Of the 836 new breweries that opened between 2010 and 2013, approximately 350 will close by 2016. It’s a shocking number that makes sense after asking the people behind recently shuttered breweries about the challenges they faced.
Consolidation is a natural byproduct of a maturing industry. It’s an inevitable part of the life cycle in nearly every field of business. You don’t have to like it, but you’d better get used to it.
Pay to play is basically the act of bribing a bar to put your beer on tap. Once thought to be solely a macro brewer tactic, all sizes of brewers and distributors now use it to bump competition and gain valuable exposure at bars, restaurants and other retail outlets. Yes, even your small, local, independent brewer.
The 31st annual Craft Brewers Conference brought together professionals from all parts of the industry for a packed schedule of seminars, a trade show and awards. Here are a few standout moments from the event in Denver.
Given craft beer’s fast growth, we could certainly see it reaching 20 percent of the US beer market volume by 2020. 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, now.
Shortages of aromatic hops forecast for 2014; HopCat to open Michigan’s largest beer bar in midtown Detroit; San Diego leads industry in job growth and wages; and Lakemaid’s beer-delivery drone program grounded by FAA.
For craft brewery employees, passion often comes at a cost, as the industry strives to create competitive jobs. Enthusiastic homebrewers and beer connoisseurs trade pay, benefits, and comfort on the job for the chance to work in a fast-growing industry.
Why are so many people indirectly celebrating mediocrity by letting it pass as good beer simply because it’s craft, local, from someone they know, or a combination of all of the above?
Many craft beer snobs would love to see the large brewers go away immediately. They don’t understand the fallout that would follow if these brewers fell today.
US government shutdown hindered craft beer industry growth; rare disorder turns man’s stomach into a brewery; civet coffee controversy spurs brewers to reevaluate the ingredient; after lawsuit dismissal, tribe repeals prohibition; and Whole Foods to open first in-store brewery.
Meredith Heil, who’s 27 and lives in Brooklyn, is calling for the craft beer industry to reevaluate its attitude toward women and members of the LGBTQ community.
As the number of new breweries—and new beers—continues to surge, trademark disputes aren’t going away. They’re a part of doing business, even when the business is beer.
Craft beer spends an inordinate amount of time trying to define itself, not by what it is, but by what is not. Too often small brewers have contented themselves with a David versus Goliath narrative instead of touting their positives.
We had the privilege of attending the recent Craft Brewers Conference in Washington DC, and took away three messages from the opening talks, the keynote and discussions with various industry colleagues.
Filmmaker Kevin Romeo is taking a deeper look at the beer culture in his home state, with his project, The Michigan Beer Film, slated to premiere in September, and produced by Romeo’s company, Rhino Media.
Bob Archer was thrust into the beverage industry when he took over the family business after his father’s death, and today he’s the chairman of the National Beer Wholesalers Association.
As the relationship between breweries, brewers guilds, beer publications and beer bloggers gets cozier, hard lines are becoming more difficult to define.
With over 2,100 breweries currently operating in the US and more than half that in the planning stages, the craft beer market’s ability to absorb a rapid growth in stock-keeping-units is uncertain.
We do not hear much about a middle class, those mainly regional brewers slogging it out in the trenches day after day. These mid-sized breweries, which make 15 to 20,000 barrels or more and distribute in only a small number of states, are the bishops and knights of the craft beer chess game, crucial to the industry’s performance.
