Apparently beer, specifically craft beer, is good for the economy. In this article from NACS Washington state has seen their craft beer industry grow as other businesses are failing and the overall economy has tanked. Here now is some empirical evidence that craft beer is a wise economic choice.
There are all kinds of directions that you can go from here and questions that this raises:…
- Why is it so hard to start a brewery or brew pub in so many states, when clearly it is good for the local and regional economy? You would think at this time when states are looking for revenue, and jobs that they would be doing all they could to help breweries locate in their state. This isn’t such a big deal here in Idaho, but in New Jersey where Jim lives, it is extremely difficult to start up a brewery or brew pub. So much so that people opt to cross the border into New York where the local laws are far more favorable for local start ups.
- Why is shipping beer such an issue in this country? We have documented on this site several times the shipping woes of my local beer store that also has an online sales component. Shipping beer in this country is a disaster to but it mildly. Why do these roadblocks exist? There is little reason for them and they should be removed.
- Why are our representatives contemplating a house bill that would restrict shipping of wine and beer and direct to consumer sales? I understand that the Wholesale and Distribution companies have a powerful lobby in congress, but this is ridiculous. This bill on its face is bad legislation that takes rights away from brewers and vintners and gives more power to wholesalers and distributors. I think I was taught in my Junior High civics lessons that laws were meant to protect the weak, not kick them in the stomach and steal their lunch money.
- What has Craft Beer done to keep growing in a down economy while the big brewers have lost market share? This would be an important question to answer to build on the success of the craft beer movement. Can you imagine the growth of craft beer if the economy were booming?
- How has this economy and personal preference shifted so that purchase of craft beer has increased in the second worst economic crisis in the County’s history? It is very interesting to me that craft beer is so resilient to this bad economy. There are plenty of examples of people loosing, and those struggling to make ends meet, but as far as I can tell the only ones making a killing during this time are Walmart, McDonalds, and Craft Beer. What is the connection? Is there one? These are very strange bedfellows!
So many questions and few answers. What do you think? Should Craft Beer have the way paved for it to flourish, or are there reasons for these seemingly unreasonable laws?
And on a personal level, how much do you spend on craft beer? Is it a line item in your budget? Is is a luxury that you have once in a while? What are your considerations before you plunk down $9 for a bottle of Southern Tier? Let us know…Thanks.
-Don
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
It’s a craft beer manifesto!!
I think the driving force behind craft beer is quality. People are waking up to the fact that good beer is out there and they are buying it. It might have grown even quicker without the economy in the dumps, but I think the upward trend in difficult times is indicative of how robust the industry will be in a few years.
As far as home delivery goes, it’s never gonna happen – we’ll continue to get squeezed and screwed over by the three tier distribution system. Too much money is changing hands for anything else to happen.
As far as considerations before buying beer goes, I have few. I get stingy at the $15.00 price point for a bottle but mostly I buy what I like, understanding that I’ll drink it all eventually. My wife and I don’t spend a lot of money on gadgets or luxury items, so beer and premium cable are out vices, and we treat ourselves.
I know you’ll drink it all! That is a given. I hate that so many of the issues are institutional in nature and you know what the say “you can’t fight city hall” and its even harder when you’re drunk! I agree with the quality. There is nothing better than drinking a brew that you can taste the quality that went into the brew. It is truly a thing of beauty.
To your question about the connection between Walmart, McDonald’s and craft beer prosperity in these times, part of it is value. In this crappy economy, people are looking for value. Craft beer still provides it. I’ve said this on blogs before. Maybe this one. You can easily get a damn good bottle of premium craft beer for at least half the price of a similarly rated bottle of wine. With craft beer, people can still get their drink on and feel like they’ve treated themselves to something special without feeling like they completely raided the week’s grocery funds.
Also, like Walmart and McDonald’s, craft beer is accessible. There aren’t a lot of snooty preconceptions about beer and beer people. It’s beer. The drink of the common folk. Everyone can drink and enjoy it without having to hold their nose up and pinky finger out while drinking it. You don’t have to know anything about a Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball to enjoy one at a party. It’s nice if you do. But know one expects you to. Craft beer benefits from that. And by adding craft, uniqueness and specialty into the brewing mix, craft brewers have also appealed to those who enjoy fine wine or specialty spirits but have avoided beer in the past because it was too … well … common. Again, making craft beer more accessible to another target—and raising its beverage cred at the same time.
About the laws. It sucks. Really sucks. The original intent of some of these laws may have had some validity. But these days many just don’t make sense. Old ones and new ones are often hyped with, and hidden in, morality. But just follow the money. It’s distributors, big brewers and local and state government pushing many of the new laws or protecting the old ones. No conspiracy theories here. Just noting that there’s a lot of monied interest in these laws, and those interests will throw their money and power around to protect themselves. Most often at the expense of the little winery or brewery turning out their craft product.
No rules per se on the beer budget. I’ve purchased $25 bombers and $12 12 oz. bottles in the past. But psychologically, I think I tend to stay under $15 for bombers and $5 for 12 oz. bottles for the most part. Over that, and to my point above, I start feeling guilty about raiding the grocery fund.
Whew, sorry for the long post! Guess you got me going with these topics. 🙂
Wow! Great comment Chad. I have to agree with you about value. That is one thing all three retailers have in common. Craft beer does give great value. It is very easy to spend $40 on a bottle of wine and not like what is inside. You’d be pretty hard pressed to do the same with craft beer. Oh, you might not like it, but $40 bottles are pretty few and far between. I try to keep my beer purchases to about $25 total. That might be 6 bottles or it may be 2 just depending on what I get. But that is my rule of thumb. Accessibility is another good point. Seems like the Wine industry has marketed themselves into a corner. It is a little tougher to put the genie back in the bottle and say something is now accessible where before it was more exclusive. Beer, has done a 180 and embraced its accessibility and sales reflect that.
See, I am not sure if it’s the commonality per se, as it is that everyone is losing all their extra “treats”. Beer has always tended to be the last thing ANYONE would like to give up, and recession resistant. Now, for some, a treat may have been going to the theater, others it may have been an extra round of golf or 2. Now that you have lost those, when you go to buy beer you splurge a bit more. You can justify it as we have had to give up so much in every other part of our lives. Buying a special or limited beer makes us feel normal again, even if it’s only at 5-8 bucks at a time.
Good point Marvin. However if Craft beer wasn’t a good value I don’t think it would be recession proof. Also I’m curious about the fact that the Big brewers are losing market share while the small guys are gaining ground. Its a big puzzle, but I’m glad that craft beer is flourishing. I think it could be even better if we can tap into the reasons for the trends. So far it seems as if the reason craft beer is booming is because of the bad economy, but I think there is more to this story.