Bud down 31%, Sam Adams up 46%

Looks like my switching to exclusively drinking pumpkin peach ales is paying off!

 

Fitting, imo.

 

I believe Boston Lager (SAM)//Pale Ale (SN)//Fat Tire (NB) represent 90%, or more, of the brands total volume. When you are talking hundreds of thousands to millions of barrels per year, BBC may take back more out of date Boston Lager than they produce of every other brew combined. Agree they should have specified, but they probably are using 3rd party numbers, not provided by the breweries themselves.

 

Another favorite quote of mine: "Figures don't lie, but liars do figure."

Cheers!

 

That's probably not true for Boston Beer Company. From this article:
"Analysts estimate that Angry Orchard will comprise 20 percent of Boston Beer’s sales volume by the end of 2015."

And not true for Sierra Nevada either, based on this article:
"Pale Ale is still the number one seller, accounting for 60% of the company’s sales. But the Torpedo Extra IPA, released in 2008 (and named for the giant device stuffed with hops that Grossman invented to add a flavor kick), generates 20%."

And not close for New Belgium either, as quote from New Belgium's VP of sales:
“Realistically, it’s continuing to focus on Fat Tire, Ranger and seasonal,” he said. “Combined, it tends to be about 80 percent of our sales.”

 

Good points, although that just solidifies that the article in question needs more specifics. Angry Orchard didn't even exist until 2012 http://beerstreetjournal.com/boston-beer-company-to-launch/ , halfway through their graph. CHeers!

 

Cider sales count as beer sales?

 

no, but just a reference to the fact that Boston Beer Company's growth hasn't all been through sales of Boston Lager.

 

I'm not sure how much Bud Light Golden Wheat cannibalized for the approximately 26 minutes it existed.

 

Looked it up, it was around longer than I thought too. It was introduced in 2009, and stopped production in 2012.

The larger point was all the variations that AB and Miller introduce every couple of years to take up more shelf space and take more tap handles. It's likely not craft beer drinkers that are drinking the stuff, but people already drinking similar beers.

 

Gotta admit I was surprised by that too. I wonder how much it's time around actually matches when it was in markets. Like American Ale, I specifically looked for it out of curiosity and struggled to find it outside of a roughly year period when it was deep discounted and thus in every crappy bar.

 

Amazingly, American Ale lasted for 4 years - 2008 to 2012.

 

And all on that initial batch!

 

Depends on which group is doing the counting. The Feds and some beverage industry publications count cider (and FMBs, like Twisted Tea) while the Brewers Association doesn't ("Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are not considered beers."). Thus, the confusing barrelage figures for Boston Beer Co. for 2014 from various sources:

4,093,000 bbl. (Beer Marketer's Insights)
3,143,000 bbl. (BMI - w/FMB's but minus cider)
2,550,000 bbl. (Brewer's Association - "Craft" beer)​

This results in the B.A. now listing Yuengling (at 2,917,992 bbl.) as the #1 "Craft" brewer, yet BBC sells over a million barrels more when cider and FMB's are included. Beverage industry sources list BBC as the #6 "Brewer and/or Importer" with Yuengling at #7. Similarly, IRI data states that BBC has 2.32% of the market (mid-year, '15) while Yuengling is at 1.53%.

Last figures I saw quoted had SABL as being only around 20-25% of BBC's total barrelage (with sales stagnant or decreasing) - although those were probably IRI off-premise numbers, and on-premise draught is probably a big factor in SABL sales given that it seems to be on tap in every bar and "casual" chain restaurant. Back in the late '90s, SABL was said to be around 60% of BBC barrelage.

Besides cider, a few years ago, all the Twisted Tea labels when combined were even outselling SABL. Pretty sure mid-year 2015 IRI "Top 100 Brands" had both Angry Orchard Crisp Apple and Twisted Tea Original listed higher than Boston Lager. SA's rotating and constantly changing "Seasonal" beers when sales are combined typically have also outsold Boston Lager in recent years.

Yeah, I think everyone can agree on that - shockingly bad for a company like Fortune. To not even mention that the "growth" chart is comparing a brand that was selling 37-40 million barrels of beer a year (Bud Light) in that period to a brand and brewer that was well under 1m bbl. for the period (New Belgium Fat Tire) is inexcusable.

 

The financials of Bud Mega is as interesting to me as, say, Michelin's financials. No, I take that back Michelin is more interesting. Stock holders care. I do not. Beer will just keep moving along, doing just fine, thank you. So, stay tuned for refreshed market share erosion stateside (for Bud), while the money wizards, beer formulists, and pundits of every variety chime in continually. I have no dislike for Bud and their operations, but I DO understand them!

 

Yeah, I think most beer geeks forget that for every craft beer bar or local gastropub, there are probably 10 locations of Applebees, TGI Fridays, Chile's, Ruby Tuesdays, etc.

But just from a few personal observations, I think recently more of those Boston Lager/ Seasonal tap handles are getting replaced by Rebel IPA.

For example the crappy bar at my local bowling alley has 6 taps - used to be Bud, Bud Light, Miller Light, Coors Light, Yuengling, and Boston Lager. That handle is now Rebel IPA.

 

Interesting and makes sense. (Can't say I've been in such an establishment lately ). I did notice lately that Rebel was BBC's second best selling "Samuel Adams" branded beer (though "SA Seasonal" and "SA Variety" pack was still it) and that it had also shot into the Top Ten of US craft beers making it the #3 IPA behind Lagunitas IPA and SN Torpedo.

 

Seems like John Kell (author)is a craft fan. How can SA sales be up if stocks are down. Inbev stocks are flat so the chart could make some sense. One thing that may hurt bud is that it's not cheap anymore.

 

ABI 's stock is heavily influenced by non US sales. It will be interesting to see how much the economic slowdown in Brazil impacts them.

 

Very good point. The Olympics is looking a bit messy. My neighbor is a Brazilian, and travels there regularly. He says various bad social issues are rampant.