- Bottoms Up (RSS)Question for a new week: Why is craft beer still such a small percentage of the beer sold in America?
By William Brand
Sunday, October 19th, 2008 at 3:52 pm in Uncategorized.
We ate dinner at a little Mexican place near our house tonight and I saw this Bud Light en espanol sign and it hit all my buttons. Damn.
Then I thought a moment, oh hell, what do I care if Anheuser-Busch takes a chunk out of the Latino market away from Corona et al. The thing that bugs me is why craft beer can’t get more than a toehold in the total American beer market.
What! You say. Craft beer sales are booming, up double digits for the last three years. But comparing bottle for bottle, keg for keg, the craft beer segment is tiny: about 4 percent, even adding quality imports and the few good beers the big guys make, it’s still small: 10 percent? 15 pecent.
All the rest is light lager – a sea of light lager. Different names, but it all tastes just the same. Like the song Malvina Reynolds wrote about those “ticky tacky” houses in South San Francisco.
The question is: Why is craft beer still such a tiny segment? What do we do? How do we boost the segment or, for that matter, do we even want to?
What do you think? Opinions welcome here.
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October 19th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
At the same time William those dominate lagers are consistently losing market share, an important factor to remember. I think you are facing the same issue people in the 90s got into of how to we get big. Rather we should remain focused on the more important element, how can we retain quality. Do that and people will find craft beer. Look at the rise of Artisan foods, farmers markets and local crafts. They are all related.
The Industrial Revolution was a wonderful thing for the quality of life and standards it allows, but without the quality in the pleasures of life does it much matter? Obviously not.
Dinosaurs grew to big to adapt, the same thing is happening in car companies and entertainment industry. But Fat Tire’s Tour de Fat, Artists like Janis Ian and Jonathan Coultan, and even blogs and podcasts are showing that nimble is more adaptable in difficult times and so will it be so with today’s craft brewers.
October 19th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
We dont have a Gary Vaynerchuk-like hero in the beer world for the average Joe to look to. Or a Robert Parker for the snoots to look to..
October 19th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
It’s basically the same reason a small percentage of people by sports cars, or that fast food restaurant and low end places like Denny’s take the lions share of the restaurant market share. Craft brewing is the high end of the beer market, and while you and I don’t bilnk for paying ten bucks for a 4-pack of craft beer, most people do, and in fact, don’t see the value of paying extra. A lot of people really don’t want to drank a high end beverage. Demographic studies show that often even the wealthiest do not purchase everything at the high end, and many people choose a few high end things they care about, and treat the rest of their purchases much like commodities. We just happen to go for the high end on beer.
What can craft brewers do? What we need is more legislation like AB-1245, which was authored by a Democrat, and passed by a Democratically controlled legislature. (What was that about it being a Republican measure simply because a Republican Governor signed it?) Seriously, this gives craft brewers another avenue for grassroots marketing, which I think is a good way to go, going under the radar of the big boys, in ways a big industrial simply cannot do. And some of the best are already doing it. Stone Brewing, Lagunitas, and Anderson Valley are three local craft brewers that buy luck or design, have created their own strong brand that a large industrial brewer simply couldn’t emulate.
October 19th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
My wife is Japanese. She selects the brand of rice very carefully. In the 8+ years we have been married, I have not detected any difference, even though I see the bags changed every so often.
Some people go to see “Films” They study and think about the films they see. Read reviews and it is an important decision for them. Me, I see movies.
For many people, beer is beer. Cold, social, something to have in your hand or to wash down a steak. They just do not bother to discern the differences.
It is all about what is important to you. I have loved the taste of beer since I started sneaking sips from my Dad’s can when I was 6 years old. Many different styles of beer makes it interesting for me. Now I homebrew and my obsession is complete.
brewnot
October 20th, 2008 at 10:28 am
it’s possible to get good beer out to the masses. look at portland! the sales of craft beer there far exceed the national average.
it’ll just take work, advertising and more work.
I advocate as much as I can. I brew, I share, I educate and I always make a point to buy locally produced products.
October 20th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
it costs too much…and when buying it in bottles at the local store…(for many reasons)..it is very hit and miss..what tastes great today.. may taste like $$it the next time….
October 20th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Advertising and marketing is why the corporate brewers control the lions share of the market. Bud has spent millions upon millions to make a beer that is accepted by the masses, bland with no distinct flavor. Its even apart of their advertising,”Drinkability” what does that mean? Want some thing with no flavor, try natures soft drink, water.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
AC you’ve nailed it. Advertising in the millions and millions. To Craig…it’s a complex problem. Not sure where you live or what beers you buy that are inconsistent. The first rule of always finding good beer is to go to stores with good turnover, stores that keep their beer refrigerated. If the beer stays out on a shelf in a warm room under bright lights, avoid the store and don’t buy that beer with great expectations unless you were standing there when it was delivered.
I think the batch to batch inconsistency that we would see from small brewers a decade ago is gone. Skunked beer (light struck) odd aromas, bacteria got into the beer during bottling etc…) Equipment and brewers’ sophistication has improved greatly.
The one remaining fear factor is “age.” If you find a bottle of beer from say Florida in California that you’ve never tried and if it’s a fairly low alcohol style around 5 or 6 percent, it may be old. After six months, even under constant refrigeration, flavors fade, hops vanish. Another reason that I believe in open dating, prominently displayed.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
You do raise a good point, Bill. We should have “Born On” or “Best before” dates on craft brews (wow, at least one good Budweiser invention). I’ve often found at small, faraway stores a Stone, Deschutes or other craft brew and hesitated because I have no idea how long it’s been sitting there. My rule is if it has dust on the bottle, it’s probably way past prime, although the higher alcohol beers tend to hold up better.
As for your general question about craft brews, my rule is at all times “Promote good beer.” That’s about the best we can do.