Craft Beer Makers Talk Success, Hopes For The Future

There’s a war in the beer world between the big fish and the little fish. Smaller craft beer brands have spent the last several years making headway in the beer market share, with 2012 marking 13% in gains by volume and 15% by dollar, proving craft breweries are in it for the long haul. Now, they are lobbying to even out the playing field.

On Thursday, the craft brewing industry published an op ed in the St. Louis Dispatch from the President and the COO of the Brewers Association (which speaks for craft beer companies across the country), bringing up some hopes for the future of brewing that will hopefully give craft brewers a better chance of competing and pulling ahead with more than 5% of the beer market share. The Brewers Association members state that “beer is a movement,” but that it is important to note the small guys from the big guys and to not mistake beers that may look homegrown, like Blue Moon or Shock Top, from actual small company brews.

In the future, the Brewers Association would like the government to enforce labeling that would let buyers know whether or not a beer was a legitimate craft beer or a smaller sect of a large corporation, believing that will give the consumer a better understanding of beer and an ability to choose a small American company with American employees over corporations that are often based overseas. Until then, the consumer will need to educate his or herself on what products belong to what companies, that is, if you want to support the smaller beer companies. A beer is a beer is a beer, but some beers come with a little something extra, and craft beer makers believe they bring just that to the table.