The State of the Beer

Groupo Modelo write-offs cost AbInBev $6 billion this year. It lost another $1 billion anyway, even with the Word Cup. This is a tinfoil hat observation, but one that's fun to make. Like all kooky theories, it begins with demonstrable facts and descends into the gap between madness and unlikelihood.  Craft beer now has 8 percent of the market and think they can make it to 20 over the next decade. Budweiser's parent company, even bolstered by the World Cup, reported losses of more than $1 billion already this year even though revenue increased. Much of that has to do with them purchasing companies that don't run at the famous AbInBev margins, but, to be fair, the revenue boost was because of Brazil. There won't be a World Cup next year, but there also is no craft beer revolution in South America. Or in Africa. Or Russia. There also is no NFL advertising expense in those countries. Last week, Budweiser made an uncharacteristically frank indictment of the NFL. It w...

Setting aside the 8 or 10 people who remember when beer from cans had an off flavor, the rise of craft beer in a can is probably the next bump in the craft beer market . Cans are cheaper to buy and cheaper to ship, and they hold flavor better. It is quite possible they hold flavor longer, but it's not an experiment I'm willing to try as it means arbitrarily leaving beer un-drunk. Over the last few years, the beer in a can market has grown significantly. The Genius of Mobile Canning I spoke with Augie Carton of Carton Brewing, who had canning as a major part of his original business plan. He said when he called a company to arrange to buy a canner, they directed him to one of their newest customers, a guy with a regional canning truck. Rather than have to invest in a very, very expensive and technical piece of equipment, Carton was able to contract with a company who would come out as needed, pump beer into the truck and roll filled cans out of it and into the brewery's...

Crooked Letter Brewing Co. in Ocean Springs, Miss., recently struck an exclusivity deal with the local casino-resort. The craft brew revolution has relied, to some extent, on the brewpub for sustainability. This makes sense, beer and food go together naturally. When done correctly, well, and efficiently, the profit margins are significant, but never sufficient unto themselves. Brewing often is a grow or die business, and to stay afloat, breweries have to secure tap handles at other facilities as well. Since tastes can be fickle--distributors can change their emphasis, a new bartender might push one beer over another-- selling beer to other restaurateurs almost is a full time job in itself. Breweries have "tap takeovers" where they get to showcase their beer (often in exchange for profits in the form of discounts).

Brew Cutlery, a Kickstarter with the goal of producing flatware with bottle openers built in, markets its products as "bridging the gap between craft beer and cutlery." Those you you who keep an eye on the craft beer industry might not remember thinking there was a gap between craft beer and cutlery, but probably because you're grownups. Also, it is not clear whether these will work on bottles that don't contain craft beer, but I guess the assumption is those kinds of beers usually are twist-offs. To be fair to Brew Cutlery, no one ever went broke selling Americans tacky stuff they don't need. In fact, as of this writing, the Brew Cutlery entrepreneurs have collected nearly half of the $10,000 they need to go into production from 82 people (they're asking about $25 per set).