Industry
Crafting History | The Lost Abbey
March 31, 2023 | Eric Griffin
Round two of Crafting History circles back into the familiar territory of Belgian-influenced beer. A mysterious hybrid concept rooted in monastic tradition, The Lost Abbey out of San Marcos, California found historical success through flavorful, imaginative beer with no boundaries. And here we find ourselves 17 years later, with Head Brewer/Co-founder & COO Tomme Arthur still holding tightly to those founding values, and creating a product that both retains its relevance as well as reminds consumers why this brewery has solidified itself a coveted spot in craft beer history. We had the privilege of speaking with Tomme, gaining first-hand insight into the brewery itself, their development over time, and some more history behind some of the bigger beers in their portfolio.
Crafting History | de Garde Brewing
March 20, 2023 | Eric Griffin
As the world of craft beer continually shifts and adapts with the times, consumers are ever-changing as well. Crafting History is a series that seeks to take a closer look at some of the impact factors that have had a lasting influence on the industry; certain breweries, historic venues, and even individual beers have changed the way craft beer enthusiasts view and taste beer now. This series will serve to both educate and remind the community just what (or who) it was that was rewriting the script without even realizing it. It’s at de Garde Brewing in Tillamook, OR, where we will start things off.
You Can’t Spell Union Without U and I
January 27, 2023 | Julie Rhodes
On January 17th, 2023, the nearly 100 current employees of Creature Comforts Brewing in Athens, GA filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to unionize under a brand new independent labor banner — BUG or the Brewery Union of Georgia. This does not mean that Creature Comforts has officially unionized their labor force, as a formal election process amongst employees must take place to solidify the new structure and then head to the bargaining table, but BUG organizers are optimistic about the vote. The discussion about unionization began earlier last summer and progressed quickly as many employees cited feeling neglected, overburdened, and unsupported by upper management, who have been busy planning the expansion of a new Creature Comforts facility in Los Angeles. BUG also believes that unionization embraces Creature Comforts’ overarching company values such as ‘“existing to foster human connection” and “building a balanced team of authentic and professional individuals.”
The TTB Wants Your Feedback About Unfair Trade Practices
November 28, 2022 | Julie Rhodes
Back in July of 2021, the Biden Administration issued Executive Order 14036, addressing competition in the beer, wine and spirits industry. The goal of the executive order is to uncover the challenges that suppliers face in entering the industry. After an extensive request for information (RFI) period open to the general public and industry members alike, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Federal Trade Commission, Secretary of the Treasury, and the Attorney General of the United States determined that unlawful trade practices need to be a more prominent focus for lawmakers if they want to level the playing field for new and existing beverage brands.
Event Recap | Texas Craft Brewers Festival 2022
October 17, 2022 | Ruvani de Silva
A sold-out Texas Craft Brewer’s Festival took place on Saturday October 8th at Fiesta Gardens alongside Austin’s Lady Bird Lake. The event brought together over 85 Texas breweries, 250 beers … Read More
Beer Is Art | Obakeng Malope’s Campaign to Lift South Africa’s Youth Out of Poverty Through Craft Beer
October 14, 2022 | Ruvani de Silva
Obakeng Malope has a mission. The South African brewer and filmmaker has started a project blending beer culture and social change with enormous scope on both a national and international level, and her hard work and tenacity has already led to significant press and multi-national collaboration.
Malope is the creator of Beer Is Art, an initiative to offer access to the craft beer industry to South Africa’s unemployed young people. In the second quarter of 2022, 4.8 million 15-34 year old South Africans were unemployed, 46.5% of the population in that age group. Malope believes that the growing South African craft beer industry has the potential to help lift some of these young people out of poverty. “The youth are sitting at home unemployed here in South Africa. The campaign teaches about beer, that beer is not something that you drink and get drunk off. We teach beer and food pairing, brewing, beer podcasting and licensing. We show them that they can turn beer into a career,” she says.
The ROI of the Great American Beer Festival
October 10, 2022 | Julie Rhodes
The 40th anniversary of the Great American Beer Festival marks the first time the event has been held in person and open to the public since 2019. To say that brewers and craft beer fans are excited is an extreme understatement. While participation and attendance were limited this year due to renovations to the Colorado Convention Center, the exhibitor floor was still packed with over 200 suppliers and drew over 10,000 fans to the event.
Beer Industry Workers Find Community Through Craft Beer Professionals Group
September 2, 2022 | Tristan Chan
For an industry so tightly built around togetherness and community, the pandemic could have easily crippled many aspects that came to define the very fabric of craft beer. But the digital age has helped us to adapt quickly and for one online beer community, it was the perfect opportunity to serve as a resource for togetherness at a time when connecting in person was prohibited.
Is Craft Beer Recession-Proof?
August 15, 2022 | Julie Rhodes
Yes, but also no. How’s that for a definitive answer? The intricacies of why craft beer dances between recession-proof and recession-resistant are many, but the first step in answering this complex question is to analyze the underbelly of what a recession actually is, how it affects the alcohol industry overall, and what that means for craft brewery owners and operators. Taking a look at factors like consumer behavior, unemployment rates, gas prices, syndicated retail sales data, beer supply, and market seasonality all contribute to how craft beer will fare during times of economic duress. Earning its chops as a multi-billion dollar consumer packaged goods industry over the past decade, craft beer can simply not afford to overlook a downturned economy as something that will not affect bottom lines.
The Craft Beer Industry Has A Labor Problem
July 19, 2022 | Julie Rhodes
“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Mark Twain
For most craft beer industry workers, this couldn’t ring more true. The idea of turning a homebrewing hobby or a passion for craft beer into a flourishing career seems like a dream scenario. The way other people’s eyes light up when someone mentions they work in craft beer is priceless. Feeling like you have a job that others outside of the industry can only wildly dream about makes beer folks feel as though they have something really special, but are things really that great, or is the beer labor force being gaslit by the false pretense of job satisfaction, security and just plain fun? As the industry matures and evolves, being one of the “cool kids” in the beer industry isn’t all backslaps and beer shots, it’s become more about workers’ rights, workplace safety, and earning a living wage.
Beer Is For Everyone Launches Drinking in Another State Collaboration Project
July 12, 2022 | Ruvani de Silva
On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling giving women across the US the right to have an abortion. With thirteen states poised to enforce historic trigger laws banning all medically unnecessary abortions, and another thirteen considered likely to make abortion illegal, this decision is a devastatingly regressive setback for reproductive rights and places the lives of those who need reproductive care, particularly those from lower socio-economic and minority backgrounds at significant risk.
Sold! Sapporo USA Buys Stone Brewing
June 24, 2022 | Julie Rhodes
Friday, June 24th, 2022 will forever go down in the craft beer history tomes as the day that the fiercely independent, “loud and proud” antithesis to “fizzy yellow beer,” Stone Brewing, was purchased in its entirety by the internationally famous for “fizzy yellow beer” conglomerate, Sapporo USA. As malt enthusiasts rose from their slumber and checked their social media feeds, widespread media coverage of the buyout hit the wires at about 3:00 am on this morning. For anyone who has followed the business side of the craft beer industry for the last couple of decades, this was no surprise.
College Names Brewing Lab To Honor Charlie Papazian
June 23, 2022 | Scott Grossman
Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) will soon begin construction of the Charlie Papazian Brewing Education Lab. The lab is named in honor of Charlie Papazian, the retired founder of the American Homebrewers Association, the Great American Beer Festival and the Brewers Association. Papazian is recognized as the Godfather of homebrewing and the resulting craft beer industry. Read More
The BA Publishes the 2021 Craft Beer Industry Review
June 1, 2022 | Julie Rhodes
Every year, the Brewers Association publishes its Industry Review issue of The New Brewer magazine, which gives craft beer industry members a snapshot of how each brewery segment of the industry has performed over the past year in terms of production and sales levels. This edition never fails to disappoint with a plethora of juicy statistics for beer data nerds to chew on and brewery ownership to postulate about the future of the craft beer market landscape. This year was not without its share of surprises, with the likes of a non-alcoholic beer brand entering the mix and even more appearances by well-known breweries now functioning as “beverage” companies enjoying success with products that go beyond the typical ale or lager. And while that sexy 8% overall segment growth rate gets industry folks all excited, it’s not without some fine print. It’s one thing to take these rankings on the nose and pass judgment on where the craft beer industry is heading, but there are some really interesting finds in this data if you learn to read between the lines.
The Return on Investment of CBC 2022
May 24, 2022 | Julie Rhodes
For a vast number of current and aspiring beer professionals, the annual Craft Brewers Conference hosted by the Brewers Association is THE go-to industry conference for all things beer-related. It’s four full days of seminars, workshops, and social networking events, plus a seemingly endless trade show floor ripe with vendors enthusiastically waiting to sell you everything from gaskets and exotic hops to insurance and glycol systems. Most attendees return home with swag bags full of branded goodies and heads full of ideas. But what’s the true return on investment (ROI) of attending the Craft Brewers Conference when it comes to growing the bottom line of your brewery business? If you or your team didn’t attend the conference, this will give you some insight into what was missed and for those that did attend, some ideas for how to revisit sessions and take advantage of all that was offered to help you optimize the business side of your brewery.
Editorial | Making the Case for Widely Adopting Craft Malting in Beer
May 16, 2022 | Josh Watterson
Forget Cold IPAs, Hard Seltzers, and Ready to Drink Cocktails, because as we’ve seen with many other style trends that have come before, they’re likely momentary flashes in the pan. What is the next trend that’s more likely to elevate craft beer? How about Craft Malt? Brewers often call malt the ‘Soul of Beer’ and it’s unmistakably the backbone.
CanSource Provides Canning Solutions Amid Minimum Increases
May 16, 2022 | Tristan Chan
At the onset of the pandemic, the ability to pivot quickly after tasting rooms were closed for on-site consumption led a majority of breweries to focus their attention on packaging beer to-go. It was at that moment that aluminum cans became one of the hottest commodities in the industry.
But just as canning beer became a major relief for breweries who desperately needed a way to get beer in the hands of consumers, it also became a major pain point. Ball Corp, which has long been the dominant supplier of aluminum cans, announced that it would increase minimum orders for a single SKU of printed cans from one truckload to five truck loads. This meant that a brewery that could previously order 200,000 printed cans of a single brand would now be forced to order approximately 1 million cans, essentially eliminating a primary supplier of printed cans for a majority of breweries in the market today.
Craft Beer Is Dead Podcast | Stone Brewing Lawsuit, Guilt Reduction Marketing & Copyright
May 11, 2022 | Kreis Holland
In Episode 060 from “Craft Beer is Dead” Podcast, Brie and Kreis discuss the outcome of Stone’s recent courtroom victory, how marketing sways your opinions, and trying some awesome Canadian beer, eh?
The Craft Beer is Dead podcast is brought to you by @kreisface + @the_pintsized_traveler and features discussions about craft beer news, interviews with industry professionals, the occasional true crime tie-in, and endless amounts of hilarity. They joined the PorchDrinking Podcast network but be sure to check out all of their episodes here: Craft Beer is Dead Podcast.
Thanks to the Craft Beer is Dead Podcast sponsors: A La Cart and Sticker Wolf.
Join PorchDrinking for Three Days of Special CBC Events in Minneapolis
April 28, 2022 | Tristan Chan
The PorchDrinking team is taking the Twin Cities by storm during next week’s Craft Brewers Conference by partnering with First Draft Taproom & Kitchen’s Minneapolis location for three special afternoons of special tappings and programming.
We invite all CBC attendees to join us for three days of special tappings beginning Monday, May 2 with a Lager All-Stars takeover presented by our friends at Hopsonomy, followed by a WeldWerks + Forager & Friends Rarities Takeover on Tuesday, May 3, and wrapping with a Hop All-Stars night on Wednesday, May 4.
State of the Craft Beer Industry Report
April 13, 2022 | Julie Rhodes
After surviving a dismal Q1 of 2022, the craft beer industry can finally breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to more sunny skies for the remainder of 2022. A recent smattering of craft beer industry updates from trade associations, allied trade partners, and data aggregates are providing craft breweries more light at the end of their pandemic market tunnel. The general consensus is optimistic, whether it’s Bart Watson from the Brewers Association relaying his confidence about 2022 for craft brewers or 76% of craft brewers themselves waxing positive about sales growth this year in the 2022 Brewing Growth Trends Report from Arryved. It’s time to break out your sunglasses beer folks, let’s take a look at the brighter state of the craft beer industry (with some occasional clouds) heading into the remainder of 2022.
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