By Mike
Posted: January 16, 2020
As a craft brewery owner there is no greater feeling than being at the bar, anonymous to the consumer, and watching someone step up and order your beer. It is the culmination of your dream; the beer you created is wanted by someone who could have ordered anything. But what that consumer never sees is
Continue Reading “MIKE’S MESSAGE”
Category: blog
By Mike
Posted: January 15, 2020
1. Beer will decline this generation for many well-documented reasons. It will be the next decade before the pendulum swings back toward beer. Beer as reward, beer as social catalyst, beer as a badge…everything that traditionally made beer the preferred beverage is less relevant than ever. 2. ABI/MC will rebound and begin to dominate the
Continue Reading “10 Predictions for 2020s Decade”
Category: 10 predictions, blog
By Mike
Posted: January 14, 2020
Taking the long view of the past 80 years since Prohibition ended, it went something like this: 1940s and 50s Lots of local breweries making great beer. Kind of like today. 1960s and 70s Big beer takes over and knocks out the little guys. 1980s – 2000s Light beer domination gives rise to imports for
Continue Reading “Survival Tips for 2020”
Category: blog
By Mike
Posted: March 7, 2019
Three Rules to Live By 1. The consumers will pay for your brand if they want it. That means great beer that’s fresh when they drink it; a brand people identify with; a taproom where they want to hang out. Get that right and everything else is easy. Get it wrong and nothing you do
Continue Reading “HOW TO SURVIVE PRICE COMPETITION AND EMERGE A WINNER”
Category: blog
By Mike
Posted: March 7, 2019
There has been a lot of talk and writing about 15 packs lately. I was there for the first 15 pack, a long time ago, as a young marketing manager just starting out in the beer business. It actually started out as a 30 pack. It was the Stroh Brewery in the early 1980s. Volume
Continue Reading “15 PACKS ARE A HARBINGER OF DEATH FOR CRAFT BEER”
Category: blog
By Mike
Posted: March 7, 2018
There’s an old saying about distributors… “George Washington makes every decision”. Like most old sayings, it is true. Distributors are expert financial managers. Those who were not were bought out a long time ago. If you ever wonder why the distributors let so many great selling opportunities slip by and sometimes expect you to do
Continue Reading “10 RULES TO GET THE MOST FROM YOUR DISTRIBUTORS IN 2018”
Category: blog
By Mike
Posted: March 7, 2018
Friends and Associates: Brewers Advisory Group announced that it acted as advisor to Palmetto Brewing Company in its agreement to be acquired by Catawba Brewing Company. The transaction closed in late December. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, Palmetto Brewery sold approximately 16,000 barrels in 2017, and has experienced rapid growth. Catawba Brewing sold about 17,500
Continue Reading “CATAWBA BREWING ACQUIRES PALMETTO BREWING”
Category: blog
By Mike
Posted: March 7, 2017
The 2017 Southern Brewers conference was well attended, with craft brewers wanting to know what is happening and what to do about it. Our seminar was entitled “The Coming Shakeout in the Craft Beer Market”. We explored the growth of (former) craft brands that have been acquired by A-B, MillerCoors, Heineken and Constellation. These brands
Continue Reading “2017 SOUTHERN BREWERS CONFERENCE REFLECTIONS”
Category: blog
By Mike
Posted: March 7, 2016
Leaving the Southern Brewers Conference in Nashville last week, I noted some common themes that haven’t been heard before: Tough Exhausting Trouble Unlike other recent conferences, you could feel it in the air. There is a storm coming and most are not prepared. More breweries, too many skus, slower growth, rotating taps, consumer fatigue, big
Continue Reading “2016 SOUTHERN BREWERS CONFERENCE AFTERMATH”
Category: blog
By Mike
Posted: March 7, 2016
A hundred years ago, there were over 1,800 automobile manufacturing companies in the United States. Click here to see the list of those who succeeded and who didn’t. They were entrepreneurs with a dream, who risked everything. Most either sold their companies or went out of business the hard way. This list looks eerily like
Continue Reading “MERGERS BETWEEN CRAFT BREWERS ARE PART OF THE FUTURE”
Category: blog
