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Business Model

There are several distinct business models among craft breweries, including taproom and brewpub models, production breweries on both small and regional scales, as well as those breweries that are just getting started. Each one of these models comes with its own unique challenges and opportunities. Dive into these resources to learn best practices for your particular model.

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Insights & Analysis

Benchmark Your Salary and Benefits with BA Benchmarking Data

The newest round of brewery benchmarking data has been posted, starting with salary and benefits data. Learn more about what these numbers mean.Read More

Economist

Bart Watson, Chief Economist for the Brewers Association, is a stats geek, beer lover, and Certified Cicerone®. He holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, where in addition to his dissertation, he completed a comprehensive survey of Bay Area brewpubs one pint at a time. You can follow him on Twitter @BrewersStats.

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Kentucky's Country Boy Brewing, which produced 14,416 barrels in 2018, has decided to focus on markets close to home.
Industry Updates

Micros: Growing and Adapting

In total, 4,521 microbreweries—packaging breweries producing up to 15,000 barrels—operated during 2018, producing 5.8 million barrels. Production at microbreweries increased 16.4 percent, far exceeding that of breweries in other categories.Read More

Chilly Water’s original brewpub location has a music-themed food menu of pub fare including sandwiches, wraps, burgers, and salads.
Industry Updates

Brewpubs: Upping Their Game

Brewpubs are continuing to hold their own. In 2018, the category was up 13 percent from the previous year, with much of that growth coming from new openings, according to Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson.Read More

Industry Updates

5 Quality Elements To Implement Right Now

What’s remarkable about these overlooked quality functions is that they are often both incredibly effective and incredibly inexpensive.Read More

Neil Witte is a 20 year veteran of the craft beer business. He began his career in the Kansas City brewpub industry, moving to Boulevard Brewing Co. in 1997 as a brewer. In 2001, he took over field quality responsibilities for the brewery, acting as a quality control liaison between the brewery and its distributor and retailer network. He continued that role with the Duvel USA family of beers, including Boulevard and Brewery Ommegang, through the end of 2016. In 2017 he founded Craft Quality Solutions, which draws on his extensive field quality experience, providing field quality services to breweries, distributors and retailers. He is certified through the Beer Judge Certification Program and is currently one of 13 Master Cicerones. He is co-author of the Brewers Association Draught Beer Quality Manual, Draught Beer Quality for Retailers and a contributing author to the MBAA Beer Steward Handbook.

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Industry Review Issue

It’s the big one! The May/June 2019 The New Brewer recaps the statistics and highlights for the craft brewing industry in 2018, a year in which craft brewers still posted 4 percent growth despite new challenges and increasing competition. The annual Industry Review includes an overview and analysis of each segment of the U.S. brewing industry (Brewpubs, Micros, Regionals, and Large + Imports), plus brewery barrelage numbers and 2018 openings and closings. We also include photos and a synopsis from the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America® in Denver. Read More

This issue is brought to you by Atlas Copco

© New Belgium Brewing Co.
Educational Publications

Sustainability Benchmarking Reports

Step 1: Get Started Downloads 2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Update (pdf) 2016 Sustainability Benchmarking Update (pdf) 2015 Sustainability Benchmarking Annual Report (pdf) The reports provides a platform for the craft brewing community to share best practices for identifying how to use water more efficiently, generating less …Read More

Displaying results 1-10 of 137