Beer Industry – Page 38 – Beer Search Party

April 1, 2015August 31, 2018

50 Biggest (with notes)

Each year, I check out the Top 50 U.S. Craft Brewing Companies based on 2014 beer sales volume when it hits my inbox. The stat geek in me likes to see how many breweries make the cut from Oregon and California. (4 and 11 respectively). You can compare 2013 to 2014 if you so desire but I eventually end up going through the list and looking for trends. Which I have highlighted inside the list.

Rank	Brewing Company	City	State
1	D. G. Yuengling and Son, Inc	Pottsville	PA
2	Boston Beer Co	Boston	MA
3	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co (two breweries)	Chico	CA
4	New Belgium Brewing Co (also two breweries)	Fort Collins	CO
5	Gambrinus	Shiner	TX
6	Lagunitas Brewing Co (yup, two breweries)	Petaluma	CA
7	Bell’s Brewery, Inc (enough beer to come to L.A.)	Galesburg	MI
8	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
9	Stone Brewing Co	Escondido	CA
10	Minhas Craft Brewery (brewing for hire, we need more)	Monroe	WI
11	Brooklyn Brewery (yet still not in L.A.)	Brooklyn	NY
12	Duvel Moortgat USA (where would Ommegang & Boulevard rank separately?)	Kansas City & Cooperstown	MO/NY
13	Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Milton	DE
14	Matt Brewing Co	Utica	NY
15	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
16	Firestone Walker Brewing Co (Venice location coming, not soon enough)	Paso Robles	CA
17	Founders Brewing Co (possible entrant to L.A.)	Grand Rapids	MI
18	SweetWater Brewing Co	Atlanta	GA
19	New Glarus Brewing Co	New Glarus	WI
20	Alaskan Brewing Co	Juneau	AK
21	Abita Brewing Co	Abita Springs	LA
22	Anchor Brewing Co (tied to Giants & Mission Rock)	San Francisco	CA
23	Great Lakes Brewing Co	Cleveland	OH
24	Oskar Blues Brewery (Perrin might move them to 23)	Longmont	CO
25	Shipyard Brewing Co	Portland	ME
26	Stevens Point Brewery Co	Stevens Point	WI
27	August Schell Brewing Co	New Ulm	MN
28	Summit Brewing Co	Saint Paul	MN
29	Victory Brewing Co	Downingtown	PA
30	Long Trail Brewing Co	Bridgewater Corners	VT
31	Ballast Point Brewing (grapefruit & habanero fueled)	San Diego	CA
32	Rogue Ales Brewery & Headquarters	Newport	OR
33	Full Sail Brewing Co	Hood River	OR
34	Odell Brewing Co	Fort Collins	CO
35	Southern Tier Brewing Co	Lakewood	NY
36	Ninkasi Brewing Co	Eugene	OR
37	Flying Dog Brewery	Frederick	MD
38	Uinta Brewing Co	Salt Lake City	UT
39	Bear Republic Brewing Co	Cloverdale	CA
40	Left Hand Brewing Company (coming soon to L.A.)	Longmont	CO
41	21st Amendment Brewery Café (why not in L.A.)	San Francisco	CA
42	Allagash Brewing Co	Portland	ME
43	Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe	Eureka	CA
44	Troegs Brewing Co	Hershey	PA
45	Karl Strauss Brewing Co	San Diego	CA
46	Saint Arnold Brewing Co	Houston	TX
47	Narragansett Brewing Co	Providence	RI
48	Green Flash Brewing Co (another west to east)	San Diego	CA
49	Craftworks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc	Chattanooga & Louisville	TN/CO
50	Breckenridge Brewery	Denver	CO

1. D. G. Yuengling and Son, Inc Pottsville PA
2 Boston Beer Co Boston MA
3 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co (two breweries) Chico CA
4 New Belgium Brewing Co (also two breweries) Fort Collins CO
5 Gambrinus Shiner TX
6 Lagunitas Brewing Co (yup, two breweries) Petaluma CA
7 Bell’s Brewery, Inc (enough beer to come to L.A.) Galesburg MI
8 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
9 Stone Brewing Co Escondido CA
10 Minhas Craft Brewery (brewing for hire, we need more) Monroe WI
11 Brooklyn Brewery (yet still not in L.A.) Brooklyn NY
12 Duvel Moortgat USA (where would Ommegang & Boulevard rank separately?) Kansas City & Cooperstown MO/NY
13 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
14 Matt Brewing Co Utica NY
15 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
16 Firestone Walker Brewing Co (Venice location coming, not soon enough) Paso Robles CA
17 Founders Brewing Co (possible entrant to L.A.) Grand Rapids MI
18 SweetWater Brewing Co Atlanta GA
19 New Glarus Brewing Co New Glarus WI
20 Alaskan Brewing Co Juneau AK
21 Abita Brewing Co Abita Springs LA
22 Anchor Brewing Co (tied to Giants & Mission Rock) San Francisco CA
23 Great Lakes Brewing Co Cleveland OH
24 Oskar Blues Brewery (Perrin might move them to 23) Longmont CO
25 Shipyard Brewing Co Portland ME
26 Stevens Point Brewery Co Stevens Point WI
27 August Schell Brewing Co New Ulm MN
28 Summit Brewing Co Saint Paul MN
29 Victory Brewing Co Downingtown PA
30 Long Trail Brewing Co Bridgewater Corners VT
31 Ballast Point Brewing (grapefruit & habanero fueled) San Diego CA
32 Rogue Ales Brewery & Headquarters Newport OR
33 Full Sail Brewing Co Hood River OR
34 Odell Brewing Co Fort Collins CO
35 Southern Tier Brewing Co Lakewood NY
36 Ninkasi Brewing Co Eugene OR
37 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD
38 Uinta Brewing Co Salt Lake City UT
39 Bear Republic Brewing Co Cloverdale CA
40 Left Hand Brewing Company (coming soon to L.A.) Longmont CO
41 21st Amendment Brewery Café (why not in L.A.) San Francisco CA
42 Allagash Brewing Co Portland ME
43 Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe Eureka CA
44 Troegs Brewing Co Hershey PA
45 Karl Strauss Brewing Co San Diego CA
46 Saint Arnold Brewing Co Houston TX
47 Narragansett Brewing Co Providence RI
48 Green Flash Brewing Co (another west to east) San Diego CA
49 Craftworks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc Chattanooga & Louisville TN/CO
50 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO

March 21, 2015August 31, 2018

Small Brewers Caucus

With competing beer tax acts trying to make the leap into law. It behooves us beer lovers to make our voices heard to those in DC who have joined the Small Brewers Caucus. You can write Congresman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and/or Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-PA) the Co-Chairs of the Caucus. But better yet, figure out who on the list below represents you, here in California, and voice your concerns and kudos to them.

CALIFORNIA
Doug LaMalfa CA-01
Mike Thompson CA-05
Zoe Lofgren CA-16
Michael Honda CA-17
Lois Capps CA-23
Grace Napolitano CA-32
Linda Sanchez CA-39
Ken Calvert CA-44
Loretta Sanchez CA-47
Darrell Issa CA-49
Duncan Hunter CA-52
Susan Davis CA-53

March 18, 2015August 31, 2018

Let’s Do the Numbers

Time to break out my best Marketplace announcer voice for the latest edition of the numbers from the Brewers Association.

My eye always lands first on the openings and closings numbers and this year saw another net gain 615-46 or 569 new to the fold breweries. This probably provides more fodder for the bubble crowd but each year they sound a little more like Chicken Little. I still stand by my prediction that the number of breweries to open will eventually drop but that will be a slow drop that will be offset by the growth in amount of craft beer made…..

…Which rose 18% in 2014. That is a big number and it pushed the overall volume over the magic 10% mark. If only retail had pushed over the 20% line. It “only” grew 22% to 19.3% overall.

Now if only “big” beer wouldn’t drag our numbers down.

Here is the graphic for you to peruse…
Growth-Small_HR

March 3, 2015August 31, 2018

How Many XXX’s?

I am no mixxologist but I am pretty sure that you don’t add Bud Light to a Hurricane, or Long Island Iced Tea. Not sure about the Firewalker but my educated guess is a base of watery corn lager ain’t helping its cause.

But hey, if you can’t sell the Light, you might as well re-purpose it into the Flavored (candy) Malt Beverages. Kids these days like candy, right? They might buy it if we add an extra X, right?

To me this is “the chase”. I define it as a large corporation that sees that something is popular and chases after it. Usually by the time they catch up, the fad is done with and you end up finding pallets of the junk at the 99Cent store.

If you enjoy caramel color and artificial sweetener in your Bud Light then please enjoy.

February 20, 2015August 31, 2018

Where the Wild Grain Goes

Spent grain from homebrewing
Even though the thought of happy farm animals munching on spent grains is a happy thought and makes bacon all the tastier, with the ever expanding craft beer universe more avenues for the spent grain need to be found.

And a California brewery is going down one of those avenues by using an anaerobic digestion system. Sounds kinda disgusting but it converts the grains into bio-gas which then can be used to power the brewery.

Devil’s Canyon in San Carlos has teamed with the Pure Energy Group to create a system that does just that. And the plan is to expand to other breweries in San Francisco in the future.

Maybe this tech will move down south to LA and become a viable option for breweries here.

You can read the science-y stuff HERE.

February 8, 2015August 31, 2018

Actual Shares

Some people are constant Kickstarter backers and others lie on the opposite side of the spectrum firm in the belief that if your idea is good, you should be able to “sell” it to a bank or investor.

I am in the middle of the debate. I think that some Kickstarter projects are cynical cash grabs or marketing ploys whereas others are truly needed investment to boost a company to another level. Which is why I am choosy about which ones I post about here and why I put cold hard cash into even fewer.

But I read about what looks to be a better way (or at least different) to acquire funding from the New School Beer Blog.

With the recently passed “2015 Oregon Community Capital Initiative” the state has joined 12 other and created a program that lets Oregonians invest in Oregon companies. Sort of like a minor league stock market. Agrarian Ales of Eugene has jumped into the pool and valued their shares at $100 each. And these stocks are worth something more than a t-shirt or branded pint glass. Every other year you get a dividend in brewpub credit of 5%.

So you are saying that is like buying into a mug club or society but the difference is that you buy that stock ONCE! And if the brewery grows, the value of your stock grows. There is a no-selling period of nine months but once that passes you can sell to another Oregonian for the new price. Your $100 could become more or less depending on how much beer they sell.

That is local investing and I hope it can catch on.

December 30, 2014September 5, 2018

Stop

Most of us in SoCal probably don’t know about the voluntary “Three beer Limit” in New Mexico which was started by La Cumbre Brewery.

The main thesis behind it is encapsulated in this quote from founder and brewer Jeff Erway, ” We don’t want people pounding our beers,” Instead, the goal is to have people savor the beer.

Personally, I like the idea. It is so much easier to cut off at three instead of figuring out if someone is drunk. You don’t have to argue because 1+1+1 = done. Two, it makes the brewery seem more responsible in the eyes of both police and the community. Plus it encourages repeat visits to sample the beers that were missed the last visit.

Those are just off the top of my head thoughts. But there are longer term effects of this idea. An impetus to create “high margin” beers might force breweries to only brew what makes bigger bucks. And what if a new brewery opens near you that does not abide by the self-imposed limit?

On the other side of the ledger, if a city wide (or county) initiative was in place, would that make opening a new brewery easier? I would rather see a limit and more breweries then none and less.

Much like restaurants that pay fair wages instead of forcing servers to rely on tips, I think the limit idea is one poised to break through in the long term.

November 22, 2014September 5, 2018

A New Way to Shop for Beer

Tavour. Doesn’t scream craft beer on the interwebs. But here it is. Seems easy as long as your inbox isn’t already filled to the brim with beer related emails already.

Screen Shot 2014-11-14 at 10.32.27 AM

More to follow if I try it or hear more news.

November 20, 2014September 5, 2018

WilCastle

Once in a while, the bigger players in the beer industry make a good commercial. Just Google Anna Kendrick + Beer for one such example. Usually though, it is for bad beer. Maybe both boxes can be ticked off in this example though.

Newcastle is starting a collaboration series across Europe. They are starting with Caledonian for a Scotch Ale and have noted beer geek and home brewer and Stone fan, Wil Wheaton to pitch the beer.

…and….