Breweries

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Craft beers sales climbed 15% by volume in 2012, while dollar growth increased 17%, according to figures released by the Brewers Association. The increase amounts to almost 1.8 million more barrels (each of them 31 gallons) of craft beer.

With production at 13,235,917 barrels in 2012, craft brewers reached 6.5% volume of the total U.S. beer market, up from 5.7% the previous year. Additionally, craft dollar share of the total U.S. beer market reached 10.2% in 2012, as retail dollar value from craft brewers was estimated at $10.2 billion, up from $8.7 billion in 2011.

“Beer is a $99 billion industry to which craft brewers are making a significant contribution, with retail sales share hitting double digits for the first time in 2012,” BA director Paul Gatza said.

The number of operating breweries increased 18% in 2012, reaching 2,403. The count includes 409 new brewery openings and 43 closings.

“On average, we are seeing slightly more than one craft brewery per day opening somewhere in the U.S., and we anticipate even more in the coming year. There is clearly a thirst in the marketplace for craft brewed beer, as indicated by the continued growth year after year,” Gatza said. “These small breweries are doing great things for their local communities, the greater community of craft brewers, our food arts culture and the overall economy.”

The BA numbers are preliminary. A more extensive analysis will be released during the Craft Brewers Conference in Washington, D.C. from March 26-29.

The American craft beer industry set a new record for exports in 2012. Based on results from a recently completed industry survey, the Brewers Association reports craft beer export volume increased by 72% compared to 2011, with a value estimated at $49.1 million.

Canada remained the industry’s largest export market, with shipments increasing 140% by volume. Significant gains have been made in Ontario and British Columbia, and American craft beers are now gaining distribution in other provinces.

Sweden and the United Kingdom remained the next two largest markets. Though total exports decreased in both countries compared to 2011, the decline was offset by increased shipments to other European markets. In total, Western Europe accounted for 56,204 barrels valued at $14.6 million in 2012, a 5.6 percent increase over 2011.

“The BA is very pleased with the continued growth in exports of American craft beer to markets around the world. Consumers continue to view American craft brewers as leaders in innovation and among the standard bearers for quality. Maintaining that perception is a priority for the craft brewing community,” said Bob Pease, Brewers Association chief operating officer.

The BA supports exports through its Export Development Program which was initiated in 2004 with funds from the United States Department of Agriculture Market Access Program (USDA MAP). The Export Development Program generates exposure for American craft beer through trade shows, festivals, seminars, media outreach and competitions, among other activities.

The San Francisco Giants and Anchor Brewing have announced that Anchor will build a second facility on the San Francisco waterfront.

Anchor Brewing will occupy what is now Pier 48 with production and distribution facilities (artist rendering), a restaurant, museum and other public attractions. The 212,000-square-foot space in the Giants’ Mission Rock development will not replace Anchor’s existing plant on Potrero Hill, but add capacity. The company’s capacity would nearly quadruple from 180,000 to 680,000 barrels a year.

“This is big news for us. We can now further expand our domestic market (Anchor is sold in every state) and open up new international markets,” CEO Keith Greggor told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s also a huge commitment to San Francisco.”

The planned development still must get approval from a variety of agencies. If everything proceeds on schedule, construction could begin in late 2014 and brewing in 2016.

The U.S. sued to block Anheuser-Busch InBev’s proposed $20.1 billion purchase of the half of Grupo Modelo brands it doesn’t already own, stating that the deal would violate antitrust law.

Shares of both companies plunged after the Justice Department filed a complaint in federal court in Washington. The DOJ said the proposed purchased would eliminate the “substantial head-to-head competition” that currently exists between AB InBev and Modelo.

Modelo owns the Corona brand, and Budweiser and Corona are among the most dominant beer brands in the country. Bud Light is the best-selling U.S. beer, while Corona Extra is the No. 1 selling import.

“If ABI fully owned and controlled Modelo, ABI would be able to increase beer prices to American consumers,” Bill Baer, the head of department’s antitrust division, said in a statement. “This lawsuit seeks to prevent ABI from eliminating Modelo as an important competitive force in the beer industry.”

The Justice Department’s action is “inconsistent with the law, the facts and the reality of the marketplace,” according to an ABI statement. “We remain confident in our position, and we intend to vigorously contest the DOJ’s action in federal court.”

Alaskan Brewing has become the first brewery in the world to use its spent grain as the fuel source to power the steam boiler it uses in making beer, and reduced the company’s fuel oil consumption in brewhouse operations by 60 to 70 percent.

“We have the unique honor of brewing craft beer in this stunning and remote place,” Alaskan Brewing co-founder Geoff Larson said for a press release. “But in order to grow as a small business here in Alaska and continue having a positive effect on our community, we have to take special efforts to look beyond the traditional to more innovative ways of brewing. Reducing our energy use makes good business sense, and good sense for this beautiful place where we live and play.”

The brewery began the spent grain energy process in 1995 with the installation of a grain dryer. The equipment dried the wet, protein-rich spent grain in preparation for shipment to the lower 48 for use as cattle feed, due to the absence of farms or ranches in Southeast Alaska. Alaskan designed the grain dryer to use up to 50 percent of the grain as a supplemental fuel source to heat the dryer itself. This reduced the oil required in the drying process, and provided experience in burning spent grain that would later prove useful in designing the steam boiler.

In 2008, Alaskan became the first craft brewery in the nation to install an energy saving piece of brewing equipment called a mash filter press. The mash filter press, in addition to providing greater energy, water, and materials efficiencies, produces a lower-moisture-content spent grain than does the more traditional lautering process. This form of spent grain better lends itself to drying and for use as fuel for the brewery’s grain dryer and, ultimately, the new spent grain steam boiler system.

Over the latter months of 2012, Alaskan completed the final stage of the process with the installation and commissioning of the $1.8 million, custom-constructed spent grain steam boiler.

Alaskan expects that the new boiler will eliminate the brewery’s use of fuel oil in the grain drying process and displace more than half of the fuel needed to create process steam in the brewhouse. This translates to an estimated reduction in fuel oil use in brewhouse operations by more than half. With moderate growth assumptions, Alaskan expects to save nearly 1.5 million gallons of oil over the next ten years.

The U.K. Supreme Court has ruled against Anheuser-Busch InBev’s request to stop Czech brewery Budvar from selling beer under the Budweiser name. Both brewing companies will continue to use the name in the UK.

While Anheuser-Busch was first to seek to trademark the Budweiser name in Britain, the Czech company entered the British market one year ahead of the then-St. Louis-based brewer, according to Reuters.

Tuesday’s ruling comes more than two years after a European Union ruling that quashed AB-InBev’s attempt to register the Budweiser name as its trademark.

According to Budvar, there there are about 40 related trademark dispute cases pending in different jurisdictions and some 70 procedural issues up for consideration around the world.

AB InBev said it was disappointed by the UK Supreme Court ruling but that it did not affect its Budweiser trademark in the country. It said Budweiser sales in the UK rose 40% between 2009 and 2011.

“This attempt to change the final decision of the court proves the long-term strong interest by (AB InBev) to gain exclusive rights for the Budweiser brand at any cost,” Budvar chief executive Jiri Bocek said in a statement.

New Belgium Brewing announced the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) has purchased the balance of company shares, making it 100% employee-owned. New Belgium has been a partial ESOP since 2000 with a controlling interest held by co-founder Kim Jordan and her family.

“There are few times in life where you get to make choices that will have multi-generational impact – this is one of those times. We have an opportunity to write the next chapter of this incredible story and we’re really excited about that,” Jordan said. “We have always had a high involvement ownership culture and this allows us to take that to the next logical level. It will provide an elegant succession framework that keeps the executive team in tact ensuring our vision stays true going forward.”

Jordan plans to remain CEO for the long-term and the executive team at New Belgium will continue in its current form.

The Fort Collins brewer is currently building a second facility in Asheville, North Carolina that will begin beer production in 2015. The transition to 100% ownership will enable New Belgium to include their future co-workers in Asheville.

The deal was completed on the 28th of December with a companywide announcement made during New Belgium’s annual winter retreat this week. All 456 employee-owners were present for the celebration. Prior to this deal, New Belgium co-workers held 41% of the company’s shares.

Brooklyn Brewery, D. Carnegie & Co., and Carlsberg Sweden have announced the launch of a new brewery and restaurant in central Stockholm.

According to a press release, the Brooklyn-New Carnegie Brewery will be built in the Luma Factory buildings in Hammarby Sjöstad, a residential and commercial complex that fronts on Stockholm harbor. The waterfront brewery will have brewing capacity for 8,000 barrels (almost 250,000 gallons), and restaurant capacity for 100 visitors inside and another 150 visitors outside.

The Brooklyn Brewery will manage and operate the project through a wholly owned Swedish subsidiary, and Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver and his team will brew special Brooklyn beers and develop new beers for the New Carnegie brand. “We love Stockholm, and the whole Brooklyn brewing team is looking forward to their stints at Brooklyn-New Carnegie. We’re going to have a lot of fun brewing and creating beers with our Swedish team,” said Oliver.

In 2011, the Brooklyn Brewery collaborated with Carnegie to produce a bourbon barrel-aged version of Carnegie Porter to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Carnegie Brewery.

“We distributed Carnegie Porter years ago in New York,” said Brooklyn Chief Operating Officer Eric Ottaway. “We have great respect for the tradition that Carnegie represents, and we look forward to developing the portfolio of beers.”

Joakim Losin, CEO of New Carnegie, said the brewery and restaurant would be a meeting place for Sweden’s craft brewers and their followers, and a school for Swedish beer lovers. The new brewery/restaurant will be open for tours as well as lunch and dinner.

Carnegie is the oldest trademark in Sweden. The company was purchased by Carlsberg when it bought the Pripps Brewery in 2001, and Carlsberg Sweden was established.

Brooklyn Brewery brands have been imported by Carlsberg Sweden since 2006. Sweden is the largest export market for the Brooklyn Brewery.

Brooklyn ships many of its bottled beers to Sweden, including its flagship Brooklyn Lager and its 750-ml bottle-conditioned beers like Brooklyn Local 1 and Brooklyn Sorachi Ace. It also ships tankers of beer to Sweden which are kegged in Falkenberg. Brooklyn Lager and Brooklyn East India Pale Ale are available on draft all over Sweden.

Brooklyn Brewery is America’s leading craft beer exporter.

Goose Island Beer Company founder John Hall will step down as chief executive officer at the end of the year. Hall started Goose Island as a brewpub in 1988 and it grew into a top-producing brewery. He will continue to own two Goose Island brewpubs in Chicago.

Hall sold the company to Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2011. Andy Goeler, who has been with A-B for 30 years, will take over as Goose Island CEO. Goeler recently has been in charge of the fast-growing Shock Top brand.

Anheuser-Busch has significantly expanded Goose Island distribution in the last 18 months, producing much of popular beers at A-B breweries in other states. Goose Island used the space this freed up to make more of high-end beers such as Bourbon County Stout and Matilda. According to the Chicago Tribune:

. . . in a phone conversation Friday, Goeler made clear that his focus is expanding Goose Island nationally with four core beers – 312 Urban Wheat Ale, Honker’s Ale, India Pale Ale and a rotating seasonal (Mild Winter, Summertime or Fall Harvest), all of which will largely be brewed at AB plants in Baldwinsville, N.Y. and Ft. Collins, Colo. Starting next week, Goose Island beer will be distributed in all 50 states, making it one of the few craft brands with a true national footprint.

The Tribune also reported, the brewpubs will “maintain their relationships with the AB-owned Goose. Goose will not only continue to produce high-end beers, Goeler said, their output will be expanded with (still more) space for barrel aging. And . . .

(Goeler) said staying true to the company’s history is vital to its expansion, and the fact that the company will continue to be run from Chicago, rather than St. Louis, seems to lend the thought credence.

“The roots of Chicago, to me, are so critical to the long term health off the brand across the country,” Goeler said. “If you lose that connection, you’ve lost the brand.”

Hall will join an “Anheuser-Busch Craft Advisory Board” that will help guide the brand.