For the record: The Brewers Association addresses the AB-InBev acquisition of SAB Miller.

Death to chains and multi-nationals.

BREWERS ASSOCIATION STATEMENT ON AB INBEV ACQUISITION OF SABMILLER

Brewers Association
Boulder, CO • July 20, 2016—

Bob Pease, president and CEO of the Brewers Association (BA)—the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers—released the following statement regarding the approval of Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) to acquire SABMiller:

Today’s decision by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to approve the acquisition of SABMiller by ABI stipulates many of the safeguards the Brewers Association requested to preserve fair competition and access to market for America’s small and independent craft brewers.

While we continue to believe that the merger of the world’s two largest brewers is bad for both the beer industry and consumers, the DOJ’s significant requirements, including the termination of incentive programs such as the Voluntary Anheuser-Busch Incentive for Performance Program (VAIP), a cap on ABI’s self-distribution volume and other measures to protect distributor independence, appear to address some of our major apprehensions with the merger. With effective enforcement of these provisions, small brewers can rely on their independent distributor partners to access the market. This will help ensure that beer enthusiasts can continue to enjoy a vast variety of options from the more than 4,600 breweries in the U.S.

The Brewers Association will closely examine the consent decree and compliance with its provisions, as well as monitor ABI’s actions, specifically with regard to the acquisition of independent craft brewers. We remain concerned about how past, pending and future acquisitions may shift the dynamics of the current beer market. We will continue to encourage the DOJ to monitor and, where necessary, take action to remedy any anti-competitive effects of ABI’s behavior in the U.S.

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New Albany bests the per capita average of Americans-to-their-breweries.

Last September, the Brewers Association revealed an important milestone: 4,000 active breweries, reckoned to be the first time there have been 4,000 breweries in America since just after the Civil War.

U.S. PASSES 4,000 BREWERIES, by Bart Watson (Brewers Association; published on September 28, 2015)

 ... What it does not mean is that we’ve reached a saturation point. Most of the new entrants continue to be small and local, operating in neighborhoods or towns. What it means to be a brewery is shifting, back toward an era when breweries were largely local, and operated as a neighborhood bar or restaurant.

How many neighborhoods in the country could still stand to gain from a high-quality brewpub or micro taproom? While a return to the per capita ratio of 1873 seems unlikely (that would mean more than 30,000 breweries), the resurgence of American brewing is far from over.

Unlikely? Heck, we can do that.

In 1873, the US population was around 43,000,000. That same year, the number of American breweries was 4,131, with the per capita ratio being one brewery for every 10,400 Americans.

Rounding off New Albany's 2016 population at 37,000 and dividing by three (NABC, Donum Dei and Floyd County Brewing), we find our city's current ratio at one brewery for every 12,333 inhabitants -- quite close to the 1873 numbers.

However, if we allow for the stand-alone brewery at each NABC location, the ratio changes to one actual brewing system for every 9,288 citizens.

Boom.

See how far we've come? New Albany has gone all the way back to 1873 and beyond, in a very positive way, so as the pundits say: Support your local brewer.

NABC has been in business for a while, but Donum Dei and Floyd County Brewing are relatively new. Check 'em out during New Albany Craft Beer Week.

Donum Dei Brewery

3211 Grant Line Road,

New Albany, IN 47150

(502) 541-2950

www.donumdeibrewery.com

Floyd County Brewing Company

129 West Main Street,

New Albany, IN 47150

(470) 588-2337

www.floydcountybrewing.com

New Albanian Bank Street Brewhouse

415 Bank Street,

New Albany, IN 47150

(812) 944-2577

www.newalbanian.com

New Albanian Pizzeria and Public House

3312 Plaza Drive,

New Albany, IN 47150

(812) 944-2577

www.newalbanian.com

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(3 of 4) 18th Street's Sex and Candy, and wondering, "What ... the Brewers Association (Is) Doing to Address Gender and Race?"

The heated discussion about 18th Street's Sex and Candy dovetailed with a blogger's account of chats about gender and race in "craft" brewing at the recently concluded Craft Brewers Conference.

What is the Brewers Association's position, and by extension, is this something appropriate for consideration by state guilds?

You probably already know my answer to the latter question. I think it is.

wordpress.com/2016/05/09/what-is-the-brewers-association-doing-to-address-gender-and-race/">What Is the Brewers Association Doing to Address Gender and Race?

(By Bryan Roth, at This Is Why I'm Drunk)

 ... Some context before we get to the #longread.

The last few weeks have been ripe for discussion. Last month, one brewer’s Facebook rant on sexism went viral, and rightfully so. Last week, a Twitter argument erupted over a questionable beer label, and rightfully so. Hell, this year’s James Beard Award for Journalism went to a story about the lack of minorities in the beer industry.

It’s not hard to find labels that could easily be found as offensive.

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Brewers Association beer and brewing stats for Kentucky and Indiana.

The straight dope from Kevin Gibson, including Kentucky and Indiana production rankings.

 Since this short snippet was buried in a "business briefing" update, I'm including all of Kevin's text.

Kentucky ranks 38th in U.S. in total breweries, report shows, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)

The Brewers Association recently reported 2015 statistics on craft breweries state by state and the economic impact of the industry on each state; Kentucky ranked 38th in the nation with 24 total breweries, with California (518) by far being the highest.

The association reports that Kentucky breweries brewed 87,156 barrels of beer last year, or 0.8 gallons per adult (21 and over). Those numbers rank 32nd and 38th respectively nationwide. The economic impact is reported at $495 million, good for 27th in the United States.

Kentucky’s brewing industry, while it has taken a back seat to distilling in terms of popularity and growth, has shown movement in recent years. The number of breweries in the state has more than doubled in the last five years, according to the report.

In Louisville, Great Flood Brewing recently announced it will build a production brewery that will greatly increase its impact, while no fewer than two other breweries are in the process of opening.

Our neighbors to the north, Indiana, ranked 15th nationally with 115 breweries that drove more than $1 billion in economic impact. Nationally, there were more than 4,200 breweries doing business in 2015, according to the report. Domestic craft beer sales grew by 12.8 percent.

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"Playing Nice With Bad Beer"? I'd rather not, although adjuncts aren't necessarily the deal killer.

I generally agree with what the Brewers Association does for my industry, but even after these many years, there is an element of wariness. After all, it's the house that Charlie Papazian built. There's also a palpable infusion of Kremlinology when it comes to observing the workings of the BA.

Conceding from the start that "craft" as an adjective has long since descended into utter nonsense, even if I still use it as a variety of colloquial shorthand, for a very long time the BA has chosen to impale itself on the use of adjuncts. Perhaps finally this is changing.

"While this division made sense in earlier days of the craft brewing revolution, we see evolution leading many craft brewers to consider the use of adjunct grains in their recipes," the association said. "Some craft brewers do use adjuncts to bring greater palatability by lightening some of their stronger beers. Other brewers are deliberately going for lighter bodied beers in sessionable offerings. When one looks at the millennia of brewing practice, one common thread for the vast majority of time is that brewers employed ingredients that are readily available to them."

Once each year in summer, my brewery releases a Pre-Prohibition Pilsner brewed with adjuncts. While clocking in at a higher ABV than I prefer, it is nonetheless delicious. It can be done, but of course, doing so is not the same thought or brewing process as churning out alcoholic soda pop.

Which leads me to Kevin Patterson's recent column. It reads so much like my 1990's era pieces in the FOSSILS newsletter that I'm tempted to begin comparing passages to see if I've been sampled.

(Not really, of course)

After 12 years owning a brewery, I've modified my stance only a little. Ya gotta have science in the brewhouse, even if I failed it in high school. But Kevin's right: As it pertains to stirring the heart and emboldening the mind, we need art. Art sometimes tries the patience, but that's better than wet air, anyday.

As is true love.

Screwed Up Beer Week (vol 9) - Playing Nice With Bad Beer- Not This Guy!, by: Kevin Patterson (LexBeerScene.com)

A diplomat walks into a bar. And by diplomat, I mean a professional craft beer brewer. While not exactly a diplomat, he was acting all diplomatic when he was talking with his customers and fans. Taking the high road when asked about the efforts of "big beer," such as Budweiser, Miller, Coors, Pabst, etc., He was happy to lament on the difficulty of their tasks, how tough it is to make beers so light, so clean, so consistent- acting like his mind has been blown at the success of such large enterprises. And though I applaud him for being the bigger man, I call bullshit!

Q & A with Ron Downer, via the Brewers Association.

Almost exactly one year ago, I reported the welcome news that old friend Ron Downer was getting back into commercial brewing.

Ron Downer to brew at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee.

 ... Ron was a prolific homebrewer before turning pro, and so starting small at Blackberry Farm prior to growing the brewery should be right up his alley.

It appears that Ron's hope of bringing his new brewing operation up to cruising speed is bearing fruit, if not blackberries, as evidence by this Q & A chat at the Brewers Association community page.

A toast to Ron Downer.

Finally! Red hot controversy as (gasp) Brewers Association speaks the truth about mockrobrew.

The zombie craft beer bots went berserk on Thursday as the Brewers Association and fellow travelers launched a long overdue assault-by-press-release on "domestic non-craft" beer producers: Brewers Association’s Papazian and Pease, Schlafly’s Kopman call out ‘faux-crafts’

Fans of Goose Island, Magic Hat and Pyramid shuffled through soiled drawers. Perhaps appropriately, the BA release was preceded by an op-ed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Craft or crafty? Consumers deserve to know the truth

If you think craft breweries are a good force in America, take the time to familiarize yourself with who is brewing the beer you are drinking.

Is it truly from a brewer that is small (producing less than 6 million barrels of beer a year) and independent (less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves craft)?

Or is it a product of a large international brewer, capitalizing on the unprecedented growth of the sector to produce a faux-craft beer?

It makes a difference. By supporting small and independent craft brewers across the country, we are giving them a chance to thrive in business, create more jobs, boost the economy and compete against the massive corporations that have controlled the market for so long.

Don't say it; I already know.

I'm agreeing with Charlie Papazian, an unusual position that has me casting wary eyes toward fence posts and manhole covers to see if Allen Funt is stalking me.

And yes, it's true that I sought to get Charlie interested in this topic as far back as 1994, and could get no comment from him apart from the equivalent of "who the fuck are you?"

Finally, one aspect of the BA definition troubles me a bit: If a locally-owned, small-time brewery took to exclusively producing the best Pre-Prohibition Pilsner ever tasted, would it be excluded as "craft" because of the use of adjuncts (corn), even though such a beer is the very essence of traditional, at least in American terms?

But times change. What the BA has done, finally, is to publicly and specifically recognize the true nature of the threat, and from whence it comes.

Vindication. It's sweet like Doppelbock, ain't it?

Pint/CounterPint III -- now at LouisvilleBeer.com

The third installment of Pint/CounterPint is up at LouisvilleBeer.com. This time Adam "Against the Grain" Watson differs with the Brewers Association's definition of craft beer, while I defend.

Yes, it's understood that to do so, I must agree with Charlie Papazian. So be it.

Pint/CounterPint 3:1
Arts and Crafts, by Adam Watson, Against The Grain Brewery

Pint/CounterPint 3:2
In defense of the BA’s craft definition, by Roger A. Baylor, New Albanian Brewing Company

It's American Craft Beer Week. Need an excuse to have a beer?

The Brewers Association is our official trade group, and its nationwide American Craft Beer Week promotion starts tomorrow and runs during the coming week (May 17-23).

In addition, Indiana Beer Week runs the week preceding the annual guild festival in Broad Ripple on July 17, and there'll be a Louisville Craft Beer Week from September 24 through October 2. That's three craft beer weeks. Why not make every week a craft beer week, and name each one after yourself, your home, house pets, children ... whatever?

But seriously: There can't be too many. Breweries across the country have scheduled tastings, fests, dinners, brew-ins and numerous other individualistic local happenings to recognize American Craft Beer Week. To see what's up, check individual local brewery websites and go here.

Press release from the Brewers Association: “75 Years of Beer.”

We wanted to take a moment, on this historic day, to thank all the breweries who are recognizing April 7, 1933 and 75 Years of Beer.

Historians note that Prohibition officially ended on December 5, 1933, with the ratification of the 21st Amendment. But earlier that year, newly-elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt took steps to fulfill his campaign promise to end the national ban on alcohol. He spurred Congress to modify the Volstead Act to allow the sale of 3.2 percent beer in advance of the Twenty-first Amendment being ratified. Thus on April 7, 1933 there was legal beer once again!

Media outlets such as the Washington Post, CNN.com and many more have just recently highlighted April 7, 1933 as a story worth covering. CNN.com even published a web link to 75yearsofbeer.org, so cheers to all who helped bring this day to the attention of many and cheers to the privilege of beer being back for 75 years!

Remember, too, American Craft Beer Week is May 12-18. The purpose of this week is to recognize the positive contributions of American brewers.

Brewers Association, other industry groups addressing keg theft.

I'm not in the habit of cutting and pasting, but the dispatch below from Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, is of topical interest.

It pertains to recent grievous losses of kegs at all levels of the beer business. Of course, we know that the current price of items like kegs is governed by increased demand for metals of all alloys and stripes, especially in exploding economies like China's, and that fact in turn has sent demand for scrap metal soaring.

RealBeer.com recently had this to say on the keg theft problem:

The brewing industry is pushing for legislation that would require scrapmetal recyclers to ask for identification and proof of ownership fromwould-be sellers of stolen kegs. The Beer Institute noticed the problem inthe past few years as it saw more brewers reporting missing kegs, resultingin loss of up to $50 million a year, said Jeff Becker, president of the BeerInstitute. "It really got people's attention because that's a significantflow of our kegs that we'll never see again," Becker said. "We know some of it's very innocent but some of it's not."

http://www.probrewer.com/news/news-003162.php

Speaking only for myself, I appreciate that the BA has been working with scrap metal dealers and recyclers, who've been abetting this thievery for far too long.

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From: Paul Gatza
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2007 8:29 AM
Subject: Keg Deposit Posts

Hi All,

We have had to reject several Brewers Association Forum posts in the last few weeks that have commented on or asked questions on altering keg deposit prices as a means of addressing the larger issue of keg loss. Deposit pricing is not a topic available for discussion, as any collective attempt to alter pricing, whether it be for beer or for keg deposits would be an anti-competitive activity aimed at fixing prices. I know that this subject is one of great frustration for many of you. There are a great many activities that are appropriate for a trade association, such as surveying and disseminating the results, and promoting a particular industry. This topic is one where we must tread very carefully, so that the trade association is in compliance with law.

That said, there are some activities related to keg deposits that we are working on. The Brewers Association technical committee has approved that the Brewers Association work with Beer Institute and ISRI (scrap dealers association) on a publicity campaign targeted at scrap dealers including trade publication advertisement and posters made available to scrap dealers stating that kegs are stolen property if they are not delivered by a company representative of the company whose name is on the keg. As long as we do not suggest specific keg deposit pricing, there is the possibility to pursue something such as development of sample state legislation. There may be a role for the PR and marketing committee on a proactive public awareness campaign. There has been some activity on stolen metal and keg deposits in several states this year.

Thanks. I'll keep you posted on further developments.

Paul Gatza, Director
Brewers Association
Boulder, Colorado
www.beertown.org

"Support Your Local Brewery" -- from the Brewers Association.

An interesting idea, and one that could be useful. First we need to wait and see whether the megabreweries sign on; if so, I may wish not to.

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Support Your Local Brewery is a national, grassroots partnership of beer enthusiasts, professional trade associations and brewers dedicated to supporting and protecting the legislative and regulatory interests of small, traditional and independent craft breweries. Beer Activists are the Minutemen and Minutewomen of the brewing community. Just as the patriots of the revolutionary Minute Man Guard answered a fledgling nation's call to action, Beer Activists support their local brewery at a moment's notice. When you become a beer activist you'll be asked to respond to Beer Activist E-Action Alerts sent to your e-mail inbox. Your help will be needed to contact your legislative representatives when state or federal regulatory initiatives threaten the livelihood of your local brewery …

… Support Your Local Brewery was established in 2007 and is supported and funded by the Brewers Association, the national, not-for-profit trade association for professional U.S. craft brewers. To learn more about the Brewers Association visit http://www.beertown.org/.