Lengthy feature on Goose Island in this morn's Ad Age sez "the doubters seem to have been proved wrong." The mag headlines not only that ABI a "good home" for Goose, but that "Big Brewer Helps Cult Craft Rise." Goose has "managed to hold on to its street cred," asserts Ad Age.

Goose Will Get More "Aggressive"; New Ads In Jan, Goose "will begin getting more aggressive," noted Ad Age, "when it launches its first ad campaign under its first ad agency" Chi-based VSA Partners. Campaign will be "partly aimed at gaining awareness in new markets" as Goose will be "careful to maintain its image as a gritty urban brewer known for an innovative pipeline of specialty beers," such as Sofie and Lolita. The "push includes print, out-of-home and a digital video," and the tagline is "To What's Next."

Goose Plays By Its Own Rules The campaign wasn't "subject to the rigorous copy testing standards" ABI is "known for," said Ad Age, an "example of how Goose execs say they are operating independently from their parent." Goose ceo Andy Goeler sez: "We get very, very, very little direction from Anheuser Busch…. We bought Goose Island for what Goose Island was: authentic, very credible…. The intent was not to change any of that but to continue to evolve it and let it move to the next level."

Goose's "Cult Following"; Bourbon County; Barrel-Aged "How much of a cult following does Goose Island have" asked Ad Age. "On Black Friday, hundreds of people stood in long lines in cities such as Austin and New York to snare Bourbon County Stout, a rare barrel-aged beer." Even "beer geeks agree," Beer Advocate columnist Andy Crouch told Ad Age, Goose's line of barrel-aged beers "remain among the best-produced in the country." Tho Goose's largest beers are made at other AB breweries, that has "freed space for more experimentation at the Chicago brewery," noted Ad Age. Goose also "gets access to an AB-InBev owned hop farm in Idaho where the craft brewer controls its own plot." That's "birthplace of a hop" in new Goose Island seasonal dubbed Ten Hills Pale Ale, "crafted with no consumer testing or market research," sez Ad Age, "relying on the creativity of Brewmaster Brett Porter."

With Goose Growing Rapidly, Are Other Deals Coming? ABI Strategy Goose brands up 62% for 52 weeks ending Nov 3 in IRI, notes Ad Age. But Goose Island really just filled pipeline for much of this yr as it expanded to many new mkts. Next yr becomes a more significant test of Goose as a growth platform. Goose Island is already selling 3x the volume and making 10x the EBITDA as when ABI bought it less than 3 yrs ago, as ABI execs recently noted. Considering how well this has worked so far, why would AB not want to do some more craft deals? ABI reportedly has strategy to acquire a handful of other craft brewers on a regional basis.  

One of Portland, Oreg's newest brewers is an old friend of craft beer drinkers. John Harris helped create classic Deschutes brands Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Black Butte Porter then spent 20 years at Full Sail during which time he saw the Oreg brewer "grow to 80,000 barrels, shrink back to almost 50,000 barrels and then grow back to over 100,000 barrels," John said in extended interview with The Street. He's spent last yr and half planning Ecliptic Brewing, a brewpub in North Portland that opened this fall. In assessing the crowded Portland market, John identified that "no one is making sure that the food is at the same level as the beer," so he decided Ecliptic would "really have a more food-focused environment." In Portland, "food is king," according to John, yet "nobody's connected the dots to the point where no brewery is considered among the Top 100 restaurants in town." While Ecliptic "is all about the food," the brewing facility has enough capacity "to make 75 barrels a week, and that adds up to almost 3,000 barrels a year." So, "the idea is to grow the wholesale side from the get-go," using a distributor so John "won't have the headache of the trucks and drivers." Ecliptic's first bottled release, Filament Winter IPA, hit shelves this week. Bottles of a collaboration with Cigar City will be available at the brewpub and in Tampa.  

Baxter Brewing announced that it "will be available throughout New Hampshire beginning next month," in press release earlier today. They have partnered with Bayside and Amoskeag Distributing, both part of MC network. Tho co is right next door in neighboring state of ME, "until now we hadn't been able to make enough beer to even supply our existing markets," sez CEO Luke Livingston. "Recent new construction has expanded the brewery's capacity by more than 400%," to 33,000 plus bbls, noted press release, "so at last, we can supply our nearest neighbors," added Luke. Recall, Baxter entered VT with G Housen earlier this mo.  

Stiff competition seems to be leading to lower prices for craft beer shoppers at some North Texas outlets. Retailers pointed to competition for shelf-space among brewers while brewers pointed to growing competition for alcohol sales among retailers in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article printed this week. In North Texas, food stores compete against big box retailers whether focusing on alcohol or across all categories. Brewers must "be more aggressive to get market share," food chain Central Market's Chris Bostad told the paper.

Retailers like Trader Joe's, Aldi and Costco sell lower-priced private label offerings, according to the article, even though selling such exclusive brands goes against Texas' alc bev code, Rick Donley of Beer Alliance of Texas, one of two Tex wholesaler assns, told CBN. All these also compete against "so-called category killers like Total Wine," pegged as selling Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 12-packs at $11.99, plus new intro of Houston liquor super-store Spec's into DFW and Dallas chain Goody Goody's expanding to Fort Worth. "Much more competition between retailers than existed in the era of wet/dry precincts and a limited number of liquor store chains" has led to "retailers working at lower margins," according to Saint Arnold founder Brock Wagner. While St. Arnold has increased prices "due to higher raw material costs," some retailers have dropped their prices. Both Central Market and Total Wine price "core Sierra Nevada styles at $6.49," according to the article, with Leinenkugel brands at $5.99. That's as Trumer Pils is now at $6.99 at Central Market while "it fetched upwards of $9.98 a six-pack several years ago."

Our own price checks didn't turn up too much discounting in Dallas Kroger's, with Sam Adams, Blue Moon, Corona and Modelo 12-packs at $14.99. That's as Boston Lager, Blue Moon and Fat Tire 12-packs are priced at $12.99 in Dallas Total Wine outlets, with Modelo and Sam seasonals a dollar higher and Sierra brands a dollar lower and 6-packs at $6.49. Other craft sixers were more standard: Lagunitas and Anchor for $8.99, Stone for $9.49, Dogfish Head for $9.99 and Ballast Point at $13.99. An Austin Spec's had Sierra 12-packs at $11.99 too last weekend, with Alaskan 6-packs at $6.79 and Saint Arnold and New Belgium at $6.99.  

There's no lone star in the Texas small brewer scene these days as the country's second largest beer market continues to heat up with homegrown startups and established new entrants. Both Karbach Brewing of Houston and Alamo Beer Co of San Antonio announced plans to spend $23 mil combined on their respective brewing facilities in the last week. Karbach plans to spend $15 mil on expanding its current home in Houston, boosting capacity initially to around 60K bbls but with room to expand to over 200K bbls, according to the Houston Chronicle. Opened in 2011 by beer industry vets including brewer Eric Warner, once head brewer at Flying Dog, and Ken Goodman and Chuck Robertson, founders of distrib CR Goodman. Karbach got off to a fast start: it shipped over 8000 bbls in its first full calendar yr, 2012, according to Brewers Assn stats. It plans to crank out 19K bbls by the end of 2013, also blasting into the BA's regional brewer designation (15K bbls). The team is forecasting 29K bbls in 2014, before the expanded facility comes online in early 2015. Karbach beers don't go any further than "the greater Houston area and San Antonio," according to the release.

Further west, Alamo Beer Co broke ground on its first brewery in San Antonio late last week. Alamo has been contracting its flagship golden ale, (with Blanco's Real Ale Brewing since 2004) but plans to grow the brand to about 40K bbls within 5-7 yrs in the new $8 mil facility, $5 mil of which was secured through an SBA loan by Southwest Securities, FSB. The 18K sq-ft brewery should be completed by next fall. The co hired former Pabst chief operating/strategy officer Jim Walters this past fall to take on the coo role for Alamo Beer.  

Lotsa press about New Belgium Brewing in last week. After controversy resolved in Oh, and New Belgium not able to get big upfront payments from distribs there, New Belgium and distribs able to revise agreements and move forward (as reported in INSIGHTS Express and Beer Marketer's INSIGHTS). Now Oh retailers anxiously awaiting product, which hits the mkt next Monday. And they are "predicting that New Belgium will make a splash similar to when D.G Yuengling & Son entered" Oh, reported The Beer Blog after talking with Ron James, director of beer, wine and liquor for the Wooster-based Buehler's Fresh Foods chain. New Belgium brews will initially be available in 22oz bottles and draft. Recall, 6-pks and 12-pks will be available starting in Feb 2014. NBB held a "special preview tasting" this past Tuesday with Superior Beverage Group, in which "hundreds of others from retailers, bars and restaurants attended," reported Beer Blog. Next states to be announced shortly reportedly are Missisippi and Alabama.

NBB hired a handful of new personnel in Asheville, mainly on the operations side for its upcoming 2d brewery. Positions included Community Relations Specialist, Operations Support Manager, Business Support Manager, Brewing Manager, Packaging Manager, and Liquid Center Manager, reported the Asheville Citizen-Times. "Site preparations continue at the brewery's future location," for construction "expected to begin in May," and "the first public hiring should begin in 2015," added paper.

Then too, NBB already quite active on the new product front, having announced a number of new brews for 2014. A hybrid sour session-able yr round, Snapshot Wheat, in Feb 2014 (see above), and new RyePA, made with all North Carolina rye, as part of Hop Kitchen series for select markets this Mar 2014. Recall, Hop Kitchen series releases different beers quarterly that are aimed to pair well with specific foods. NBB also announced 2014 collaborations with Indiana's Upland Brewing and with NOLA Brewing within the last mo.  

Chandler, Ariz-based SanTan Brewing expects around 60% growth by yr-end, pushing it easily into Brewers Assn's 15K-bbl "regional brewery" status, all in its home state. After expanding its facility to 35K sq-ft with 50-bbl brewhouse this year, SanTan has the fermentation capacity in place to more than double in 2014 as it plans to enter some major nearby beer markets: Calif, Tex, Colo, Nev and NM. To assist with those launches and help SanTan choose new distribution partners, the co hired Wendy Weathers, once national sales director at Oskar Blues. SanTan is committed to "grow the right way" when entering all these new markets, current sales and national acct mgr Chip Mulala, aka Minister of Craft Beer for SanTan, told CBN, which is "why we're so excited getting Wendy on board." The "controlled yet aggressive" launch could be assisted by putting "a rep on the ground in each of these markets," per Chip. SanTan packages its brands, including lead brand Devil's Ale (a pale) and its 5-6 month long-summer seasonal Mr. Pineapple (a GABF award-winning pineapple wheat), solely in cans for the off-premise. That portion of its biz tripled in 2012, Chip shared, and yr-to-date thru Oct 6 in IRI, SanTan's off-premise $$ sales were up 177%, the #12 craft brand family in Ariz.  

Brewing has commenced at Victory's new Parkesburg, PA facility allowing the brewer to open up a handful of new markets in early 2014. Victory expects to produce 104K bbls in 2013, up around 12% from over 93K bbls last year. Starting this month, Victory brands will be distributed by Bigfoot, General and Summit in Oreg, and C. Stein, Odom, Sound and Marine View in Wash - all part of the Great Artisan Beverage group of craft-focused distributor divisions. "There was a time when we would look for a wholesaler that was relatively pure" and "devoid of a thicket of craft brands," Victory co-founder Bill Covaleski told CBN. But "those days are gone." Bill and sales veep Steve German pay particular attention to the value wholesalers provide to retailers, and "part of that value proposition is great knowledge and depth of options in craft." So the team at Victory didn't shy away from Great Artisan Beverage's deep book of craft brands as the group "seems to have better alignment with our scale, better alignment with our portfolio of products." It also allows Victory to head to Idaho for the first time, in January.

Early 2014 will see Victory brands in Ariz and Kentucky for first time too, as well as the UK, Sweden and the Cayman Islands; the new markets bring Victory's total footprint to 34 states plus DC. In Arizona, a market that's "been on our radar for a long time," Victory went statewide with Hensley, and it chose Heidelberg (which also has the brand in Ohio) and River City in Ky. But expanding current distributor relationships to affiliated operations in new territories isn't a given for Victory. Bill maintained his team is "willing to control our own destiny" and that the brewer-distributor relationship "should never be one" that's "bound by obligation." Choices one way or another are "by no means an indication of failure or lack of success."

Exporting Victory scratches 2 itches for Bill, first his "personal interest" in "sharing new experiences with people," and second an interest in further spreading the perception of "the US as a beacon of brewing." Though success abroad may not last forever (since "when you show people these flavors, they can figure out how to do it themselves"), Victory will "participate in this global knowledge exchange" while demand is strong. Bill also mentioned that, while planning for the 2014 World Beer Cup, the Brewers Assn Events Committee he's on has seen a "7-fold increase in the countries represented" in the competition, an indication to him of how foreign brewers are currently viewing the US beer market.  

Less alcohol, more hops and working along the tart/sour spectrum are de rigueur for a growing base of brewers and drinkers alike, leading to changes in year-round and seasonal portfolios for a number of major craft players. The trends are likely to continue. Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione sees "sour and hops as the big palate directors for many years to come." New Belgium's blending master Lauren Salazar expects 2014 to be full of "lots of sessionable everything" and "even MORE sour beers," according to the Denver Post. "Sour" is on the tip of everyone's tongues these days when asked "what's next," but it's far from new. Entering 2014, some craft brewers, including New Belgium, seem to be using tart or sour flavors to connect with and potentially expand American beer drinkers' perceptions of one of their strongest expectations when turning to beer: refreshment.

New Belgium's New Snapshot Wheat Riffs on Belgian-Inspired Tartness Many could argue that crisp, snappy and traditionally German and Czech styles of beer evolved into the light lagers that dominate the American (and international) beer market largely due to their ability to refresh (an important reason humans choose to consume a beverage in the first place). New Belgium will roll out the "very refreshing" and "invigorating" Snapshot in 2014, NBB's 4th core yr-round release since 2010, and "a sour for the people," according to spokesman Bryan Simpson. NBB did not choose to use "sour" as a primary descriptor for packaging or marketing materials, partly to avoid pushback from sour-junkies used to brands like La Folie, an "11 on the scale of 1 to 10 of sour," sez Bryan. Comparatively, Snapshot might fall in around 2.5 or 3 on that scale. It's important to note that, scientifically speaking, acidity, sometimes identified as "sour" on the tongue, is directly correlated with the perception of "refreshment," summed up by a handy Slate post this summer.

More than Snapshot's "subtle tartness," NBB is identifying the brand as a "wheat beer," a loose grouping of styles largely viewed by beer drinkers as approachable, at least. With Snapshot, NBB will "bring something new to the category," as "this beer definitely wanted to zag a little bit," according to Bryan. To make Snapshot, NBB blends two beers, one fermented with lactobacillus (a souring bacteria often associated with beers from Flanders, Belgium, sometimes shortened to "lacto") and one traditionally fermented. So just as it may "confound" beer drinkers' expectations of wheat beers with the qualities gained thru the lacto fermentation, the "secondary process makes it sessionable," Bryan told us. Snapshot debuts in Feb in 12 oz bottles and cans, 22 oz bottles and on draft.

Boston To Debut Cold Snap for Spring; Changing Belgian White Landscape Boston Beer rolls out its new Spring seasonal Cold Snap in January, a white ale that falls somewhere between "the spicy beers of winter" and "the light, crisp beers of summer," Jim Koch told CBN. Cold Snap builds on a handful of other Samuel Adams brands that also play in and riff off of the Belgian White style, Jim reminds, like White Lantern, White Christmas and Whitewater IPA. Boston implements "spices like hibiscus, plums, vanilla and tamarind to make Cold Snap unique." The co "heard from many of our drinkers that they really missed the white ale style in the spring months," Jim told us, "so we brought it back." Some GABF attendees got a sneak peak of the brand this past Oct and "kept coming back for refills," according to Jim.

Boston's white ale is just part of a growing wave of craft brewer takes on the style entering the market or expanding their reach. Recall the recent intro of Shiner's White Wing this fall. Total Beverage Solution announced this week its purchase of the famed Celis White, the original American white ale, and its plans to relaunch the brand into market in mid-2014. With these entrants and others, the landscape of craft white ales will be quite different in 2014 than 2013 (recall our analysis of Belgian Whites and IPAs from Nov 21).

White Still 3/4 of Allagash Volume, Up Over 25% in 2013 Though nearing 20 years old, Allagash White has continued to pick up steam. By the end of 2013, Portland, Maine-based Allagash will have more than quadrupled production since 2008, when it shipped just under 13K bbls, according to BA stats. This year the co "will be up well over 25% over 2012 with our whole book," founder Rob Tod told CBN, somewhere north of 56K bbls. In that time the brewer's brand "mix hasn't changed substantially," and its flagship White is still "over 75% of our volume." Allagash brands are available down a "narrow strip" of the east coast, "essentially down I-95 to Georgia," plus Chicagoland and parts of California. Allagash White is "very authentic to the style," Rob said, which he "spent years out on the road" just "educating people" about. He "couldn't give the beer away for the first 10 years," but not so any longer as "customers these days are pretty savvy." As "big brewers have pushed their version of the white beer style," Rob believes White is "positioned so much differently in so many ways," that it has grown concurrently with brands like Blue Moon and Shock Top.

Namaste Headed Yr-Round for Dogfish Head, Session Shifts and Sam on Flavor After "listening to our customers at our pub," and frankly a desire to "sell a bigger volume of it," according to founder Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head has moved its Namaste into a yr-round slot and shifted packaging into 12 oz bottles instead of 750 ml champagne bottles. Sam thinks of the brand as a "hybrid between a Belgian White beer and a shandy," since orange flesh (not just peel) added before cooling adds to fermentable sugars, resulting in a "really approachable, food friendly" beer that's "unique, but has touchstones" in two recognizable styles. Sam explained his hope that the brand will attract beer drinkers that maybe haven't yet pushed their palates off the proverbial deep-end yet, but that it will also "give them more confidence" to experiment. He also believes the brand could grow "to number 3 or 4 in our portfolio in 2 or 3 years," along with Sixty-One ("if we can get enough Syrah grape must").

Clocking in under 5% abv, Namaste is also quite sessionable. And it's not the only portfolio change Dogfish Head has made recently that riffs on lighter European styles. Its new winter seasonal, Piercing Pils, hit shelves earlier this month and "orders came in more than our ability to produce it," Sam told us. The brand blends one of those quintessential easy-drinking European styles with a perry (pear cider), another example of Dogfish Head's boundary-crossing beers. Early tasters have reported back to Dogfish that it's "unexpectedly nice to have a crisp, hoppy Pilsner in the winter," Sam said. DFH's summer seasonal, Festina Peche, is also a riff on a classic, refreshing European style, the Berliner Weisse, that "did not sell well" in its first year but is now "our second-highest velocity selling seasonal." The tart brand has picked up enough steam that DFH is bringing back some "small batches of Festina Lente," a wild ale, "almost all" of which "got sent back to us" when it debuted 2 yrs before Festina Peche. DFH recently intro'd its "first sour Ancient Ale," Kvasir. Sam believes greater acceptance of sour and tart flavors, as well as hop bitterness are "indicative of greater trends in the food world," led by a "change in taste" that Sam thinks is "somewhat generational."

Fizzy, Yellow and So Much More Rob told us about his love of "giving beer drinkers a unique new experience," and Sam noted that "generally, people are getting more adventurous." So brands like these, ones that build on and expand drinkers' most basic expectations of beer's visual characteristics (sometimes described as "fizzy" and "yellow") with more complex flavor profiles, open new gateways for beer consumers while providing "All Day" or "Anytime" options for the already-initiated. The session IPA trend works the same way. Some brewpub or nano somewhere is likely already making a slightly tart, heavily hopped, low-abv beer marketed as a "sour session IPA." If more craft brands grab drinkers with style "touchstones" and deliver on experiential expectations like "refreshment," how high is up?  

Lotsa anecdotal reports that craft increasingly part of holiday celebrations, especially Thanksgiving just a couple weeks ago. Latest IRI data backs that up in spades. Craft crossed important milestones in its most developed channel, supers. Two thirds of IRI craft volume tracked is still in that channel. Craft at 15.58 share of $$ last 4 weeks thru Dec 1 in supers nationwide, sez IRI. And $$ sales still up 17.9%, even more than 17% yr-to-date. That's strong. In fact, craft also crossed the 10 share of volume objective in supers that BA has for all channels nationwide by 2017. (Recall, craft segment very close to these milestones in previous 4 week period.)

Other fun factoids: Craft is more than 3 share of $$ larger than subpremiums in supers, 15.58 to 12.27 (even tho subpremiums at 18.6 share of volume compared to craft's 10). Craft closing in on imports at 18.40. Imports lost 0.3 share in last 4 weeks. Craft and imports over 1/3 of $$ in latest period. All above premium segments over 49 share of $$ in latest 4 weeks. Tho volume healthier as total beer biz up 3% last 4 weeks in IRI, premiums and subpremiums still lost almost 3 share of $$ this period. Cider up to 2 share of $$ in supers.

Boston Beer volume still up 27% in foodstores last 4 weeks thru Dec 1, not much off its sizzling 30% clip yr-to-date. Sierra Nevada up 7% for 4 weeks, 8% YTD. NBB slowed to 2.7% growth last 4 weeks, compared to 10.8% YTD. CBA also up 7%, compared to 11% YTD. Deschutes right on its YTD trend, +11%. And Lagunitas "slowed" from 80% yr-to-date pace to a mere 69%.