Rumors of beer’s great demise is absolutely over-stated by saying the likes of Miller Light and crappy suds sales are down.
Over simplifying the fact that domestic brew is down in sales does not speak to the state of beer in general these days…
While wine and spirits have absolutely cut into the beer market and big brews stocks are stagnant, the fact is we’ve never had such a wide variety of beer available in bulk like this before, carving up the pie many more times over…
If the fear about beer as a commodity is pervasive, this could either help or hurt craft beer in a very, very big way.
by Mike Zimmer, commentary/beer drinker
According to media reports the beer industry is hurting, well, really, it’s big suds, brewers like ImBev who purchased Anhesuer Busch and the likes of SAB, owner of the Miller/Coors brands. Older folks are drinking less, younger drinkers are diversifying to spirits and wine. No mention of us craft beer folks who it would seem are very happy these days with the bonanza of choice in the alternative brew market and increasingly more access to imported and craft beer, more than at any time ever before. Yet, you read stories like this:( http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post–is-america-facing-a-beer-crisis) that says the sky is falling.
Well, if you’re a stock holder, perhaps. If you’re a budget minded dull drinker of Busch Light or Miller Light, you should worry.
In my life, I cannot ever have imagined the choice that we now have in beer around this country. No longer are those of us who prefer to dabble with all sorts of varied beer tastes and varieties been as happy and yet the sky is falling? The problem is, big suds (my name for the big conglomerates who own up the big domestic brands globally) can’t quite seem to get their heads around the concept that traditional domestic suds don’t exactly make the world go around anymore. Before Bud sold out to ImBev they certainly failed to grasp this concept and that legacy is persisting. They even went as far as to worry about the flagship red label Budweiser, which, is the best of their brew by flavor. They’d neglected it so badly by watering down the brand with Light, Super Light and increasingly flavorless dull suds and not ever expanding their branding to include alternatives that suddenly their market was drying up. I still enjoy an ice cold bottle of Budweiser on a hot day at the ballpark or, more often as the cheaper alternative to keep the party going after I’ve had a few cocktails. I prefer the cold, soothing full flavor of a Bud or Rolling Rock to nothing at all.
Big brewers are no longer innovators and haven’t been for a very long time. I worked for a distributor in Ohio for over 10-years and we were the little guy where it concerned import and craft beer. We fought for shelf space and typically lost to the grocery lobbied big boys and they did everything in their power to crowd out choice. Also, when a new item came along such as Mike’s Hard Lemonade that started a revolution in alco-pop-bev alternatives, they did everything in their power to kill those items with very poor knock-offs. Does anyone remember Doc’s Lemonade? It was designed to kill Mike’s. They had no innovation so they did these poor market segment killing duds in spite of themselves.
Even the nasty Red’s Apple Ale is a direct swipe at ciders from the US and the world (such as superior products like Woodchuck and Strongbows) which also have started to sprout a following of loyal purchasers.
They’ve done much the same with craft beer. The wholly awful Shock Top branding from Anheuser-Busch is an abysmal flavored beer segment that originally went after the likes of Blue Moon (itself a poor man’s Hefe). While they tout Shock Top’s sales, the beer is crap and good craft beer drinkers know this. It’s flavored piss that accidentally sells well because, after all it comes from the distribution network of the preferred distributor, Anheuser-Busch.
Only in recent years has ImBev started to get the message, buying up Goose Island, Red Hook and other craft beer segments and starting to turn them (quietly) as their hopeful ace in the hole. Still, they use these brands seemingly only to get a foot into beer festivals and say, “Hey look! We make craft beer!!!”
Older drinkers are not sluggling down the 30-packs of Busch Light like they used to. Neither are they going out of their way to be brand loyal to a beer that speaks only to the ability to get shit-faced drunk as quick as possible with as little flavor as possible with Miller Light, Bud Light et al. That and they’ve killed themselves with even further watering down their brands with the likes of Michelob Ultra, Miller 64 and all sorts of other beers that only skinny women, old people and the once a month drinker could appreciate.
These lackluster products have led drinkers to spirits (never more popular in mass amounts either due to availability and variety), have turned to wine and craft beer (though that’s been excluded from this report).
Meanwhile, American brewers are striving. Local breweries are popping up all over this country. Craft beer selection and quality are at their bloody best, peaking now in an age where despite economic hell is killing most business in one way or another, good beer is being made and businesses are striving. Look at Dog Fish Head of Delaware, the beer is brilliant, the business is thriving. Even here in the state of Florida, craft beer abounds. Choice is killing domestic. Breweries such as Cigar City from Tampa are expanding business and making great beer. Cities are finding that beer made in town are preferable to Coors. Regional brewers like Sweetwater from Georgia are gaining legitimate footholds with loyal drinkers who drink their fantastic brews with the same vigor as the old Bud Light stalwart. Yuengling should have shown the big beer guys that an average beer, with a decent taste, properly marketed and not profiled away or segmented or imitated can be a huge success.
Even import is hurting, but again, look who owns them, the big conglomerate. However, even the likes of Guinness have rooted and counted against domestic swill. A great many pubs have sprung up in this country and many are starting to rally against mediocrity and won’t serve piss like Miller Light or Mich Ultra. The Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda is an Irish Pub of great repute in this region of South West Florida. They have great beers like Boddington’s, Bass, Anchor Steam and more classic imports such as Stella ARtois but won’t sell you a crap bottle of Bud Light.
So what should the craft beer drinker take from this? Well, this news could hurt or hinder the market or it could finally start the mounting case that perhaps flavor and quality have won out over the entrenched old guard that insists you drink tasteless suds purchased from a Wal-Mart versus buying a Sweetwater 420 from the corner liquor store (where you’ll also probably buy a bottle of Bourbon to have prior to that 420).
How it could hurt is, like it or not the craft beer segment is controlled by distributor networks owned by, you guessed it, big beer companies like Miller/Coors and Bud. The market set-up of grocery stores and draught beer at your local bar is still a tug-of-war between your bar’s Miller rep and Bud rep. The companies are diverse of course, they make money off the craft beer in spades, but the fact is, their main master is still the big boy conglomerate. Even the distributor I worked for once upon a time was a state-wide distributor of Budweiser while we were a spur of it, a wine house that sold craft and import.
If the big boys decided they need to crash this party again, they’ll come up with more shit like Shock Top. Or, they’ll buy your favorite craft beer and suddenly it’s marketing will shift, it’s shelf space diminishes or worst of all, the price goes way up.
How could it help? Well, the openness to distribute these beers is not lost on big companies. While the local distributor of most of the imported and craft beer here in SW Florida is the shamefully inept J.J. Taylor, this major Miller/Coors distributor does put these beers out in mass. They are increasingly expanding the availability of many of these brands (slowly). Other distributors are gaining traction and the sooner that these distributors are bought up or expanded and embraced can only help in further distribution and availability of great beer.
But Beermageddon is not upon us. The sky is not falling. To be honest, even if it was, that would actually be a good thing for the craft segment as the little guy around the corner might just start becoming the preferred drink. Local is always better. Just like it is with your pub, your bar and your food, local is best.
Don’t believe the hype. Drink up, embrace and don’t grieve over it. Go down to your local and ask them for a Cigar City Jai Alai.
