Macrobrewers & the Craft Beer Market Part 2 - Market Trends & The Future

Macrobrewers & the Craft Beer Market Part 2 -  Market Trends & The Future

In the previous post on this topic, I mentioned at the very end that Anheuser-Busch has started buying up craft breweries to add to its portfolio. I already talked about the purchase of Goose Island, which is/was arguably the most high profile of their purchases. Last year, Anheuser-Busch purchased 10 Barrel Brewing based out of Bend, Oregon & Blue Point Brewing based out Patchogue, New York. However, when it was announced early this year that Anheuser-Busch was going to purchase Elysian Brewing, the craft beer community was in shock since Elysian had been a long cherished member of the craft brewing scene; Though rumors of a buyout had been floating around for a couple of months

Oh and remember that commercial from Budweiser? You know, this one.....

Did you catch the part where it talks about fussing over a pumpkin peach ale? A few months prior to Anheuser-Busch's buyout, Elysian actually released a pumpkin peach ale and many took this as a thumb-and-nose gesture on behalf of Budweiser. Upon hearing this information, many people were, understandably, rather upset.


As I've mentioned before, macrobrew sales have been declining steadily over the past few years while craft beer sales continue to grow with each passing year; Which could explain the buyouts we've seen over the past few years. However another reason why sales have been falling is because there is not only to a wider selection as far as beer in concerned, but also many of us (i.e. Millennials) don't have the brand loyalty that our parents had and what we want in a beer is, for lack of a better term, a higher quality of flavor.

Speaking from a Millennial perspective, it's not that I don't have brand loyalty, though you would never guess from all the reviews I do. It's just that I was introduced to craft beer fairly early on, about a couple years after I started drinking beer in general. At the risk of sounding snobbish, my standards as far as the quality of flavor I expect from a beer are considerably higher than what people my age expected 20 years ago.

Furthermore, there are actually few beers that I have as a go-to option when I'm not feeling like writing or I'm just looking to relax for the evening. They're not necessarily amongst the best beers I've ever had but they're great beers that I know I'm getting my money's worth for when I buy them.

So what happens from here? Will craft beer one day reign supreme while AB-InBev & MillerCoors go extinct? Will Budweiser, Heineken & Miller Coors join forces to form a Voltron-like robot and try to wipe out everything craft beer? Truthfully, I don't see any of those happening but I do have an idea of what we will start to see in the foreseeable future.

1. BMC (Budweiser MillerCoors) will continue to buy craft breweries.
   
   I mentioned in my previous post that macro-brewers will want to retain their share of the marketplace and we've already seen the expansion of Goose Island to a national level and it has worked favorably for Anheuser-Busch. Whether you like it or not, this is a trend that will continue. Given the recent purchases made on behalf of AB-InBev, don't be too surprised to see MillerCoors start to buyout various craft breweries around the country.
   
   
2. Craft Beer will continue to grow its market share
   
   This shouldn't really come as too much of a surprise, but the craft beer industry will continue to grow its marketshare. At the time of writing this, craft beer accounted for approximately 11% of the beer industry in the United States. While I don't expect to see craft beer breaking the 25% marker for at least quite a while, I don't expect to see the growth stopping anytime soon.
   
   
3. Expect to see Macrobrewers release their own interpretations of popular craft beer styles.
   
   For the past couple of years, we've been seeing AB-InBev & MillerCoors release beers with higher-than-normal ABVs in an attempt to draw in the craft beer drinking crowd. The results have been....not so good with just one that I would consider to be tolerable. The thing is that macro-brewers have the capability and resources to make the same thing as craft breweries but they aren't really making an effort to do so.
   
   I see that changing in the very near future and I expect to see Budweiser or Miller release their own IPA or Saison. This would no doubt be an effort to draw in the craft beer crowd and the quality of the beers would inevitably come into question upon release. Besides... if Blue Moon can make a White IPA that is actually good, I don't see any reason why Budweiser wouldn't be able to do the same.
   
   
4. Microbreweries buying other microbreweries.
   
   Here's one that I don't think many people really consider since many craft beer drinkers have adopted an "Us Vs. Them" mentality. We all know that some craft breweries come in all shapes and sizes but they are still businesses nevertheless.
   
   Given the growth at which craft breweries are undergoing, I believe that it's inevitable that we're bound to see other microbrewers merge with or buy up other microbrewers. One prime example I've seen is with Bent Brewstillery, a local Minnesota brewery, merge with Pour Decisions, another Minnesota-based brewery.
   

So there you have it, my predictions for the future of the craft brewing industry and the brewing industry as a whole. Regardless of what happens, it's going to get very interesting here in the next few years and we all have a front row seat to all the action.

Busch Signature Copper Lager Review

Name: Busch Signature Copper Lager
Style: Amber/Vienna Lager
ABV: 5.7%

It's time to look at a beer that I have been meaning to get around to for quite a while: Busch Signature Copper Lager. Released earlier this year, this is the 3rd beer (to my knowledge) released by Anheuser-Busch that contains a high-than-normal ABV than what is seen in macro lagers, with the other two being Budweiser Black Crown and Bud Light Platinum.

Released earlier this year, this beer is meant to be targeted mainly at the craft beer crowd with using the ABV as a justification for buying the product; Something which I find to be somewhat pretentious from a marketing point of view. I understand many craft beers are higher in alcohol content, but drawing from personal experience, it doesn't always necessarily mean that it's better.

Since I wasn't willing to spend the money on a six-pack, I opted for the 25oz. tallboy which just so happened to be on sale. A sign of good travels or a bad omen lurking on the horizon? Let's find out...

Busch Copper Lager pours a clear copper color with no visible carbonation to speak of what-so-ever. The head takes on a white filmy appearance with decent retention and there is also some light lacing here.

The aroma starts out with a surprisingly decent scent of Munich malts, roasted barley/grains, toffee sweetness and there's is even some faint hoppiness at the very back end of the nose! It actually smells like an amber lager should!

Now the flavor starts out with some good Munich and toasted maltiness but then the adjuncts (corn, cereal grains, etc.) seemingly come out of nowhere, hijack the rest of the flavor and it ends up tasting like a typical adjunct lager when it's all said and done. As for the faint hoppiness, it perished as well.

Now the palate is very light-bodied and the carbonation is so mild that it teeters on being almost non-existant. To it's credit though, it does make it very easy to drink even if it comes off as very watery

As much as I prefer craft beer over macro lagers, I'm somewhat disappointed that this didn't possess a better taste because it gives a pretty good first impression with the aroma. However given that it's an Anheuser-Busch product, I'm not surprised either. To it's credit though, there is nothing I would consider offensive about this beer in terms of both taste and smell. After all, with higher-than normal ABV macro lagers, you could do much, much worse.

Busch Signature Copper Lager - 5/10

Boddington's Pub Ale Review

Boddington's Pub Ale is one of those beers that I've seen everytime I goto grab some beer but never really bothered with until I decided one day to try it out, plus it was reasonably priced for what it was. Upon looking at the can, I figured why I've seen this pretty much everywhere I went: Boddington's is brewed by Samlesbury, which is a subsidiary of AB-InBev so it's safe to assume that this beer has a very long reach in terms of distribution.

As for the beer itself, it's categorized as an English Bitter with an ABV of 4.7%, and as I've mentioned before, the English Bitter that most people are familiar with is Goose Island Honker's Ale.

Boddington's pours a clear pale golden color with a very filmy & creamy-looking head along with some abundant lacing.

The nose has some light honey notes, along with cereal grains, malts, and barley. Very dry smell and not much else. As for the flavor, you have light honey, cereal grains and barley; That's pretty much it, there really isn't too much flavor to this.

The body is light & creamy and the carbonation is light; It's very smooth and easy to drink, which is probably the best thing about this beer.

The flavor and overall experience are pretty much the exact same that I had when I had my first Old Speckled Hen, it was even served in a Nitro-Can just like Boddington's. It's a very smooth and creamy beer, but the flavor is quite dry and leaves much more to be desired. It could've been alot worse but I wouldn't recommend drinking this your options are very limited.

Boddington's Pub Ale - 5.5/10