Brewers Association Updates Craft Brewer Definition

They should add: Does not put Kraft-Nabisco snack foods in their beer.

 

Whew!!! That was close!!!

Boston Beer is still a Craft Brewer!

 

From the link (with emphasis in bold by me):

“Replacing “Traditional” with “Brewer”

The change in the definition involves the removal of the “traditional” pillar, which required a craft brewer to have “a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavors derive from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation.” This has been replaced with a simpler “brewer” pillar that requires a craft brewer to 1) be in possession of a TTB Brewer’s Notice and 2) make beer. The primary implication of this change is that a brewer is no longer required to have a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beer. That means that companies that produce across beverage alcohol categories can be considered craft brewers if they meet the other requirements: produce less than six million barrels (of beer globally) and remain independent.”

So, when Boston Beer Company starts to produce more non-beer beverages (e.g., Hard Ciders, Twisted Tea, Truly, etc.) than is does beer it can still be considered a craft brewery.

Cheers!

 

Twisted Independent Artisan Craft Shit Tea commercials are about to be flooding our tvs!

 

I appreciate their efforts though I can't help but think they're trying to hit a moving target.

 

Adolphus Busch, Adolph Coors, Frederick Miller, August Schell, "Capt." Frederick Pabst, Bernhard Stroh, Gottlieb Heileman, Jacob Ruppert, Christian Feigenspan, Peter Ballantine & Sons, Theodore Hamm, all the Griesediecks and the many Schmidt's... (and too many more to mention...) said:

 

6 million for small? I realize that's 3% of sales but isn't that also 99% of all craft breweries?

 

Well, the only two US breweries that are "large" brew around 90 million (AB) and 50 million (MC) barrels a year, so...

Also, no previously recognized US "Craft" brewer has ever brewed more than 3 million barrels of beer (BBC's reached a bit over 4M bbl., but only by adding their FMB and Cider totals to the barrelage).

 

I would’ve liked to see them revisit the “less than 25%” demarcation. I’ve always wondered why that’s the cutoff point. It seems like a much more intuitive line would be a ‘controlling stake,’ so no more than 49% can be owned by non-craft brewers.

It’s a little hard to swallow that Brooklyn Brewery (24.5% owner by Kirin) is a craft brewer but Avery Brewing (30% owned by Mahou San Miguel) is not.

 

Founders isn't craft either, according to their guidelines.

 

“The definition has now been amended four times (2007, 2010, 2014, and 2018)…”

Maybe in another 3-4 years (for the fifth amendment) they will make this change?

Because a quarter = 25 cents?

Cheers!

 

Yep. Mahou San Miguel with the exact same 30% stake as in Avery. I wonder why 30% is a sticking point for Mahou San Miguel. It must be for some important reason because I’m betting both Avery and Founders brought up the idea of keeping it just under 25%.

 

As the world changes, definitions change with them or those definitions become anchors around the necks of those navigating rough seas.

 

I'd like to see the whole "independent" definition revisited. Why is it bad for a large brewer to own 30%, but OK for a private equity fund to own 100%? In many ways, being owned by a typical private equity fund would be worse for the integrity of the beer than being minority owned by a large brewer. And, how is having a private equity fund own a majority share "independent"?

 

Well, I sort of agree with the pass for private equity firms but not macro breweries. It’s not really about the integrity of the liquid itself (despite the “That’s Independence You’re Tasting” marketing). The Brewers Association is a trade group that represents ‘craft’ breweries, and no matter the sliding definitions, they are representing a set of brewers working *against* macrobreweries for market share. They do not defend against private equity firms which, contemporarily, are only helping breweries smaller than ~1,000,000 barrels work against the mega brewers.

Of course that could all change the moment a firm sells to AB-InBev, but it sounds like they are mostly done buying for now.

 

So are some other breweries helping to keep the lights in the changing alcoholic beverage market.

 

Yes, they are the most noticeable example, and there are other smaller Brewers engaging in diversification of product who will be affected.

 

Yes. They are dealing with a moving target. It has moved on them before and with the changes on the horizon ther may already be another change brewing ( pun intended ).

 

Jack, that is probably a good guess since the alcoholic beverage market landscape is still showing several signs of change.

Remember the day when Rice was a no-no for Craft beers. Then things like the Flying Fish Exit 16 came along. Once upon a time the Exit series was promoted as a series of one-off special release beers. Now some of those beers, including a beer with rice in the grain bill, are available in 12 Oz format and are still findable fresh.

“The times they are a changin.”