Heady Stuff Specialty breweries stand out from the crowd with unusual products.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
For some beer drinkers of the Pilsner ilk, the thought ofcracking open a Raison D'Etre or an Unfiltered Wheat... well,it just doesn't occur. Venture out to the fringe, however, andit's different.
"The most heartening trend is that, while the beer industryis essentially flat overall, there's rekindled growth inhundreds of small, local breweries," says Sam Calagione,founder and owner of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware, aswell as Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in nearby Rehoboth Beach."Unique brand identities and product lines are reallythriving."
Indeed, the nearly 1,400 U.S. craft brewers--which includebrewpubs, microbreweries (those that sell less than 15,000 barrelsper year) and specialty brewers--sold 7 percent more beer in 2004than in 2003, according to the Brewers Association, a trade association forU.S. craft brewers. Craft beer is the fastest-growing segment ofthe U.S. alcoholic beverage industry.
Innovative product is key to success in today's craft beerindustry. "The beer business has changed a great deal in thepast 15 years," says John McDonald, 52, founder and owner ofBoulevard Brewing Co. in Kansas City, Missouri."Craft breweries really struggled in the mid-'90s becausethere were so many. The past five to seven years, the breweriesthat have survived are the ones investing in quality and goodproduct."
And when it comes to selling these unusual brews, standardmarketing tactics don't cut it. Boulevard, which sells in 11states in the Midwest, gets 55 percent of its business throughon-site sales of draft beer in bars and restaurants, and the restthrough sales of bottled beer. The company does little marketing oradvertising, relying instead on its brewery's visibility inKansas City--and plain, old word-of-mouth. "We don'tmarket just a brand beer. We really sell the brewery," saysMcDonald, who brought in more than $14.2 million in 2004 andexpects to end 2005 up nearly 17 percent over 2004.
Like McDonald, Calagione, who founded Dogfish in 1995 andexpects 2005 sales to top $10 million, wouldn't think ofentreating a mass market to drink his beer. Says Calagione, 36,"We make our beer for the minority who care more aboutwhat's happening inside the bottle than all the marketingbullshit happening outside the bottle."
