Columbia Craft Brewing Company

What Columbia Craft Brewing Company does

Columbia Craft Brewing Company is a privately held, production-focused craft brewery founded in 2017 and headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina. The company produces a focused two-tier portfolio: six core beers available year-round in cans and on draft (Macro Lager, Infamously Hop, Famously Hop IPA, Carolinian Blonde Ale, Frostbite Lager, and Detour Hazy IPA), and four seasonal limited draft releases (Lava Lamp, Trouble in Paradise, Carolina Peach, and The Bumbleberries Taste Like Bumbleberries) that rotate at select on-premise partners. The company emphasizes balanced, thoughtful recipes, quality ingredients, and awards-validated consistency, with brewing credentials including a 2020 Great American Beer Festival Gold, a 2023 World Beer Cup Gold, and multiple U.S. Open and South Carolina Brewers Guild medals.

The business operates a wholesale distribution model, selling core canned SKUs to grocery, bottle shops, and retailers across South Carolina and select markets, and distributing draft beer to bars and restaurants through wholesale and distribution partnerships. Revenue is generated through transactional wholesale beer sales with no publicly disclosed pricing or contract terms. The company supports trade acquisition through dedicated wholesale inquiry forms on its website and drives consumer pull-through via a beer finder tool. Consumer-facing marketing is primarily digital and limited to the company website, with no disclosed social media presence or paid acquisition channels in the source data.

The company is founder-led, with Richard Strauss identified as Founder and Chief Inventory Officer, and operates with a lean team of 1-10 employees. No parent company, external funding, M&A activity, partnerships, patents, or technology integrations are disclosed. Geographic reach is constrained to South Carolina and select regional markets, and the company has no AI/ML capabilities, proprietary technology, or data assets. The overall profile is that of a small, independent, regionally distributed craft brewery with credible brewing credentials but limited scale and capital.

Name

Columbia Craft Brewing Company

Legal name

Columbia Craft Brewing Company

Website

https://columbiacraft.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Columbia Craft Brewing Company is a privately held craft brewery founded in 2017 in Columbia, South Carolina, producing six core year-round beers and four seasonal limited draft releases distributed wholesale to bars, restaurants, and retailers across South Carolina and select regional markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Craft Beer Brewing

NAICS

Breweries (31212), Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers (424810)

SIC

Malt Beverages (2082), Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180)

akta.pro primary industry

Beer Brewing & Brands (CRADAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Craft & Specialty Beverage Wholesale (Local/Artisanal) (AFAIAGAH), Beer Brewing & Craft Brewing (AFAFAAAA)

Keywords

• Craft beer brewing
• Wholesale beverage distribution
• Draft beer supply
• Seasonal limited releases
• Brewery merchandise

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Beer Sales - Wholesale & Distribution: Columbia Craft Brewing generates revenue through wholesale distribution of their craft beers to bars, restaurants, and retailers. They offer core beers year-round in cans and limited draft releases to select partners.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Columbia Craft Brewing Company is a production-focused craft brewery that manufactures and sells a focused lineup of craft beer, consisting of six core year-round beers in cans and on draft and four limited seasonal draft releases. The company distributes its products through wholesale and distribution partnerships to bars, restaurants, and retailers across South Carolina and select regional markets, and also sells branded merchandise such as t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, and glassware.

Product overview

Columbia Craft Brewing Company is a production-focused craft brewery based in Columbia, South Carolina, offering a two-tiered product portfolio consisting of six core beers available year-round and four limited seasonal draft releases. Core brews include Macro Lager (Contemporary American Lager), Infamously Hop (West Coast Double IPA), Famously Hop IPA, Carolinian Blonde Ale, Frostbite Lager (Helles-Style), and Detour Hazy IPA, distributed in cans and draft formats. Limited draft releases (Lava Lamp, Trouble in Paradise, Carolina Peach, and The Bumbleberries) rotate seasonally and are available exclusively on draft at select partner locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Macro Lager Contemporary American Lager at 4.5% ABV, brewed with Carolina Malt 6-row pilsner, flaked rice, and jasmine rice with subtle notes of pandan and saltine cracker. Available in 12-Pack Cans and Draft for wholesale and retail partners.
• Infamously Hop West Coast Double IPA at 8.5% ABV with an understated malt bill and amplified hop character from hand-selected Citra and Amarillo hops. Available in Tall Boy Cans Year-Round.
• Famously Hop IPA India Pale Ale at 6.6% ABV, flagship IPA brewed with Columbus, Simcoe, Amarillo, and Citra hops for a bold, balanced hop profile. Available in Cans Year-Round.
• Carolinian Blonde Ale American Blonde Ale at 4.7% ABV, devastatingly crisp with a clean malt backbone, low bitterness, and a touch of honey malt sweetness. Available in Cans Year-Round.
• Frostbite Lager Helles-Style Lager at 4.8% ABV, a clean, crisp lager with subtle malt character and a refreshingly smooth finish. Available Year-Round.
• Detour Hazy IPA Hazy IPA at 6.0% ABV, a smooth, juicy hazy IPA with bright citrus and tropical notes and an easygoing finish. Available Year-Round.
• Lava Lamp Sour Ale at 5.0% ABV brewed with plum and blackberry, incomprehensibly fruit-forward with balanced acidity and transcendent drinkability. Draft Only, available January-March.
• Trouble in Paradise Tropical IPA at 5.7% ABV brewed with Skyfarm pineapple, featuring bright notes of citrus, peach candy rings, and juicy ripe pineapple finishing smooth and refreshing. Draft Only, available March-May.
• Carolina Peach Peach Blonde Ale at 4.7% ABV, a crisp, crushable blonde ale with juicy peach twist built on a clean malt backbone with low bitterness and a touch of honey malt, finished with ripe peach. Draft Only, available July-September.
• The Bumbleberries Taste Like Bumbleberries Golden Sour Ale at 5.7% ABV brewed with blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, lactose, and brown sugar. Mild acidity with a touch of sweetness and enhanced mouthfeel. Draft Only, available April-June.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Wicked Weed Brewing: Asheville, NC craft brewery producing a broad portfolio of IPAs, lagers, and sours distributed across the Southeast. Comparable as a Southeast regional peer with broader distribution and overlapping style categories.
• Terrapin Beer Company: Athens, GA craft brewery with Southeast-wide distribution of core beers and seasonal releases. Comparable as a Southeast regional peer competing for similar on-premise and retail placements.

Broad incumbents

• Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico, CA craft brewery with national distribution of IPAs, lagers, and seasonal releases. Comparable as a broad craft incumbent showcasing what a focused craft portfolio can achieve at scale.
• New Belgium Brewing Company: Fort Collins, CO craft brewery with national distribution of core and seasonal beers including IPAs, lagers, and sours. Comparable as a broad craft incumbent demonstrating scaling of a quality-focused craft brand.
• SweetWater Brewing Company: Atlanta, GA craft brewery with national distribution across multiple beer styles and limited releases. Comparable as a broader Southeast craft incumbent with deeper distribution and wider portfolio.

Direct peers

• Allagash Brewing Company: Portland, ME craft brewery with a focused lineup emphasizing quality and regional identity, distributed through East Coast and broader wholesale. Comparable as a similarly-positioned craft brewery with strong awards pedigree.
• Coast Brewing Company: Charleston, SC craft brewery with a portfolio of core and seasonal beers sold through South Carolina wholesale. Comparable as a same-state peer competing for the same draft handles and bottle shop placements.
• Thomas Creek Brewery: Greenville, South Carolina craft brewery with a focused lineup of core beers distributed through regional wholesale channels. Comparable as a same-state peer of similar scale targeting on-premise and retail craft accounts.
• Two Roads Brewing Company: Stratford, CT regional craft brewery with a focused lineup of year-round and seasonal beers distributed through East Coast wholesale. Comparable as a similarly-sized craft brewery with multi-format core lineup and limited releases.
• Westbrook Brewing Company: South Carolina-based craft brewery (Mt. Pleasant, SC) producing core year-round beers and seasonal releases distributed through wholesale to regional accounts. Directly comparable as a same-state craft peer of similar scale and distribution model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Columbia_Craft

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Columbia Craft Brewing Company