Stats and Information from the Brewers Association
Jan 10, 2012 Beer, Celebration Worthy
What associations and organizations are you supporting? What groups claim you as a member?
One of the organizations that we are members of is the Brewers Association. One thing I like about them is that they provide plentiful and easily accessible information. Yesterday I got a mailer with updated ‘good stuff’ so I want to share some of it today.
Not a member yet? It’s worth while if you are a consumer who enjoys beer, a business in the beer community, a brewery, or a distributor. As with any membership, you get out of it what you put into it too.
- US Beer Market = $101 Billion
- 203,576,450 Barrels of Beer
- 1753 breweries in operation for some or all 2012, the highest number since the late 1800′s
- Well over 100,000 jobs surround the beer community in the USA (including the fabulous service staff of pubs)
Other Beer Related Resources We Recommend:
Tags: American Homebrewers Association, Beer Goddess, Brewers Association, Civilization of Beer, Lisa Morrison, resources, Sam Merritt
The Importance of Beer and Food Together
Oct 28, 2011 Beer & Food, Education & Training, Women and Beer
How beers interface and partner with foods is a big component to educating women (and men) about beer. Since we all have to eat and we all need to hydrate, linking the two in an enjoyable fashion is always going to be an effective way to teach people about beer.
How do you do this?
1. Start with a flavor conversation. What kind of flavors does a person like – and make sure the expanse is wide open, not just focused on beer flavors. The power of suggestion here is huge. Get the discussion started with “do you like bananas?” or “do you like coffee?” – talk about flavors that are distinct, although they don’t need to be enormous flavors. Subtle flavors speak to many people as well so suggest a few of those too.
Beer...and citrus pairing? YES! Photo by Kate Parks
2. Move to what kinds of foods they like. The base of the flavor conversation will give you a great stepping off point and once you ask this food question, you’re bound to be able to suggest some beer pairings with the foods they already like. And when you start with foods they profess to already like, you’re going in the direction they already want to go: to enjoy those foods.
3. Once you know flavors and foods, suggest a small variety of beers to go with them. Keep in mind that while humans may have some common ground for popular flavors, never assume they will or won’t like something until they try it. Kind of like an adult cutting off the opportunity for a kid to try something – “oh honey, you won’t like that.” Don’t color their possibilities with your preferences. Give them the chance to discover and decide.
4. Our taste buds change with time. From wanting super sugar sweet things when we’re young to wanting very spicy when we’re older. Be mindful of the general age range of the person you are trying to help.
The Brewers Association Media Luncheon during the Great American Beer Festival is one of my favorite events to go to. Beyond the blindingly incredible fare and pairings, what I really gain from it is new ideas and the opportunity to expand my thinking so I can share that forward. As educators it’s important for WEB to know more of the “why” specific beers and foods go together – or don’t – when we pair.
Women want flavor. They want to learn how to pair beer and food. And they want to be able to duplicate that experience and share it with others.
Exploration and then education is the key here. When you pair beer with food, you create stronger affinity and repeat business. Begin today.
Tags: beer and food together, brand building, Brewers Association, discovery, flavor conversation, Great American Beer Festival, importance fo pairing, Media Luncheon, sales benefits
The Fest of The Best
Sep 26, 2011 Beer, Celebration Worthy, Events, Women and Beer
Are you planning on attending the Great American Beer Festival , aka ‘the GABF,’ this week?
Help Celebrate Great American Beer!
If you are, be very sure to come by our booth, 125, across from section J at the Denver Convention Center. We’ll be there with a booth full of smiles, enthusiastic women who enjoy beer (although they won’t be partaking while working) and ready to greet you.
The van is loaded with WEB shirts, hats, repurposed grain bags, and other goodies to sell and help spread the word that women do in fact very much enjoy beer. So we’re hitting the road.
Look for a big white cargo van with our signature round logo on the sides. Honk if you like – we’ll wave. Twitter that you saw us or leave a comment on our facebook page on where you saw us.
We’ll be in Salt Lake City tonight – so if you live there be on the watch!
Cheers to one of the most well attended, well run, and lively beer festivals in our fine nation. Looking forward to seeing you soon -
Tags: Brewers Association, Denver CO, GABF, Great American Beer Festival
Heading to SAVOR 2011
Jun 1, 2011 Beer, Beer & Food, Celebration Worthy, Events
The end of this week will find me in Washington DC, our nation’s capitol, being a small part of the incredible SAVOR event. Hope to see some of you ‘back East’!
The Brewers Association press release shared (full release here):
SAVOR
An American Craft Beer & Food Experience
Brewers Association Adds Second Night to Popular Washington, D.C. Event
WHAT:
Now in its fourth year, SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience returns to Washington, D.C. and expands from one to two nights. Presented by the Brewers Association (organizers of the Great American Beer Festival®), SAVOR, the benchmark of beer and food events, is a must-attend happening for beer lovers and foodies alike.
Attendees will sample craft beers from 72 small and independent craft brewers who team up with a duo of expert chefs to pair each craft beer with delicious savory and sweet dishes. Educational salons [where I'll get to assist] and private tasting salons will provide additional opportunities for attendees to interact with some of America’s most talented craft brewers and chefs.
WHEN:
Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4, 2011, 7:30 – 11:00 PM
WHERE:
National Building Museum
401 F Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
WHY:
SAVOR’s rapid growth is strong evidence of the public’s appetite for craft beer along with food that complements and accentuates this artfully brewed beverage. In 2010, the event sold out in less than one day, which is why SAVOR has expanded to two nights for 2011. This year promises to be another memorable event for attendees looking to taste the best that America’s small and independent craft brewers have to offer.
Tags: Brewers Association, craft beer and food, SAVOR, Washington DC
The Power of Social Media around Craft Beer
May 26, 2011 Beer, Celebration Worthy, Events, Something To Think About
With permission from Andy at the BA, I wanted to share the following information. It’s emphasizing the power of outreach and specifically the use of social media in conjunction with a craft beer celebration, American Craft Beer Week.
If you are in doubt in any way – either as a professional or as a consumer – that social media is a fad, un-useful or otherwise moot, think again. Also realize the true galvanization that happens when people are after a common goal: the advancement of craft beer.
Hi All,
Thank you to the hundreds of breweries, distributors and retailers that helped make this year’s American Craft Beer Week (May 16-22, 2011) the largest ever. The endless stream of tweets, Facebook posts and media hits echoed exactly what the week is all about. This is a grassroots recognition and celebration of today’s beer lovers and small and independent craft brewers, hand crafted beers, and the proud and vibrant craft beer culture we enjoy today.
Attn: ACBW or mail to American Craft Beer Week, 736 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO 80302.
Cheers to ACBW & Social Media
For 2011 we’ve documented some amazing media coverage/mentions via Delicious including:
ABC News Chicago, Fox & Friends Sunday morning feature, USA Today, Food & Wine, Washington Post, and so many more stories/features/coverage/interviews/member press releases/etc.
Additionally, below are some social media stats that were collected surrounding the week:
- CraftBeer.com (Official ACBW Site)
-CraftBeer.com received 1,521 ACBW event posts from hundreds of craft breweries and retailers - Facebook
- The American Craft Beer Week Facebook page has 36,508 likes as of May 23, 2011.
*Twitter Keyword Searches # of mentions.
- “ACBW”
- - 3,502 (Past 7 Days), 4,239 (Past 30 Days)
- “American Craft Beer Week”
- 3,832 (Past 7 Days), 5,543 (Past 30 Days)
*Web Keyword Searches # of mentions “ACBW”.
- - 2,947 (Past 7 Days), 3,339 (Past 30 Days)
- “American Craft Beer Week”
- 2,738 (Past 7 Days), 3,716 (Past 30 Days) - *Keyword source results from Topsy on May 23, 2011
More than 15,500 people have viewed the American Craft Beer Week video since February 22, 2011. Plus 5,000 users unlocked the American Craft Beer Week badge on Untapped.com
Thanks to all who celebrated/leveraged the week and start planning NOW for the 2012 American Craft Beer Week, which will be May 14-20.
Julia Herz
Brewers Association/ CraftBeer.com
julia@brewersassociation.org
Andy Sparhawk
andy@brewersassociation.org
Craft Beer Program/Brewers Association
Tags: American Craft Beer Week 2011, Brewers Association, social media, statistics
Women And Craft Beer
Jan 28, 2011 Beer, Education & Training, Something To Think About
Many thanks to Jill Redding of The New Brewer Magazine for the opportunity to share via an article written by your truly.
The current issue, Getting To 10 Percent, came out this week. It’s one of the member benefits of being a BA member which is chock full of interesting industry information.
Women can not only help the craft beer industry get to 10 percent; they can help them get well beyond it too.
With 50.7 – 50.9% of the total human population, woman remain a extraordinarily under tapped beer market share. And it’s not hard to figure out why and also how to engage them.
A lot of big data companies, while certainly in earnest in their efforts, fail to capture woman and craft beer specific data. I’d like to see more of it and the breweries, and therefore our communities, can certainly benefit from it.
Women Enjoying Beer is the business that can help breweries get stronger and stronger by focusing on improving women and their relationship with beer.
Tags: Brewers Association, Marketing to Women, The New Brewer, Women and Beer
Resources for Pairing Beer with Food
Jan 7, 2011 Beer & Food, Education & Training
Here are two outstanding resources for learning about beer and food pairings.
Learning how to put them together, the WHY in the pairing and the flavor information of the two is enormously helpful in this exploration.
explore beer and food together
By all means, try any kinds of combinations you like. Be aware there are a lot of resources that can be helpful in your culinary pursuits.
Most importantly, have fun with it. It’s beer and food. Include friends and you’re sure to make it great. Don’t worry if the house is picked up or if the food is fancy enough.
Simple is good, quality always shines through and you’re friends will be grateful.
Hats off once again to the BA for this incredible site, CraftBeer.com, for these resources. Dig around the site – there’s waaaaaaay more where these came from.
Tags: beer and food pairing, Brewers Association, flavors, matching, resources
Favorite Beer Books
Dec 21, 2010 Beer & Food, Celebration Worthy, Education & Training
If I had a Santa like allowance, I’d get lots and lots of books to feed my brain….
Maureen Ogle, Historian and Writer of Ambitious Brew
Here are a few of my favorite beer oriented books, all coincidentally by people I know and like and respect. A great gift this season indeed!
- Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer, Maureen Ogle
- Brewing Up A Business, Sam Calagione
- Tasting Beer, Randy Mosher
- The Best of American Food & Beer, Lucy Saunders
The books the Brewers Association puts out are all good - chock full of helpful information and insight. Michael Jackson’s books are also useful and well done too.
Let us know what your favorite beer oriented book is. You can pick more than one too.And we’d love to hear from consumers and professionals alike – fun to share who reads what and we’ll post the responses we get.
Tags: Ambitious Brew, beer books, Brewers Association, Lucy Saunders, Maureen Ogle, Michael Jackson, Randy Mosher, Sam Calagione
What Women Want Series: Part 10 – Great Beer Deserves Great Food
Dec 2, 2010 Assumptions & Myth Busting, Beer, Beer & Food, Education & Training, Something To Think About
If you have a brewpub offer complementary foods.
If beer is the first focus, don’t bastardize it with greasy “traditional” bar food – why would you do that to your beer? Hook up with a chef to help you if need be, just like you’d consult any other industry specialist.
Great Beer Serves Great Food - and Great People
There are myriad resources for learning to pair your beer with food too: CraftBeer.com, books like Tasting Beer, BeerCook.com, and the BA’s guide to pairing (members get these with membership).
It’s time to rethink what pub fare is and can be.
Several places across the country offer food worthy of their beer. One of the first I think of is Snake River Brewing. When we visited last fall on the Home Free Tour, Chris Erickson, Director of Brewing Op’s, pointed out their enlightened menu. Yum! It’s how it should be: Fresh, wholesome food matching the high quality and investment of craft brewed beer.
If you’re a taproom with no food to speak of or not with any kind of food license, no worries. You can still get creative – SOB has food cart vendors come to them when the taproom is open. Good solution. Just make sure you pick foods that go well with your beers and that the foods are a good value.
People’s expectations for food in a beer establishment are still somewhat low. It’s a great time to blow them out of the mash tun with creative, simple and flavorful foods.
Time to set a new tradition. Great Beer deserves Great Food.
- What Women Want Series: Part 9 – Women As a Market Segment
- What Women Want Series: Part 8 – Attention to Titles and Labels
- What Women Want Series: Part 7 – Proper Communication
- What Women Want Series: Part 6 – Inviting Women
- What Women Want Series: Part 5 – Small Things Matter
- What Women Want Series: Part 4 – Charity Partnerships
- What Women Want Series: Part 3 – Educational Opportunities
- What Women Want Series: Part 2 – Value As Part Of The Purchase
- What Women Want Series: Part 1 – Address The Consumer As The Consumer
Tags: BeerCook.com, Brewers Association, Craftbeer.com., great beer, great food, what women want series
What Is A "Craft Brewer"?
Sep 24, 2010 Beer, Education & Training
This is one of the most commonly misunderstood definitions out there for consumers. Unless you’re in the industry, the ‘craft’ label is still quite fuzzy. Anyone else most commonly here ‘micro brews’ instead of ‘craft’?
American Craft Beer
Here’s the standard in the US as defined by the BA.
Craft Brewer =
1. Small - annual production of beer is less than 2 million barrels.
2. Independent – less than 25% of the brewery is controlled or owned by an alcoholic beverage industry members who is not themselves a craft brewer.
3. Traditional - has an all malt flagship beer or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten the flavor.
So there you have it. Easy as 1-2-3.
Assume most don’t know it and take all opportunities to define and reinforce this definition. It’s a useless term to people unless they really know what it means. Gently suggest, inform and share.
Be sure to share and constantly educate your patrons, customers and consumers. A better educated consumer is good for the entire beer community.
Monday: Breakdown definitions of types of Craft Brewers
