a craft beer. You’ll read more about this when we dive into how and where Blue Moon was founded.

Where Is Blue Moon Brewed In Canada?

Apart from their Blue Moon brewery in the US, this beer is also brewed in other locations and sold in over 25 countries. For Canada, Blue Moon is brewed at the Molson factory in Montreal, Canada. Any beer that is brewed here is distributed across the US, Canada and Europe.

Interestingly, Blue Moon beers that are sold in Canada receive a slightly different label than those sold in the US or Europe. This is because instead of Blue Moon, the same beer in Canada is named Belgian Moon.

The reason for this is ubiquitous. A spokesperson for Blue Moon explained that it was done in order to differentiate themselves from Labatt Blue, a well-known beer in Canada. However, VinePair suggests that it was done, simply because Blue Moon couldn’t obtain the Blue Moon trademark in Canada. Whichever reason is true, both Blue Moon and Belgian Moon are made in the same factory, in the exact same way, but just end up receiving different labels.

Where is Blue Moon Brewed In the UK?

The UK arm of Molson Coors is located in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, which is also where Blue Moon for the UK and Europe is brewed.

Where Was Blue Moon Founded?

Blue Moon was created in 1995, at the Sandlot Brewery in Denver, by Keith Villa. The goal was to create a beer that was inspired by the Belgian Witbier (white beer), but with a little more ‘brightness’ as the Blue Moon website describes it.

Initially, four versions were sold: Belgian White, Nut Brown, Honey Blonde, Pumpkin Ale. The latter three were eventually discontinued, as Belgian White ended up majorly outselling them. It was also renamed to “Bellyslide Wit”, hinting at the fact that the Sandlot Brewery is located at the Denver Stadium, Coors Field.

The name was eventually changed to Blue Moon, after someone mentioned that “A beer this good only comes around once in a blue moon”

Clearly, Blue Moon became a great success, but not without some effort. Upon introduction, the American beer market struggled to accept this peculiar beer. After all, it had a cloudy appearance and tasted a lot different from the lager they were used to – it had different tasting notes, and overall was a lot sweeter than the American beer drinker expected from a beer.

However, through persistence and the cleverly marketed orange wheel, Blue Moon is currently the number one ‘craft’ beer in the US and is sold across over 25 countries. We use the word craft lightly here, as it is debatable if Blue Moon actually is one or if it is just a well-marketed, commercially sold beer. More on this below.

Who Owns Blue Moon Beer?

Blue Moon is currently, and has always been, owned by MillerCoors. As mentioned, the beer was initially created at the Sandlot Brewery, located in Coors Field which was, unsuprisingly, owned by Coors. In 2005 Coors merged with Molson, which resulted in the Molson Coors Brewing Company. In 2007 they then created MillerCoors as a joined venture with SABMiller. SABMiller later merged with Am Bev, but had to give up their share of MillerCoors in the process.

However, in 2010 things got interesting once again. MillerCoors has always marketed Blue Moon as a craft beer, even if it does not fit the criteria. After all, the Brewers Association set the following stipulations for calling something a craft beer;

An American craft brewer must be small, independent and traditional.

Its annual production must be 6 million barrels of beer or less.
Less than 25% of the craft brewery must be owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.

These rules suggests that Blue Moon is not a craft beer, considering MillerCoors is the second-largest brewer in the US.
As a result, MillerCoors set up a subsidiary called “Tenth and Blake Beer Company”, to be the official brewer of all the brands craft beers and omitted the name MolsonCoors from the labels entirely.

Does that mean that Blue Moon can be called a craft beer? The US Court says yes. After all, MillerCoors has been sued twice as a result of using the term ‘craft’ and “artfully crafted”, and won both cases.

Is Blue Moon A Domestic Beer?

In essence, any beer that is brewed in the US, generally made by large brewing companies, is a domestic beer. Although Blue Moon is a Belgian-style beer, it was created and is currently brewed in the US by MillerCoors and Molson Coors in Canada (although sold as Belgian Moon in Canada). This makes this beer a domestic one for both countries.

Domestic beer is generally thought to be a commercially sold beer that’s widely available and brewed within the country, such as Bud Light or Coors Light. Interestingly, this makes Blue Moon both a domestic beer and a “craft” one at the same time.