Lagunitas’ CEO and founder Tony Magee took to Twitter late Thursday night with some interesting data about craft beer’s percentage of the beer market, and what that looks like for future growth, both with existing breweries, and with new breweries. It’s an interesting bit perspective from the 6th largest craft brewery in America, and I’ve always enjoyed Magee’s perspective on his business. I edited his statement slightly, only to fix all the “Twitter grammar,” to make it easier to read:

Was looking at IRA data. I added ALL the craft-type sales, meaning the narrow Brewers Association definition of craft beer, as well as Shock Top, Blue Moon, Craft Brewer’s Alliance brands, Guinness, Newcastle, etc… It turns out that the things y’all drink when y’all want flavor represent a freakin’ 12% market share, not the 6% share that is reported.

Could say that the extra 6% share represents the ACTUAL shortage of capacity within authentic craft beer. Makes building another brewery seem like a stoopid safe bet. I see Blue Moon & Shock Top, and the other faux beers as mere spackling in the cracks. A sort of beer-bondo that we can easily chip back out when we’re ready to use that market crevice ourselves. Maybe that sounds pompous, and maybe it is. And when I write ‘we’ I’m referring to all of us new brewers. Bottoms up!

In a recent newspaper thing I said that I thought Lagunitas could be as big as Anheuser Busch or MillerCoors. WTF does ‘big’ mean? Big is the result of something else. No one ‘owns’ big. It’s an artifact of your decision making. Could Lagunitas be that big? Sure. But in the end it’ll be up to you. We’ll just try. But like every mountain climber knows first hand, there’s nothing up there on the top. The trip is the thing, & we’re sure trippin’ lately.

First, read this great post from Kim Schimke at Brewpublic. In addition to the post, I like the response Stone Brewing Co. CEO Greg Koch added to the comments:

I don’t worry about what I say nearly as much as HOW I say it… I judge, sure. We ALL judge. We judge the way other people drive, the clothes they wear, their politics and the beers they drink. My judging doesn’t make me a snob, but the WAY I judge certainly could be. It’s human nature. I don’t feel the need to try and quell it. How about we celebrate our humanness! We judge. We’re flawed. We’re generally fun to drink beer with.

I would add my thoughts on the subject, but I think I explain myself pretty well here: All beer is good.

It is interesting to see craft beer grow into an industry as large as it has become. With this growth, invariably, comes matters of propositions, legislation, and taxes. Currently, Florida is trying to legalize the sale of 64oz growlers. Maryland just legalized on premise beer sales and consumption for breweries.

Taxes have a bit of a mixed reputation in this country, to put it lightly. With regards to the beer industry, this is no different. Currently, the Brewers Association is pushing to enact the Small BREW Act through congress. This act is seeking to amend the tax code to lower the rates of excise taxes brewers pay. Well, specifically the first 2 million barrels produced by a brewery making less than 6 million barrels of beer a year.

The craft beer industry is one of the fastest growing industries in America, and for the breweries making less than 60,000 barrels a year, the new proposition would cut their taxes in half. Considering the massive growth the industry has seen, and considering the continuation of this growth, these tax cuts would allow for continued growth, investment, and jobs being added to the economy. (more…)

Just released from the Brewers Association. Full press release here.

The wait is finally over!

Epic makes some absolutely fantastic beers, and this is extremely great news! Be sure to check out as many of the above events as possible.

When our illustrious founder, Luis Tovar, e-mailed me his first draft of the above mentioned article, the first thing I did was attempt to edit some of the points he was making. After a bit of thought, though, I felt that he should publish it as it was, and that I would do a piece myself challenging the aspect of “gateway beer.”

I have no problem with gateway beers. I consumed a lot of Blue Moon, Newcastle and Guinness on my way to discovering the microcosm of craft beer. I do, however, have a problem with InBev and MillerCoors attempting to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes by pretending to be a small, craft company. As I was discovering new beers, I constantly found myself trying new varieties of Shock Top and Leinenkugel, as well as stumbling upon international delicacies such as Boddington’s. Imagine my surprise when I found out that these beers were all sitting under the umbrella of the larger beer corporations. It’s not that I had a problem with the beer, I had a problem with where my money was going. This is where my main problem with these pseudo-craft beers arises from. (more…)

I believe that all beer is good, and I don’t like seeing beer lose market share to wine or spirits as it has been recently. …we don’t want to tell our consumers which beers they should give a shit about. That’s why we make 34 different kinds of beer.

The above quote is from Sam Calgione, founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, and current board of directors chairman at the Brewers Association. I’ve always admired Sam’s stance on craft beer because he truly is an advocate of both promoting beer, as well as allowing consumers to make their own decisions, whether it be for Dogfish Head or not.

I play on an adult hockey league team. And every week it’s one of my teammate’s job to bring a 30 pack of cheap, cold cans of lager. And whatever one it is, whatever brand it is, I look forward to having it. There’s nothing like that light lager for refreshing after a hockey game. There’s really not any other occasions in my week where I’m craving that kind of beer. But I’m a beer geek, not a beer snob. And all beer is good. And there’s a time and place for any kind of beer. (more…)

Before the festivities of New Years Eve are underway, I wanted to take a brief moment to thank you all.

Over the past year, the site has had visitors from all 50 states and several countries around the world.

Thank you all for reading, following, and liking. Thank you for the shares and retweets. Thank you for saying hi when you see any of us out in public. And thank you to Armando, Danny, Goran, Grant, Melissa, and Emily for writing and contributing to the site.

We have plenty more fun planned for 2013. Thank you all and happy New Year!

Pliny the Elder is a fascinating beer, and not only for the fact that it is an incredible IPA. There is such an allure, mystique, and reverence for this beer.
It is one of the highest rated IPAs in the world. Despite it’s year round availability, it never seems to be available in its distribution markets. And when it is available, retailers often limit the amount that can be purchased at a time, or, it is hidden in the back and must be requested for by name, possibly with some sort of secret password. Combined, this makes it a sort of liquid gold amongst craft beer enthusiasts.

Is Pliny that significant? Are there no other IPAs that are as good as Pliny? Is it truly, a one of a kind beer that cannot be recreated by any other brewery than Russian River? When you word it like that, it begins to sound ridiculous. Of course there are other incredible IPAs that are just as good as Pliny, so why the hype? Answer: It’s always fresh.

How much, exactly, does freshness matter? If you travel deeper into the inner craft beer circles, you’ll start to hear the purists declare that Pliny should only be consumed within 30-45 days of bottling. They say that it has to be as fresh as possible, otherwise it’s not as good. But the same can be said for any IPA. As I mentioned in my aging guide, hop aroma and bitterness fade rather quickly. Being as the whole point of an IPA is the hops, it makes sense that the fresher it is, the more vibrant the aroma and flavor is.

Owner Vinnie Cilruzoe is extremely cautious of growing too fast, to the point where Russian River’s slow growth is causing an exponential expansion in demand for their beers. But this has ensured that the hop forward beers, like Pliny the Elder, don’t sit on the shelf very long, meaning that if you are lucky enough to find it, it is likely to be extremely fresh.

Stone Brewing Company is another brewery that comes to mind that emphasizes how important freshness is. They have repeatedly stated that none of their year-round beers should be aged. The above image can be found on the back of their IPA bottles. The above link serves as a method for consumers to report Stone beer that was not available within the ‘best by’ date. Most notably, this past summer Stone released a new IPA titled “Enjoy By XX-XX-XXX,” with the ‘X’s’ being replaced with a specific date. Stone has a significantly larger distribution map than Russian River does. To ensure that Enjoy By is available as fresh as possible, Stone limits each batch to only 2 or 3 markets at a time, determined by consumers voting at the Enjoy By site.

To clarify however, Pliny the Elder is an amazing IPA. It has a sweet, lemony nose with a rich piny taste. Pliny has a crisp, light body, likely from using an addition of sugar in the boil. The freshness factor definitely helps, as it accentuates the pine and citrus flavors. But even if you drink a bottle 2 months past bottling, it is still a fantastic IPA.

If you want a clear example of how important freshness is in beer, visit one of our local breweries, like Tenaya Creek, Big Dog’s, or Chicago Brewing Company. There is no travel time in the beers that are served at these brewpubs. The beer is brewed and served on premise, making it the freshest beer you can find. Joseph James is another local brewery that makes a fantastic IPA. While they don’t operate a brewpub, their beers still have a very short travel time to our local retailers. You’ll notice that IPA’s from all of these breweries have an aroma and bitterness unlike most other IPA’s available in our state that were distributed from somewhere else.

For more information in understanding freshness and aging, check out our aging guide.