Yuengling: Dick's on top, baby!

It's strange to think that when I had my first Yuengling 30 years ago, and took my first tour of the brewery 25 years ago, the Pottsville family business was just barely hanging on. I believe they told us that they sold about 165,000 barrels that year, which sounds like a lot in craft brewer terms, but not out of a plant that size, with a staff that size.

Things changed, as we all know, and while Yuengling is still only in fourteen states, they announced today that thanks largely to the huge surge in sales from their Ohio launch last year, they are now the largest American-owned brewery. Think on that, ye mighty, and despair.

For while I love Yuengling -- the history, the stubbornness, the Pennsylvaniality of it all -- it is sobering to think that America's four largest brewing companies, the brands that are household words -- Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors, Pabst -- are all either foreign-owned or, in the case of Pabst, gypsy brewers without a home. It is a shock that the largest American-owned brewer sold only 2.5 million bbls. in 2011; that the largest American brewer is a regional anomaly.

So what do we do? Celebrate it! I'm not talking about celebrating that Yuengling blew past Boston Beer, I'm talking about celebrating that a family-owned brewer has beaten the mass-marketing of the nationals on their own turf -- mainstream lager -- and done it with a "full calorie" beer, the stuff they apparently have forgotten how to sell. That's freakin' awesome.

Look, I know. If you're reading this blog, chances are you're a craft beer enthusiast (or a whiskey drinker, and I promise: more of that this year, too!). But ain't it great that people are ready to shrug off mass-media domination and buy regional? Buy something different? I think it is. Yuengling, like Sam Adams, is often the first step for someone to try something other than the usual. This is why "the usual" is sliding hard, and why the big guys are trying to find out how to make something other than the usual (Blue Moon and Shock Top are just the beginning, believe me).

We can be scared by that...or we can embrace it. I'm happy every time a light beer drinker has something other than their usual tipple. I think when a light beer drinker enjoys a wheat beer, an angel gets its wings. And I think Dick Yuengling -- and Jim Koch! -- have had a lot to do with that. Cheers, Dick: congratulations! Keep doing what you're doing!

Tip to you, mixologists: the backlash has arrived

Saw two things today that lead me to believe that the inevitable brute-stupid journalistic backlash against the cocktail revival has begun. First, this sidebar of duh-obvious "you cocktail drinkers think you're so smart" horseshit in PhillyMag's best bars cover story.

...in this Lillet-and-Aperol-soaked age, it seems we’ve forgotten the delight of drinking simple cocktails. Of drinking the way our grandparents drank. Grandpa wouldn’t just have looked down on the lavender-hued Aviation, with its whiff of Granny’s soap. He would have done so only after smashing it on the ground in a profanity-laden tirade. Too fussy. Too frilly. Now bring me a CC and soda, kid, and don’t skimp on the pour.

Nice. Grandpa the barbarian.Whatsamatter, buddy, bartender cut you off after one too many Ketel and tonics?

Second, I saw the Michael Imperioli 1800 tequila ad in Wine Spectator. You know the ads: douchey-looking guy in an expensive plain black suit, white shirt, skinny black tie, with a glass of 1800, and the caption "DO I LOOK LIKE I WANT TO SEE THE COCKTAIL MENU?" No, you look like I'm going to be calling you a cab in about five more shots, actually.

Sigh. Why do we have to kill everything when we're done with it? Why do we have to race off to the next thing, or cling to the old thing? Cocktails are good. Sure, we got carried away, but there's some good in the carried-away part, too. If you can't appreciate a properly made Manhattan, or a French 75, or a Sazerac, and would rather have a shot of tequila, or a CC and soda...what da hell, buster? Go drink that, but don't convince yourself that you're "right" by crap-bombing something good.

No, we get all caught up in the nastiness of it all, and we can't just enjoy something else. So we tell each other that's so over, and done, and how could anyone be dumb enough to like that. You know what? That's what people told me about non-mainstream beer back in the 1990s. That's what they told me about Scotch in the 1980s. That's what they told me about steak, for Christ's sake, in the 1990s! Idiots. You don't want what I'm drinking, fine. Drink something else. But it's like gay marriage: how's it hurting you?

Lose the attitude. Grow beyond having to piss on someone else's parade to make yours convincing. Walk away from people like that. And let's all have a drink...whatever you want.

Big Moves in the U.S. Scotch Market

Really interesting numbers on U.S. Scotch whisky sales from Shanken News Daily today. For the first time ever, a single malt -- The Glenlivet -- is one of the top five Scotch sellers. The Glenlivet passed J&B to cross over the 300,000 case threshold. If you needed further proof of premiumization in this market, Johnnie Walker Black is selling significantly more than JW Red:

The brand, including Black, Red, Blue, Green, Gold and Swing, had total volume of 1.61 million cases in the U.S. market last year. Black continues to comprise a greater portion of the total Johnnie Walker brand, reaching an estimated 810,000 cases last year compared to Red’s 720,000 cases. Back in 2000, Black was the smaller player with 550,000 cases, compared to Red’s 675,000 cases.

Fascinating.The top five sellers' total volume was down 4.3% (The Glenlivet was up 8%, but #2 Dewar's was down over 14%), but the overall market was up 8%, while dollar sales grew 14%. Sound familiar to folks who follow the craft beer market?

For those of you who asked for more numbers...

USA - Top Five Scotch Whisky Brands (thousands of nine-liter case depletions)
Rank	Brand	Importer	2005	2009	2010	AACGR2 2005-2010	Percent Change 2009-2010
1	Johnnie Walker1	Diageo North America	1,415	1,579	1,610	2.6%	2.0%
2	Dewar’s	Bacardi USA	1,375	1,400	1,200	-2.7%	-14.3%
3	Clan MacGregor	William Grant & Sons USA	650	637	594	-1.8%	-6.8%
4	Chivas Regal	Pernod Ricard USA	484	397	402	-3.6%	1.3%
5	The Glenlivet	Pernod Ricard USA	232	286	309	5.9%	8.0%
	Total Top Five		4,156	4,299	4,115	-0.2%	-4.3%
1 includes Black, Red, Blue, Green, Gold and Swing 2 average annual compound growth rate Source: IMPACT DATABANK

Craft beer growth accelerates!

Hey, it's a good day when I see news like this. Not only is craft beer continuing to grow, it's accelerating. Check it out, and check out the graphic: 725 breweries currently in planning stages! Major part of this is accessibility; people can find and buy craft beer because bars and restaurants (and wholesalers) are finally offering it, and newspapers and magazines are treating it like food or wine, instead of some goofy clown story (Hyuk, hyuk, lookit these beers with the funny names, you drink 'em with your pinky out!). That's your efforts, people: you made them get your favorite beer, you bought enough to make them pay attention. Congratulations!

Brewers Association Reports 2011 Mid-Year Growth for U.S. Craft Brewers; dollar growth up 15% in first six months of 2011; U.S. sees rapid growth in breweries in planning

Boulder, CO • August 8, 2011 - The Brewers Association, the trade association representing the majority of U.S. brewing companies, has released strong mid-year numbers for America's small and independent craft brewers. Dollar sales were up 15 percent in the first half of 2011, excluding brewers who left the craft segment in 2010*. Volume of craft brewed beer sold grew 14 percent for the first six months in 2011, compared to 9 percent growth in the first half of 2010.

Barrels sold by craft brewers for the first half of the year are an estimated 5.1 million barrels. Despite many challenges, the mid-year numbers show signs of continued growth for craft breweries. The industry currently provides an estimated 100,000 jobs, contributing significantly to the U.S. economy.


*Goose Island, for one, which is ridiculous in my opinion: the beer tastes the same, regardless of who's making it. Is craft beer a drink, or merely a business? If I were a brewer, I might have a different opinion, but I'm a drinker.

Top 50 breweries: some interest, some fun

The new list of the top 50 breweries in the U.S. by volume sales is out. Let's have an annotated look, shall we?

1. Anheuser-Busch InBev; St Louis MO (Shocking...)
2. MillerCoors; Chicago IL (teamed up, and still 2nd)
3. Pabst Brewing; Woodridge IL (Hey, dude: get a real brewery!)
4. D. G. Yuengling and Son; Pottsville PA (Pennsylvania Proud!)
5. Boston Beer Co.; Boston MA (Pennsylvania Proud, Part II: rocking Breinigsville!)
6. Sierra Nevada Brewing; Chico CA (Tradition and style)
7. New Belgium Brewing; Fort Collins CO
8. North American Breweries; Rochester, NY (Yo, lookie here: buying in)
9. Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc.; Portland, OR (funny: they say they are, BA says they aren't)
10. Spoetzl Brewery (Gambrinus); Spoetzl TX (Shine on)
11. Deschutes Brewery; Bend OR
12. Independent Brewers United (IBU); Burlington, VT (nice acronym)
13. F.X. Matt Brewing; Utica NY (Congrats to the survivor)
14. Minhas Craft Brewery; Monroe WI (Worst. Commemorative. Book. Ever.)
15. Bell’s Brewery; Galesburg MI
16. Harpoon Brewery; Boston, MA (my son's new hometown brewery)
17. Boulevard Brewing; Kansas City MO (gotta get some samples!)
18. Goose Island Beer; Chicago IL (beer still the same?)
19. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery; Lewes DE
20. Alaskan Brewing; Juneau AK
21. Long Trail Brewing; Burlington VT
22. August Schell Brewing; New Ulm MN (Another pre-Pro beauty)
23. Stone Brewing; Escondido CA (What? I thought they were the biggest!)
24. Abita Brewing; New Orleans LA (40% of sales during Mardi Gras?)
25. Brooklyn Brewery; Brooklyn NY
26. Lagunitas Brewing; Petaluma CA
27. Full Sail Brewing; Hood River OR
28. Shipyard Brewing; Portland ME (Amazing: I thought no one liked Ringwood...)
29. Summit Brewing; Saint Paul MN
30. New Glarus Brewing; New Glarus WI (World-famous in Wisconsin)
31. Great Lakes Brewing; Cleveland OH
32. Anchor Brewing; San Francisco CA (Is that up or down from last year?)
33. Iron City Brewing; Pittsburgh PA (bets on their position next year?)
34. Kona Brewing; Kailua-Kona HI
35. Rogue Ales/Oregon Brewing; Newport OR
36. Firestone Walker Brewing; Paso Robles CA
37. Winery Exchange Inc. / World Brew; Novato CA (I'm willing to admit my ignorance...)
38. SweetWater Brewing; Atlanta GA (Wow! Go South!)
39. Mendocino Brewing; Ukiah CA
40. Flying Dog Brewery; Frederick MD
41. Victory Brewing; Downington PA (why can't anyone spell "Downingtown"?)
42. Gordon Biersch Brewing; San Jose CA
43. BJs Restaurant & Brewery; Huntington Beach CA
44. Stevens Point Brewery; Stevens Point WI (Guess no one's out of Point)
45. Odell Brewing; Fort Collins CO
46. Bridgeport Brewing (Gambrinus); Portland OR
47. Cold Spring Brewing; Cold Spring MN
48. Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants; Louisville CO
49. Oskar Blues Brewery; Longmont CO (Can you believe it?)
50. Straub Brewery; Saint Mary’s PA (Pennsylvania Proud, Part III!)

Massively Increased Beer Choice: Good, Bad, or Ugly?

Way back, around 1996/7, craft beer growth in the U.S. flatlined. It had long been predicted -- which seems weird and self-fulfilling, in retrospect -- as "the coming shakeout," and it arrived with force. When it did...we started looking for why. (Funny thing is, not many people talked about why before there was a shakeout (or why everyone referred to it as a 'shakeout') but they seemed certain there would be one...and there was! Amazing, what we do to ourselves.)

There were a multiplicity of factors -- under-capitalization, lack of brewing skill, market manipulation, industry in-fighting among them -- but one that got a lot of play was the thought that consumers were flummoxed by too much choice, and were standing in front of craft beer shelves in a fibrillating logic loop, like some Star Trek-era computer that had just received some verbal bullshitsku from Kirk and Spock (Kirk, out-thinking a computer, now there's quality plotting)...and then turning, zombie-like, to go back to Good Old Bud Light.

 

We were told this had happened -- you know, by marketers -- but I remember thinking at the time that it sounded crazy, that it was something the big brewery marketers had come up with to help the executives sleep better at night. Wine had that many choices, and more, and that was extolled as a great thing. There were more Scotch whiskies all the time: sales were going up. I remember getting too many bad beers -- lot of quality control issues back then -- but more choices was a good thing.

At least, I thought so. Then Barry Schwartz came out with his book The Paradox of Choice: why more is less in 2004, and that seemed to ice it. It was in a book, you nerds; more choice paralyzes consumers! End of speculation.

I like books, but...this is something that's always bugged me, and I just saw two pieces about it (thanks to Our Girl Tara Nurin at CitySearch.com Philly for that!), so here goes. The first piece, from February, is a short one from the always curious Harry Schuhmacher at Beer Business Daily. Harry notes that he'd heard Jim Koch speak about the phenomenon in today's market, about

"the great proliferation of choices in the beer aisle today, giving Americans the most choices and a wider variety of beer in any time in history. But he also warned that there is a law of diminishing returns, as too many choices can actually paralyze the consumer into buying less, or even buying none, because no matter what he/she chooses, the consumer is left with an unsatisfied feeling that they may have not chosen the best beer."

Classic Schwartz, right out of Paradox: choice paralysis comes from the 'fear' of not making the best choice, and Harry quotes Schwartz to back it up...on the subject of picking mutual funds. And Harry follows with examples of people paralyzed at the craft beer selection...and also inspired by it, and ends with "What do you think?"

Mostly, I thought, picking a good beer is not as hard or as crucial as picking the best mutual fund. I mean, what's the downside? You're out $15, as opposed to maybe $50,000 if you pick the wrong fund? Screw it, let's double down and get two sixpacks!

Then I read Jeff Linkous's Beer-Stained Letter blog post about it. After he speculates a bit, and notes the great 2010 numbers from the Brewers Association...he talks to Barry Schwartz, who, it turns out, "by and large gives the beer industry a pass from his premise that a plethora of choices turns consumers off..." Ha!

The reason beer gets an exemption: choosing a brew – sixpack or single bottle – from the wall of eye-popping labels, and picking one you're ultimately unhappy with, is an error that's easily [sic] to correct, easy to move beyond given the lower price than a car, computer or clothes. Plus, with those latter items there's the expectation of keeping them for a while.

Yeah, well...you look at my garage, fridge, and basement, you'll see I apparently have that expectation about beer, too! Anyway, Schwartz adds that the difficulty of making a choice may come out in ways other than walking away:

the hyper array of beer choices could end up favoring well-known or familiar brands (or beers that have the most engaging packaging or labels for that matter). Opting for the familiar is a way of dealing with a problem that seemingly can't be solved, steering away from a random choice. "Nothing will bring brand loyalty back faster than a proliferation of options," he says.

So...where's that leave us 14 years ago? I think Schwartz is eminently pragmatic about the price of the product making the "paradox" less pressing, and I believe that puts an unstoppable hole in the "overwhelmed by options" theory of The Shakeout. I put my money on the number of sub-quality beers in the day (packaging problems, largely), the angry quarreling among craft brewers and a couple of vicious smacks from the big brewers that had an outsized effect, and a rush into the market by people with more money than brewing passion.

Today's threat of choice paralysis is, I believe, greatly overstated by Jim Koch, and I can't help feeling that he knows that: after all, Boston Beer is cranking out a lot of new beers lately, hey? We're seeing more and more beers every year -- more beers and more breweries and more kinds of beers -- and yet the sales just keep going up and up along with it.

Hmmm...quality of beer is WAY up, there's next to no in-fighting (we have to make up squabbles about extreme vs. session beer just to keep from getting bored, apparently), and the rush of "stupid money" into the craft industry that I was concerned about four years ago never really materialized. I'm thinking there are much better ways to explain The Shakeout, and much more important things -- malt prices, tax increases, Four Loko lapover effects, price of capital for expansion, wholesaler consolidation -- to worry about...than too much choice. Give us all the choice you got, brewers; bring it on!

Area breweries are growing

Not really news, because it happened back in late September, but better late than never, I suppose: Philadelphia Brewing and Victory both made some major additions to their tankage. That's Philly Brewing's four new 60-bbl. tanks arriving at the brewery (and yeah, the leaves kinda give me away on the tardiness factor...); gotta assume they're gonna be seeing some Kenzinger usage.

Now, the tanks Victory put in are somewhat bigger: four 400-bbl. tanks. I remember my shock when I first saw 200 bbl. tanks at a microbrewery (Blue Ridge, in Frederick), and thought, Wow, I guess you've made it when you need 200 bbl. tanks. Victory's put four of 'em in, in a structure that's built to take twelve. Craft beer just keeps growing...and I don't see that stopping any time soon.

Yuengling Celebrates 180th Anniversary with a party and 13% growth

Dick Yuengling Jr. and his daughter Wendy celebrated the family-owned (Dick-owned, to be precise) brewery's 180th anniversary at Michael B's in Deer Lake, PA. They were joined by a bunch of fans, and country singer-songwriter Earl Bud Lee.

Okay, yada-yada-yada, this is just another celebration of the brewery's anniversary, except for this quote from the Pottsville Republican: "I'm excited about the fact that we're still continuing to grow at such a rapid rate," Yuengling said. "This year's a big year. We're up about 13 percent. And in general, the beer business is down like 1.2 to 1.5 percent," Richard Yuengling said before the show.

Yow! That's pretty damned good, that's kicking beer sales ass. This reinforces something I've been floating with craft brewers: Americans want to buy beer made by American companies. Be a good time to jump on that.

A pleasant lunch surprise

A while back, a local reader tipped me that the Pizzeria Uno at the Oxford Valley Mall had developed a decent beer selection. I had to run over there today to pick up a book for my son's Latin class at Barnes & Noble, so I figured I'd stop in and check.

Well, lookie here! Uno had some decent drafts -- HopDevil, Stoudt's Scarlet Lady ESB (which used to be everywhere in this area), Troegs Hopback Amber, and Rogue Dead Guy -- but the real treasure was the bottle selection: Duvel, Smuttynose IPA (I assume the Finestkind, didn't see it), 3 Philosophers, Arrogant Bastard, Lefthand Sawtooth, Bell's K-zoo Stout...and about 10 others of similar interest, including North Coast Old Rasputin imperial stout, which is what I had. It was in fine shape: burnt-bitter but with delicious alefruit notes, authoritative body, and great with my pesto-underlaid pizza.

Kinda made me laugh about how chain operators were telling me that having craft beers at chain restaurants was completely unrealistic, "a fairy tale," beer snob pipe dreams. I remain convinced that -- at least until the huge materials cost increases came along in late 2007 -- the biggest thing holding back strong growth for craft beer is availability, either because of lack of distribution, lack of capacity, or lack of retailer commitment. Uno's holding up their end.