20 Percent in 2020. Can It Happen?

American craft beer’s volume of the overall US market continues to grow (5.7 percent in 2011, 6.5 percent in 2012, and 7.8 percent in 2013), and even more so with the Brewers Association’s recent tweaking of their “craft brewer” definition that immediately welcomed brewers (like Yuengling) who employ adjuncts in their beers. And based on this, the Brewers Association has also set a most ambitious goal of reaching 20 percent of the US beer market volume by 2020.

Given craft beer’s fast growth, we could certainly see it reaching this volume (especially with the inevitable further tweaking to the definition). However, the support for such volume is a whole other story. In order to reach 20 percent, and maintain it, craft brewers need to start focusing on the following, now.

• Quality. It’s critical. While craft beer’s growth is impressive, many of the beers being brewed aren’t.
• Consistency. The lack of consistency among a number of brewers might be charming to some, but it’s frustrating for consumers who expect the same quality every time they purchase what should be the same product.
• Laws. Regulation reform has been slow going, and there are still plenty of ridiculous, antiquated laws out there. Everyone will need to work together to abolish laws that inhibit growth within the segment.
• Distribution. It’s broken for many, dominated by large companies, and often locks brewers into bad situations with little to no recourse. We need more self-distribution, flexibility in contracts, and accountability when it comes to providing a well-preserved product.
• Support. Assuming they want to keep accounts, brewers, reps and distributors need to up their game, and provide better support for consumers and retail locations. We’re talking education, product information, freshness dating and rotation of stock.
• Creativity. Pushing the boundaries got craft beer where it is today by capturing the minds and palates of consumers. Creative brewing and continued innovation needs to happen to keep consumers interested and craft beer moving forward.

To quote Paul Gatza, Brewers Association director, from April’s Craft Brewers Conference in Denver: “Lots of brewers have spent most of their lives creating a great community. So don’t fuck it up!” This was a caution to all new brewers and the over 1,700 breweries in planning, but all of us need to ensure that we don’t, in fact, fuck this up. Otherwise, “20 in 20” will never be achieved.

Respect Beer. ■