Craft beer is now a $10 billion category. As part of its annual report on the state of the U.S. craft beer industry, the Brewers Association (BA) — a trade group representing small and independent brewers — indicated that U.S. craft beer volumes reached an all-time high last year.
While bottles and cans have served as the core packages in craft beer’s surge, the 32 and 64 oz. resealable bottle known as the growler has lagged behind. It’s not for lack of desire — growlers are one of the most popular containers for brewers and consumers alike. What has hampered the growth of the growler is that, in many retail locations, it remains illegal to refill them.
During its year-end earnings call today, Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) — which markets Kona Brewing, Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing and Omission brands — advised investors that it had experienced lower-than-anticipated 2012 depletion growth of 6 percent. CBA had originally projected its 2012 depletion growth to be in the “high single digit to low double… Read more »
Brewbound will host its next Brew Talks event on Monday, March 25 at Smith Commons in Washington D.C., the evening before thousands of craft brewers converge on the nation’s capital for the 2013 Craft Brewers Conference. Beer industry professional attending the Brewers Association’s annual show are invited to join Brewbound at Smith Commons, 1245 H… Read more »
Like an incredibly well-prepared student, Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) has always been able to answer the fill-in-the-blank questions that come from being the category captain in the beer aisle. As the world’s largest beer producer, there’s a lot to be said for answering the right questions when it comes to organization and execution.
Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) reported impressive growth figures for its Kona Brewing Company brand on Monday, in advance of a full-year earnings report scheduled for next week. Kona boasted a 27 percent increase in barrels shipped during 2012 after delivering 220,000 barrels, up from 172,800 shipped in 2011.
Chalk up another win for Wirtz Beverage Group as it tries to establish a toehold in the Chicago craft scene. Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits announced yesterday that it will extend an existing distribution agreement with Wirtz to include two new markets: Illinois and Minnesota. Wirtz, which is headquartered in Chicago, currently operates distributorships in… Read more »
By spreading its footprint in supermarkets and convenience stores, craft beer continued its strong growth in 2012, seizing a greater share of the beer category. Dan Wandel, senior vice president of beverage alcohol client solutions for Symphony IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm, validated craft’s growth with statistics he shared as the featured guest of… Read more »
A number of packaging changes are on tap for Golden Road Brewing, the Los Angeles-based craft brewery that first launched in cans in January 2012. Co-founder Meg Gill said that while the vision for the Golden Road brand was present during the company’s first year, the execution on its canned packages was not. “You live… Read more »
Innovative beer styles sprout from varying inspirations. Sometimes, they derive from a brewer’s unparalleled creativity and fearlessness. Other times, things just run amok. Such was the case for Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout from Denver-based Wynkoop Brewing Company, when all it took for the buzz to develop was for brewmaster Andy Brown to jiggle some bull testicles on camera.
Add New Ulm, Minn.-based August Schell Brewing Company to the long list of small breweries investing in expansion projects. Kyle Marti, Schell’s director of sales and marketing, told Brewbound.com on Wednesday that the company plan to break ground in May on a $2 million expansion project that will increase brewing capacity by 100,000 barrels before… Read more »
Fresh off a year of 50 percent revenue growth, the addition of a second brewing facility in North Carolina and successful rollouts in four new markets, Oskar Blues announced yesterday that it will again expand distribution, adding Michigan as the company’s 31st state. Oskar Blues will launch in the Great Lakes state on March 4… Read more »
The steps toward brewery expansion hold consistent themes, regardless of scale or vision. A nanobrewer hoping to seize the attention of a region and a craft brewer with limitless goals often follow a similar, occasionally subconscious mantra: every day, grow incrementally. To that end, we sat down with Heather Sanborn of Rising Tide Brewery and Luke Livingston of Baxter Brewing Co. to hear their thoughts about brewery development in the latest edition of Brewbound’s Brew Talks.
Despite limited distribution in the U.S., Spokane, Wash.-based No-Li Brewhouse announced that it will begin exporting its beer to Sweden. John Bryant, No-Li’s co-founder, told Brewbound.com that the decision to export the company’s beer over 4,000 miles away from home was largely based on its success in international competitions.
