From the initial stages of business planning onward, brewery owners are forced to make difficult decisions that affect the direction of their business. Successfully navigating these choices relies upon having a clearly defined vision and strategy.
Goodwill among brewers doesn’t stop at the occasional tank or piece of advice. It’s an industry-wide culture that can be found at every stage—from conception of a brewery or beer to execution, to, yes, even consumption.
Just like there is no typical craft beer, there seems to be no typical craft logo. And with the ongoing proliferation of craft breweries in the US, branding is becoming both more crucial and more impressive than ever before.
Why we’re reading The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance and Charleston Beer: A High-Gravity History of Lowcountry Beer.
George Washington’s beer recipe discovered, brewed; California hops held up by Secret Service; two proposed Texas beer laws killed; and Stone announces $26.6 million expansion plans.
As we move into 2011, we promise to put the “advocate” in BeerAdvocate by continuing to explore new and better ways to support, promote and defend good beer.
The lucky winner of Stone’s March Madness Homebrew Competition and AHA Rally gets moved out of the dinky kitchen and into Stone’s gleaming steel system of steamy goodness. Topping it off, the brew becomes Stone’s official GABF ProAm entry.
Stone’s Ales not cutting the mustard; Georgetown brewing changes brew’s name, logo; crew kidnapped while attempting to film commercial in Mexico; “Orange Girls” arrested for alleged World Cup guerilla marketing stunt.
The internet and social media have changed the way we connect with those who sell us the beer we love. Now we can actually communicate directly with them and tell them what we do and don’t like about what’s going on with their beer.
From our point of view, an honest series of compelling craft beer ads during this year’s Super Bowl would have most definitely stood out among the mediocrity and made some form of impact.
The phrase “recession proof” is a heavy one, but it’s been following beer and the beer industry around for generations. The only problem with this is that the beer industry isn’t buying it.
A funny thing’s going on in craft beer—and it’s been gaining speed for quite some time. Something very American, yet at the same time, decidedly pre-modern. That is, simply, working together.
With no end in sight for the lagging economy, craft brewers will have to continue to develop new ways of serving the now ailing consumers who have treated them so well.
The notion of cooking with beer has certainly overcome taboo, but it has yet to completely trounce its reputation as being unfit for food. Five of the country’s best beer chefs share their recipes.
Greg Koch and Steve Wagner first brewed their flagship beer, Arrogant Bastard, back in 1995, a full year before they co-founded Stone, and two years before the beer’s commercial release.
