Tuesday, March 28, 2006
I'm the beer juggernaut...
So... finally I will recap the other two beers I had on Sunday, but before I get to that there was a nice article in today's Metro titled "Microbrews ready for another round."
The article discusses the growth of America's microbreweries and the reasons behind that growth. Craft beer production grew 9% last year and their market share keeps growing. The explanation given is the "aging of America." While I think this is partially true, there are still lots of older people who only buy the big brand name beers, and at many of the recent beer events I have attended the crowd is getting younger and younger, with much of the attendees including myself, being under 30. So not only is the older crowd getting more sophisticated, the younger crowd is as well, as I have stated in an earlier blog entry.
Some facts from the article:
- Last year 6.3 billion gallons of beer were purchased in the US.
- The current top 5 brands in terms of sales are Bud Light, Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors Light, and Natty Light.
- There are 1,368 craft breweries and brew pubs in the country
- Current craft beer sales make up 3.5% of the market while imports make up 12.5%. However these numbers are on the rise while the macrobrewers continue to lose market share.
Again I think these trends will continue, and outside of just making better beer the macros will not be able to stop their decline.
So yesterday I didn't have any beer and even went to the gym for a nice workout. I was going to write today about how to lose weight yet continue to enjoy good food and drink, but since this article appeared I decided to go with that instead.
Sunday I had 2 other new beers which I haven't reported on yet.
106) Harpoon Hibernian Ale - Harpoon is a micro brewer out of Boston. They were the first micro-brewery that I ever personally visited (the first brewery I visited was the Anheuser plant in Williamsburg). Even back then in my early 20s I knew I had an interest in good beer, and while I have since discovered many breweries better than Harpoon I'm always interested in seeing what they are up to. This is an Irish ale with a sweet, malty aroma. However, nothing special going on in the taste. It is kind of one-dimensional. However, outside of Smithwicks, this style seems a bit tough to come by in my area.
107) Tremont IPA - Got this as part of the latest beer of the month shipment. Kind of a boring IPA. Nothing outstanding. Of all styles of beer, other than pale lagers, I have had more IPAs than anything else so I am kind of getting bored of them, and one really has to blow me away to impress me at this point.
107 beers down the hatch and 258 to go. Tonight I expect to have another new one so stay tuned and stay drinking!
The article discusses the growth of America's microbreweries and the reasons behind that growth. Craft beer production grew 9% last year and their market share keeps growing. The explanation given is the "aging of America." While I think this is partially true, there are still lots of older people who only buy the big brand name beers, and at many of the recent beer events I have attended the crowd is getting younger and younger, with much of the attendees including myself, being under 30. So not only is the older crowd getting more sophisticated, the younger crowd is as well, as I have stated in an earlier blog entry.
Some facts from the article:
- Last year 6.3 billion gallons of beer were purchased in the US.
- The current top 5 brands in terms of sales are Bud Light, Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors Light, and Natty Light.
- There are 1,368 craft breweries and brew pubs in the country
- Current craft beer sales make up 3.5% of the market while imports make up 12.5%. However these numbers are on the rise while the macrobrewers continue to lose market share.
Again I think these trends will continue, and outside of just making better beer the macros will not be able to stop their decline.
So yesterday I didn't have any beer and even went to the gym for a nice workout. I was going to write today about how to lose weight yet continue to enjoy good food and drink, but since this article appeared I decided to go with that instead.
Sunday I had 2 other new beers which I haven't reported on yet.
106) Harpoon Hibernian Ale - Harpoon is a micro brewer out of Boston. They were the first micro-brewery that I ever personally visited (the first brewery I visited was the Anheuser plant in Williamsburg). Even back then in my early 20s I knew I had an interest in good beer, and while I have since discovered many breweries better than Harpoon I'm always interested in seeing what they are up to. This is an Irish ale with a sweet, malty aroma. However, nothing special going on in the taste. It is kind of one-dimensional. However, outside of Smithwicks, this style seems a bit tough to come by in my area.
107) Tremont IPA - Got this as part of the latest beer of the month shipment. Kind of a boring IPA. Nothing outstanding. Of all styles of beer, other than pale lagers, I have had more IPAs than anything else so I am kind of getting bored of them, and one really has to blow me away to impress me at this point.
107 beers down the hatch and 258 to go. Tonight I expect to have another new one so stay tuned and stay drinking!
# posted by Nick @ 9:34 AM 
