DENVER — In a former bakery south of downtown Denver, Matthew Fuerst makes beer flavored with ingredients like Hatch green chilies that he chops by hand.

Fuerst is one of many transplants lured to Colorado by the state's reputation as a place where beer drinkers spend hours on breweries' sunny patios trying every imaginable twist on beer. But Fuerst fears that idyllic lifestyle is in danger now that the world's largest beer-maker, Anheuser-Busch InBev, has staked a claim to Colorado's craft beer paradise.

Fuerst worries InBev could use its distribution leverage and buying power to squeeze other craft beers out of liquor store shelves, discount its own craft beer line and buy up raw materials after its purchase last month of Breckenridge Brewery, which was part of the first wave of craft breweries to open in Colorado in the 1990s.

The purchase sent tremors through Colorado's thriving community of home-brewers and beer purists, who join beer lovers around the country dreading increasing corporate consolidation in the industry. “I think all of us know that if they could put us out of business they would, and the actions that they're taking right now are a threat to us,” said Fuerst, whose brewery is called Grandma's House.

Terms of the Breckenridge deal weren't released. It follows InBev's acquisition of craft brewers Goose Island in Chicago and 10 Barrel Brewing in Oregon in recent years and comes as the maker of Budweiser is trying to become even bigger by buying the world's second-largest beer-maker, SABMiller, to create a company that would make nearly 30 percent of the world's beer.

The maker of Heineken as well as equity firms have also been acquiring and investing in craft beer, the only part of the U.S. beer market that's still growing.

Craft beer has captured over 10 percent of beer sales in recent years and, according to the Brewers Association trade group, the country now has over 4,100 breweries, the most since 1873. More than two breweries open every day across the country.

InBev says it's not trying to push any brewers out of business.

Eric Wallace, co-founder of Left Hand Brewing, said he can't understand how a brewery that worked to bring back flavorful beer to the “scorched earth” left behind by mega brewers can turn around and join one.

“The fact that beer was being dumbed down over time, over decades is the reason that craft brewing was created,” he said.

The reaction from beer drinkers has been mixed.

Andy Romero, 36, of Denver, said he likes to support mom and pop operations but he's not too worried about the Breckenridge sale.

“As long as the beer is good, I'm fine with it,” Romero said.

But Michelle Massure, 31, was horrified at the thought of a big brewer ever taking over the Strange Craft Beer Co., where she had a cherry wheat ale.

“I don't want the big guy to have everything,” she said.