Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
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experience." And, as with many efforts that Boston Beer is uniquely placed to pursue, Koch is willing to share with the industry. "We're starting to make it "When you're successavailable over the next six months to all other craft ful in business, people brewers," he explains. "Anybody who fits the buy your beers, which Brewers Association definition of a craft brewer can then in turn makes use our patent and design for free." you larger and larger, This definition of a craft brewer has exercised and you get to the the beer industry once again over the past year. With point where a lot of so many players, and such a range in their size and people say, 'Well, now reach, it might be expected that some rifts would they're too big.'" appear in a community known for its camaraderie. — BRIAN GROSSMAN, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. And, yes, there has been some unease over the likelihood that, in the words of New Belgium Brewing Co. founder Kim Jordan, "resources will become tighter" as a growing number of craft brewers compale ale in the country by grafting new technology onto pete for ingredients, distribution, and well-trained staff. But drawing a clear line between craft brewers and a revered beer style. At Boston Beer, home of the Samuel Adams beers, mainstream brewing companies is a cause that brings the founder Jim Koch is confident that the qualities that craft community together. Particularly rankling in 2012 have generated growth for craft brewing are here to stay. was the fact that the two largest selling beers in the craft "It may sound simple, but just boil it down: craft beer is beer mold, Blue Moon and Shock Top, were actually the new wine," he explains. "Twenty-somethings are brewed by MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev, but adopting craft beer the way their boomer parents adopt- packaged in a way that obscured the beers' origins. In December, the ed wine 30 years ago. No one needs to worry One of Boston Brewers Association whether craft beer is a fad. It is a permanent Beer's signature initiatives was to issued a statement titled and increasingly important part of the beer debut its iconic "Craft vs. Crafty," airlandscape and is today the principal driver of Sam Adams Lager ing the BA's concern energy and dollars." in cans. that large brewers Boston Beer has a swelling portfolio of "appear to be deliberately attempting to blur year-round and seasonal beers, augmented by the lines between their crafty, craft-like beers extreme, imperial and barrel-aged beers that and true craft beers from today's small and are as inspiring as any in the industry. If the independent brewers." craft beer sector is the engine of creativity for Adding to the concern was the acquisition the beer world as a whole, Boston Beer has kept over the years of formerly independent craft breweries its position of leadership. But in 2012, Boston Beer's most striking innovation by large brewing companies, such as AB's purchase of was not an extreme beer, but a specially-designed can for Chicago's Goose Island. The BA statement continued its flagship Boston Lager. Koch, who had been a notable "We call for transparency in brand ownership and for holdout as the craft segment embraced canning, needed information to be clearly presented in a way that allows to be convinced a can would deliver all the flavor of his beer drinkers to make an informed choice about who beer in a glass. "Reinventing the generic beer can to brewed the beer they are drinking." improve the flavor and aroma of craft beer was quite a A fight erupted over who, exactly, is entitled to call challenge," he says. "It involved sensory understanding themselves a craft brewery and their products craft beer. of the craft beer experience, along with the taste impact To the Brewers Association, a craft brewery is "small, of the generic beverage can, and understanding the para- independent and traditional," a definition that combines meters of can manufacturing. So that was a challenge— brewery size and governance structure, as well as the types of beers brewed, their ingredients and the intenit took two years." The can has been well reviewed: the larger lid and tions behind using those ingredients. the shape of the opening force the drinker to open the To the big brewers, the parentage of a particular mouth wider and take in some air along with the beer. beer is irrelevant if the beer itself is good, and AB or Koch promises the can "will enhance any full-flavored MillerCoors is as capable of producing a craft beer as the beer where the aroma is an important part of the taste local brewpub down the block. Mincing no words, a Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • September/October 2013 • 37