the Year in Craft Beer – 2011

Two things jump out at me. The number 13.2% growth and the fact that this time next year, we could be looking at over 2,000 craft breweries. That is amazing. And all in a staggeringly short amount of time. But the future number that I am looking at is market share. With each large gain the water lager manufacturers might finally learn that taste is paramount.

This chart is courtesy of the Brewer’s Association.

CraftBeer.com

Today is beer on the interwebs day. Because you shouldn’t just take my word for it. There are plenty of web voices about beer that we all should listen to. So here is the first site you should bookmark…
CB_com
…. You can visit this Brewers Association created site at craftbeer.com

There are featured breweries, beer and food pairing suggestions and a boatload of information and it is presented in a very classy way with a soothing color palate and layout.

1,525 and counting

According to the Brewers Association…
“At a time when many of the giant beer brands are declining, small and independent craft brewers are organically growing their share and slowly gaining shelf and restaurant menu space one glass of craft beer at a time.”
large_brewerychart