During its second quarter earnings call, Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) advised investors that, despite a sluggish start to 2013, the company rebounded and saw depletion growth of 12 percent and non-contract shipment gains of 13.5 percent. The stronger second quarter shipments-to-retailers (STR’s) and overall volume production growth has CBA executives feeling much more positive about… Read more »

Craft has a significant following in California, as evidenced by the craft beer markets in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, but there’s untapped potential remaining. Meanwhile, Sacramento, a city commonly known for what’s not there compared to what is, has started catching onto what the other major Californian cities have so heartily embraced.

When Brew Talks finished the long trip from Los Angeles up to the Pacific Northwest stops, in Seattle and Portland, we found two established craft beer cultures, albeit cultures with very different takes on the role craft should play as a civic institution. In Seattle, which is the subject of today’s Brew Talks video (above),… Read more »

Over the years, Duvel Moortgat has grown through international acquisition. In the last 10 years alone, the company has bought Brewery Ommegang, Brasserie d’Achouffe, Brouwerij Liefmans and Brouwerij De Koninck. Now, however, the Belgium-based brewing company is looking to strengthen its position in the U.S. craft beer market by purchasing other American breweries.

When Brew Talks hit Los Angeles, the tone shifted from the talk held in San Diego the day before. Instead of a crowded market, the vision of branding under discussion at Golden Road Brewing (video for which can be seen above) focused on the apparent lack of a go-to craft beer brand in California’s largest… Read more »

As part of a weeklong tour of the West Coast, Brewbound visited four cities – San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland, Ore. – to host our traveling business networking series, Brew Talks. At each stop, we moderated panel discussions with various craft beer industry professionals sought to better understand the respective local market.

In the craft beer community, there are few pilgrimages more revered than the trip to upstate New York for Duvel Moortgat USA and Brewery Ommegang’s annual Belgium Comes to Cooperstown (BCTC) beer festival. The brewery barely breaks even on the event, but the word of mouth and positive vibes can be astonishing.

Is private equity investment in the craft beer business something that brewers should fear? Will the involvement of more sophisticated forms of investment capital necessarily lead to the downfall of the craft beer movement? Seasoned investor Craig Farlie weighs in.

A report from research firm Consumer Edge Insight indicates the ballooning preference of consumers for heavier beers. That’s shown not through a lineup of even more craft beer style holidays, like IPA Day, but through a decline in consumers’ taste for light beer, long the best-selling premium style.

While it’s risky to paint anyone with too broad a brush, it’s fair to say that, regardless of gut size or facial hair, most of the 50 or so beer bloggers attending the Boston Beer Bloggers Conference shared two traits: an unwavering, public love affair with craft beer that compels them to put thousands of words to the screen, and a mild-at-best effort to get paid for those words.

It’s almost impossible to believe, but in its 33-year history, Sierra Nevada Brewing has never produced what has become standard issue for many older craft brewers, the seasonal-variety 12-pack. “Other than our specialty ‘Beer Camp’ pack, it is the last significant segment that we haven’t approached,” said Joe Whitney, Sierra’s director of Sales and Marketing.

Any craft brewer can tell you, it’s difficult to keep wholesalers and retailers happy when you’re having trouble keeping beer on the shelves. Most brewers will claim that it’s a good problem to have and, for the majority of brick and mortar operations, the solution is simple: buy more fermentation tanks. But when you’re a… Read more »

Fresh off last week’s debut in Kansas, Stone Brewing today announced plans to enter its 40th state, Alabama, on August 27. The San Diego-based craft brewery has selected International Wines Inc. as its statewide wholesaler.

Oskar Blues Brewery is on pace for its ninth straight year of double-digit growth. The Colorado-headquartered craft brewery today announced that company-wide depletions increased 38 percent through the first six months of 2013. The impressive first half numbers were led by 40-percent growth of its flagship offering, Dale’s Pale Ale, which currently makes up 58… Read more »