Month: May 2017

  • If you are going to play, you must be willing to pay…..

    Over the years of posting stories, there have been a number written about individuals who, for personal reasons, violated either federal, state or contractual law.  Examples of such violations include: selling Old Milwaukee kegs as Schlitz, trans-shipping Coors out of a warehouse to eastern markets, dumping beer in Mexico, changing ABV dates on packages in […]

  • May 27th, 2017

    This Saturday Jim Koch will turn 68, and as we do every year at this time, let’s take a look at Boston Beer in 2017.  Unfortunately, what we see is not a pretty picture. In the recent IRI data, ending April 30, 10 of the top 17 growth craft brands are totally owned, or partially […]

  • Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken..

    When searching for beer on line, Amazon has more than 101 pages of books listed under the beer category.  The majority of these beer books are about styles, bars, countries, or cities and their beer culture or history.   There have been, however, a few beer books published offering more than simply beer styles. There are […]

  • Compromise works well in this world when you have shared goals…

    Last month, at a retailer appreciation kick-off event for a new brewery, a longtime importer reminded me of a prediction I had made 15 years ago regarding the future of wholesalers.  Given the direction of the industry at that time, it was clear that the biggest change would occur at the middle tier. With the […]

  • There are times in politics when you must be on the right side and lose…

    Marc Sorini, the noted lawyer for the law firm, McDermott, Will, and Emery, recently outlined his opinion, noting that the expansion of brewery owned brewpubs or retail outlets, sometimes referred to as satellite outlets, will not disrupt the market.  He goes on to state that even in California, a state that has as many as […]