Category: Beer Industry

my occasional rants and raves about what is going on in the industry.

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Just Say No?

If you saw the Last Week Tonight clip about Bud Light and their obnoxious Up For Whatever campaign, you are probably still laughing about the “flavor” descriptors used by the actors in the “truthfull” version of the ad.

But after the laughter is done, you are probably left with, like me, head shaking at the continued incompetence of Budweiser and their Belgian/Brazilian overlords.

One could easily pick apart my blog for errors. I would humbly accept any corrections. But that is me, one person, with no separate editor or separate fact checker. Accountable only to me. How though could an ENTIRE marketing department let the Remove NO from your vocabulary for a night tag to pass layer after layer? Are there no women working there? I would have recognized it and I am a white guy. It’s as if they were tossing red meat to John Oliver and his writers.

But that oversightus maximus pales in comparison to the Blue Moon lawsuit. Now, I only know the outlines of this case but it has got frivolous written all over it.

This dude:

A) couldn’t do a cursory Google search which would have led him to the fact that Miller/Coors owns Blue Moon.
B) seemed to like the beer enough to buy it more than once.
C) thinks that big business is a transparent, paternal enterprise.

Only the lawyers are going to win on this case. Captain Oblivious will lose and look like a bigger fool than when he realized that Blue Moon wasn’t his type of “craft” beer. Miller/Coors loses the anonymity that they are clinging onto along with ABInBev for their limping “craft” and foreign brands.

To me, this litigant is more of what’s wrong with craft beer fans than any snob. The all too easily affronted. This subset of people, whether they are comic book fans who decry movies that alter from the course of their beloved books or the Fox News commentator who finds fault in everything that a democrat says push casual fans away from joining the cause with their hyper misguided vigilance.

I need to set-up a Craft Beer – Department of No. People can ask me if an idea is good and I can review and render my judgement. Most answers will be NO.

 

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Law Firm of

As the pool of super-cool and available brewery and beer names grows smaller, so to will the amount of legal actions taken. So I was pleasantly surprised to hear about a case where no litigation took place. Where two parties talked and worked it out.

Or as the cool guys (and Fran) from The Full Pint put it: “So no cease and desist letter, no venomous email threads, no 20 page forum thread talking about the big guy is going after the little guy, just two sets of hard working dudes who have similar tastes in company names who worked it out in the end.”

No, this wasn’t a case of brewery vs. brewery but it is how the big boys in a business should play. Have your branding and trademarks set, hire a smart but not auto-litigious lawyer, then call to protect your brand with the hoped for outcome of no court dates.

Check out the Full story HERE.

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Enjoy Beer (& Acquisitions)

Capture
The money has found craft beer. Now it hasn’t penetrated that deep into the sub-strata of breweries who would like/need loans. Start-ups especially. But the private equity is looking for assets and they are tapping insiders.
First it was Oskar Blues detailing a plan of acquisition and now Rich Doyle (formally of Harpoon Brewery) has established Enjoy Beer LLC, that the Brewbound website describes as “an acquisition vehicle and craft beer consortium that he hopes will one day become a publicly traded company with multiple craft brands under its control.”

And they have come out of the gate with the purchase of Abita Beer of Louisiana. Enjoy Beer will be behind the scenes with sales, marketing, money to help the breweries under their banner better compete with national AKA BMC brands as well as those regional superpowers with multiple brewing locations.

How these umbrella corp’s will evolve will be an interesting social/beer/business test.

Here are my questions:
1. What if one brand takes off? How will the others react if they feel slighted?
2. Will breweries want to be part of a corporate structure taking orders from on high?
3. Will brewers move from one brand in the family to another and take recipes with them?

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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

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Small Brewers Caucus

small-brewers-caucus-logo
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

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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

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How Many XXX’s?

IMG_3592

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.

 

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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.

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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.

logo

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

 

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Stop

IMG_3027

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.