This study explores the changing environments of craft beer and university athletics and the impacts of university-branded beer agreements to determine the value and outcomes for the university and the craft brewery. The hypotheses are explored through a difference-in-difference methodology to examine whether the craft brewery business is growing based on these agreements either on-premise or off-premise and whether the university athletics department is gaining meaningful economic contributions to its programs. Initially, university-branded beers are analyzed for all universities that have a Power 4 football program including the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Big Ten (B1G), Big 12, and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). After, a detailed case study is presented for the Colorado State University relationship with New Belgium Brewing as it relates to their business, their ability to expand, and their impact on their local economy. Additionally, a synthetic control model is developed to simulate the creation of a University of Utah craft beer in light of the growing privatization of the University of Utah athletics department that would make this concept a reality.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of the beer homebrewing community on commercial craft breweries. Data from the Reggie Beer Competition Manager website contains observations for homebrew competition submissions from 2016 – 2025. These submissions are organized by Beer Judge Competition Program styles.

These submissions will be compared to commercial sales at craft breweries using the same style guidelines. The research hypothesis investigated is whether homebrewing competition submissions by style drive commercial sales or not. In either direction, a statistically significant relationship would suggest that local homebrewers have an impact on their local craft beer communities by driving the sales of specific styles or by seeking commercial examples of the beers that they would like to brew. Such information can inform craft brewery owners as they navigate relationships with or consider engaging with local homebrew communities.

In collaboration with 105W Brewing and other local Colorado breweries, this project analyzes the value of alternative gratuity models in the taproom as it relates to employee earnings, employee satisfaction, and employee turnover. These alternative models range from no gratuity whatsover, a limited service charge to the customer that can be redistributed plus additional tip options, or a full service charge that can be redistributed with no tip.

This project was selected to be presented at a research track session at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association's (AAEA) Brewing and Enology Economic Research (BEER) Section in July 2026.