On the Saturday Night Live skit “Coffee Talk,” one of Linda Richmond’s (Mike Myers) most famous discussion topics was the re-purposed Voltaire quip that “The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.” Like many things, the naming …Read More

Craft brewery closings have been getting a bit more attention in the beer press recently. Although high visibility closings are worth noting, I think there are numerous reasons why the health of the craft brewing industry has never been better. One …Read More

A new brewery, Liquid Mechanics, opened up last month a few miles from my house. It doesn’t have a kitchen, though you can order food from local restaurants and there are food trucks most nights. It’s a great example of …Read More

As the craft industry grows and changes – many of the most interesting questions revolve around geography. What regions lead the curve on craft? Which are catching up? Where should we expect more breweries to pop up? With this post, I …Read More

Today, the National Beer Wholesaler’s Association (NBWA) released the list of finalists for the 2014 Craft Beer Distributor of the year award. Every year, this award highlights the close ties between wholesalers and craft brewers. [Brewers – check the BA …Read More

A recent article in the popular press suggested that the growing number of craft beer choices might not be good for beer drinkers, arguing that for consumers, more options are confusing. Although I have a number of issues with this argument (the …Read More

A recent report by NBWA Chief Economist Lester Jones states that the number of brewery permits has topped 4,500. For many, I’m sure this begs the question: what if all of those breweries open? Can the US take 4,500 breweries? As …Read More

A couple of months back, I noted that IPAs had finally caught up with seasonals in annual scan data sales. Well, here we are seven months on, and the race for 2014 doesn’t even seem close. IPAs have sold over …Read More