A.B.S. #3 - Thirsty Thursday #1 - THANKSGIVING!! Craft Beer State of the Union

I wanted to start off this series of Thirsty Thursday off with a state of union address of the craft beer industry. On Thirsty Thursdays I will be talking about everything craft beer related, so what better way to kick off the series with a state of the union address.

Key Points:

- Packaging

- Profitability

- Best Beer Styles

- Marketing

- Packaging:

Cans Cans Cans! In developed countries (for craft beer) such as the US, UK, etc... cans are what sell, period. Good graphic design, good beer, good branding over time, you win when it comes to beers packaged for distribution.

Whenever I go in to a craft beer shop to buy some beers to take home I always go for the cans first. I notice some places still haven't decided to start purchasing more cans yet and it's a shame. I'd move more towards a can-first bottle shop if I owned a bottle shop.

- Profitability:

There are many business models breweries employ to run their business. Some choose to work with distributors and package (can/bottle/keg) their beer with no taproom, some have their own taprooms, some have both. Some people have microbreweries some have regional sized breweries and all over.

The most profitability potential in the craft beer industry at the moment is through a small, 10-14bll brewery, and a taproom to sell your beer out of.

If you can get good at marketing, having a physical location is a huge. You can host events such as Trivia Tuesdays and special events which goes a long way for the business.

- Best Beer Styles:

As of Thanksgiving 2019, the top beer styles (in my opinion) are still the NEIPA, all other forms of IPA's, Stouts, sours, then I'm noticing more of a increase in demand and production in lower alcohol beers such as session IPA's, Pilsners, and Pale Ale's

These beerstyles are what's popular in most of the 1st world countries at the moment with craft beer enthusiasts. The problem I see happens to come from the lack of education on what craft beer is and proper drinking etiquette. Many beer drinkers still don't understand what IPA's are, let alone NEIPA's. They know Belgian historical beers along with traditional German style beers but are still learning about popular American styles.

- Marketing:

From everything that I've been noticing in the craft beer world over the last 3 years or so, marketing has made a MAJOR impact on whether a brewery succeeds or fails.

If you look at some of the top breweries in the world at the moment, they are all pretty much doing the same thing (for the most part). They all sell their beer in 16oz cans with good graphic design, witty/cool beer names, and same branding marks with their logos and slogans. All the breweries have taprooms and offer can releases where they'll have customers waiting in lines for the new releases.

Each good brewery tends to have a good management team along with committed employees.

Have your own brewery and open your own taproom and do location based marketing. Do awesome shit and just document the process on your website, youtube, social media... everywhere.

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I know there is a few more things that should have been mentioned for a complete state of the union, but here's a good beginning.

Thanks for reading, Below you'll see our YouTube video and podcast if you want to check that out as well!

Cheers,

Ty Stevenson