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.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/73671
Oregon-based Deschutes Brewery has had great suc- cess with its new Chainbreaker White IPA. Nevada (Chico, CA), New Belgium (Ft. Collins, CO) and Oskar Blues (Longmont, CO) are all opening new breweries in North Carolina, and Lagunitas (Petaluma, CA) will be opening a facility in Chicago. Nothing like this has been seen since the early 1990s, when Washington state-based Redhook built a plant in New Hampshire. "The beer culture, water quality and quality of life are excellent," said Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman when their decision was revealed in January. "We feel lucky to be a part of this commu- nity." Oskar Blues mar- keting director Chad Melis echoed the senti- ment when they made their announcement: "Brevard, N.C. is very craft savvy, has a thriving music scene, and has beautiful mountains surrounding it for cycling, kayaking and outdoors in general. Staying small and engaged in another small town is a way to continue our intimate culture." Clearly the authenticity issue is a con- sideration as these brewers look to engage themselves as locals in these new communities. Local doesn't just mean knowing people, though; to many consumers, local is about environmental impact. That's what drove Lagunitas president Tony Magee to their Chicago expansion. "The essential reason for the second plant was the realization that there was 2.5 oz. of diesel in every 22 oz. bottle we sold in Chicago and 4 oz. in the same bottle when bought in NYC," he says. "When I thought about that and added in the number of trucks departing the brewery everyday for points East, and considered that those are also very fast-growing markets for us, and then thought about how much money I could easily borrow if I used that cash for bank financing instead of trucking expenses... it quickly became clear that I could build the brewery for free." Greening often makes economic sense as well as being appealing, but the far-flung dis- tribution model still works for some brew- eries, like the iconic Rogue Ales (Newport, OR). While other brewers are building expansion breweries, or pulling in from far- off markets, Rogue not only continues to sell well across the country, they've developed a small but significant export market to Europe and Asia: more proof that American craft beer is a product that has wide appeal. Oskar Blues pioneered the distribution of craft beer in cans. Stone Brewing's Sublimely Self- Righteous Ale is one of its IPAs that have been seeing significant sales growth. EVERYTHING'S A TREND T hat appeal makes almost everything craft brewers try look successful. The thing that may still be attracting the most atten- tion is cans. We've been hearing that canned craft beer is the next big thing for a few years now, but every year seems to bring new evidence of it. Aside from the phenomenal growth of can pioneer Oskar Blues (53% growth in 2011), the entry of Sierra Nevada to this packaging niche is significant; the success of their green cans of Pale Ale and Torpedo has been striking. What else? "India Pale Ale" continues to be magic on a label, and extensions of the style by many brewers are making that a real niche-within-a-niche. "We launched a new year-round beer in April 2012 called Chainbreaker White IPA," says Jason Randles, digital marketing manager for Deschutes Brewery (Bend, OR). "The popularity of this new beer – and relatively new style – has been phenomenal. We launched only in the Pacific Northwest to start, and are expanding to our entire distribution network this summer." The white IPA is a hybrid of the hoppy IPA and the spicy witbier style. Greg Koch, CEO of the extremely hop-centric Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, Calif., confirms that: "Our IPAs continue to grow…all of them. Stone IPA, 22 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • July/August 2012