Changing landscape of NYC brew scene was readily apparent at Village Voice’s sold-out Brooklyn Pour event on recent Sat, with additions to brewing scene disclosing expansion plans and refining niches in city already awash in entries from mainstays like Brooklyn Brewing, Sixpoint Craft Ales and Kelso, all represented at fest.  Here’s roundup of where some of newer ’uns are finding their sweet spots.

Year-and-a-half-old Rockaway Brewing, named for one-time blue-collar resort that’s become summer hipster haven in recent years, will be expanding from 2-bbl system to 5-bbl by early 2014 at its current space in former meat packing plant in Long Island City, even as it seeks bigger site in same area, said cofounder/brewmaster Ethan Long.  Co will buttress its kegs and growler fills with bottled Scottish ale by winter, continuing to self-distribute. One favored niche is very drinkable potions – say, “old-school” IPA that’s not over-the-top in hop profile, or forthcoming German-style simple ale for fall.

Bronx Brewery, its brewery in South Bronx finally set up, will brew its first entry, Black Pale Ale, in Dec and will be canning its Belgian Pale Ale around Feb.  Tho brewer has carved out explicit position doing nothing but variants on pale ale along lines of Rye Pale Ale and Belgian Pale Ale, they’re now moving to more elaborate aging experiments such as pale ales aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels and Brooklyn Winery zinfandel barrels, both destined for wax-top 22-oz bottles as year-round offerings, and in-and-out items such as Black Pale Ale aged in Scorpio Mezcal barrels and Rye Pale Ale aged in Whistle Pig Rye barrels.  Working L Knife distribution footprint, brewery has expanded beyond 5 boros of NYC to NJ, Conn, and will be in Mass, Maine and RI by end of year, said sales chief Sean McCain.

Grimm Artisanal Ales, husband-and-wife team of Joe Grimm and Lauren Carter Grimm that relocated from Chicago to Brooklyn’s Gowanus nabe, is staking its identity on Belgian styles, pouring Bees in the Trappe, using NY-sourced wildflower honey.  SingleCut Alesmiths is staking its identity on cool branding that plays on staff’s guitar mania, with tap handles representing guitar heads (with protruding tuning pegs) and flavor entries gravitating to likes of Levon farmhouse ale and Keith English pale ale – no last names needed!  At event, it was pouring spicy Jan Olympic White Lagrrr (with Szechuan peppercorns and 600 fresh oranges per bbl) and Billy 18 Watt Session IPA.

Alphabet City, named for once drug-infested hippies-and-hoods ghetto on Lower East Side, is celebrating 2d anniversary as purveyor of unchallenging, easy-drinking potions like Easy Blonde Ale and Dizzy Brewnette German-Style Amber Ale that strike craft notes but are approachable to novices, said proprietor Jeffrey Simon.  Contract-brewed in Garrattsville, NY, and distributed by Union within 14-county footprint surrounding NY, brand is seeking production site in now-gentrified and no-longer-cheap LES for 2-3 bbl system, while mulling how to go about devising easy-drinking IPA as next entry.  

Although it’s not new to the NY beer scene it may as well be: Barrier Brewing has been back in biz for less than a year now after getting wiped out by Hurricane Sandy, operating new 5-bbl system and riding wave of goodwill from sympathetic on-premise operators.  At the Pour it offered a head-turning Saazsquash Butternut Squash Ale, using squash shipped in from Brazil (domestic squash wasn’t in season yet) and Saaz hops at 7.7% ABV. Also in mix was Money, a West Coast-style IPA at 7.3% ABV.

Arkansas had 6 breweries at the end of 2011 and only four more by the end of 2012.  Now there are 17 operating breweries in Ark, with another 2 on the way, according to the Arkansas Times.  A so-called “picobrewery” (smaller than a “nano”) owner has already tapped a University of Ark researcher to plant an acre and a half of barley to see how well the crop grows in the area.  The pico already brews using hops grown in a local community garden.  The owner’s also an English teacher at the local high school, which he expects to continue while brewing 1-bbl batches.

Schlafly co-owner/ceo Dan Kopman is so proud of his Cardinals that he’s staking his beer on World Series win against not 1 but 2 Boston craft brewers.  He made bet with Harpoon’s prexy Dan Kenary to serve the winner’s keg at loser’s brewery.  “We hope for them to pour Pale Ale in Boston,” he told St Louis Post Dispatch. In second bet, Boston Beer’s Jim Koch wagered a case of Sam’s lager and 2 lobster dinners, and Dan wagered his Pale Ale and dinner from Pappy’s Smokehouse.  But he also upped bet to “a brewers’ exchange” as well, so now winning city will get to send a brewer to loser’s facility “to brew a victory beer.”

Meanwhile traditional bet between city Mayors was scrapped this yr by St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. He told local CBS affiliate he “decided early on I was not going to do any bets this year.”  He made light of decision to skip it, but he was asked about 2011 Series bet that reportedly “may be the real reason he has given up gambling.”  Back then he offered up Schlafly beers in bet with Arlington, TX mayor, and a source claimed “it did not go over well with AB and caused Slay some embarrassment.”  Mayor shoots that notion down saying, “I did not feel any wrath,” for decision and called AB “a great brewery.”   Looking ahead, if Broncos and Seahawks make the Super Bowl, those are going to be some tough betting choices for Colo and Wash politicians.  

Legalizing growler-fills has been championed by many as an important piece of pro-small brewer legislation.  But plenty of brewers are none too thrilled about the package.  It’s been a hot topic recently on the Brewers Assn’s daily forum, getting attention from folks at some of the larger regional brewers, like Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver (a consistently skeptical voice on growlers), Odell co-founder Doug Odell and others.  And it all comes down to quality.  Folks often talk about the usefulness of growlers for bringing home fresh local beer to friends and family.  But ensuring growlers are filled in ways that support keeping the beer tasting top-notch is not quite as simple as all the convenience store growler-fill stations popping up may imply.  First, there’s always the possibility that a growler brought in from a customer isn’t completely clean, let alone sanitized.  An even more likely culprit is oxidation.  Beer poured from a faucet into a growler without a hose has the likelihood of picking up plenty of oxygen, and even with a hose, oxygen should be purged from a container before it’s filled with beer to avoid significant oxidation.  And even if a brewery or retailer has mastered growler filling (difficult enough as it is), there’s no controlling what a consumer does with a growler once it’s purchased.  

Plenty of entrepreneurs have debuted new styles of growlers recently, many now made in stainless steel to assist with temperature control, others with swing-tops to create a better seal.  Counter-pressure filling systems help too, but none of these innovations seem to fix every issue for uber-quality-focused brewers.  But growlers aren’t just going to disappear, meaning more education, more time spent ensuring each account that’s filling growlers is doing it properly.  Education is a never-ending battle.  CBN spoke to a handful of craft-focused distributors at GABF recently that had plenty of gripes about retail accounts that portend to be great craft locations, but only so far as their taplists are concerned.  Many refuse to invest in the infrastructure, technology, glassware, and education to be better beer stewards.  Meanwhile, how many consumers know the difference or are willing to alert a server to an off-flavor?  And who’s responsible for this added investment in education and quality assurance?

Boulder, Colo’s Twisted Pine announced addition of local Jean Lund as new CEO, this week.  Lund joins the co just after retiring at 56 from prexy/ceo position at local CordenPharma Colorado.  Bob Baile, previous ceo steps down into prexy position, preferring to remain “the face of the brewery” while Jean implements “a little more structure and systems where they can use some,” according to the Boulder Daily Camera.  Bob worked with Jean at the company that became CordenPharma before he took over at Twisted Pine in 1996.  One of Boulder’s older breweries, Twisted Pine expected to produce about 6000 bbls last yr, according to another Daily Camera report, after producing 3500 in 2011 (TP has been on the BA’s “do not print” list for yearly totals for at least the last few years).  Golden Road Brewing in LA also added another top exec this week, bringing over vp/gm Phil Jamison from huge AB/Crown distrib Ace Beverage to fill sales/mktg veep position at the fast-growing brewery.  Recall, Golden Road produced about 6000 bbls last yr but expects to easily top 15K bbls in 2013.  But Ace is more than 50x as large.  This move just latest example of “culture change” at Golden Road founder Meg Gill told us about last month (see Sept 13 issue).  We also hear that prior to MillerCoors’ recent reorg, Crispin’s head of sales Shane Rietow moved to Oskar Blues as sr sales exec.  Lotsa movement these days, and craft brewers seem ready to pick up experienced industry vets.

Minn leader Summit Brewing spent $2.3 mil on a 40K sq-ft building plus additional 3.5 acres adjacent to its current facility, for offices, warehousing and a brand spanking new canning line, the co announced this week.  The Twin Cities co recently expanded annual capacity to 240K bbls, but expects to grow around 10% this yr to about 125K bbls, according to a Twin Cities Business Magazine report.  Summit still mum on which brands it’ll put in cans first, but its smart new bottle labels, debuting this winter, will be extended to 12oz cans next year.  Elsewhere, Souther Tier plans to complete construction on 45K sq-ft of warehouse and staging space before the year’s out, marketing rep Nathan Arnone told CBN.  The new “distribution center” is a “completely new building” for the Western NY co famous for its fall seasonal Pumking.  Tho it heard lotsa those seasonal creep grumbles when the brand hit some shelves in July this year, So Tier is still brewing more of it, and Pumking production should top 10K bbls when it’s all said and done, more than total company brewed in all of 2007.  It expanded its distribution into West Va early in 2013, added Texas first in Austin, Houston and San Antonio, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth this fall and moved into Louisiana in May.  The co is “staying put for now,” Nate told us and is “still on target for 90K” bbls in 2013, about a 45% increase over last yr.  

SanTan and Denver Brewing’s New Digs; Bluejacket Finally Opens in DC  Chandler, Ariz’s SanTan Brewing just opened a 36K sq-ft “distribution facility” this week, the East Valley Tribune wrote.  It’s brewing at 16K-bbl/yr pace at the moment, up from less than 11K bbls last yr, and the new $6 mil facility will help it brew closer to its 40K bbl capacity.  The beers are still only available in Ariz, but plans are to head out of state “soon,” founder Anthony Canecchia told the paper.  Up in Denver, 2-yr-old Denver Brewing just made deal to lease 11K sq-ft of a 48K sq-ft north Denver warehouse to assist with production at its Platte St brewery/tap room.  The co already has an agreement to purchase the full warehouse in a “couple of years,” according to the Denver Post’s First Drafts.  Denver Brewing will focus this location on packaging its most popular beers, including Graham Cracker Porter, in both cans and 22oz bottles.

Long-awaited Bluejacket brewery with restaurant/bar will finally open in DC next week after 5 years of planning.  Brainchild of Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s Greg Engert with Megan Parisi at the helm of brewing, Bluejacket occupies a Navy Yard warehouse space with 50-foot ceilings that make space for multiple mezzanines of brewing equipment and fermentation space.  Drinkers and diners at the Arsenal restaurant and bar, on the bottom floor, look up to multiple levels of stainless steel, seen in extensive pictures accompanying a Wash Post report.  The brewery has a 5000-bbl capacity and expects to distribute about 60% of production.  

The portfolio strategy that Craft Brew Alliance has spent the last couple of years nailing down has so far led to modest overall growth, but one analyst thinks the rest of the financial community, at least, has BREW way undervalued.  And it’s all because of an underestimation of KCCO Black Lager, CBA’s partnership with The Chive, a website primarily used for sharing pictures and videos, usually with women or a comedic bent.  “We could see a valuation of $1B in the future (an almost 400% increase from today),” Shaun Currie wrote for Seeking Alpha.  He’s looking for a $21 target price “in the near term,” a nearly 25 increase from its current price, hovering around $17.  “The street is not properly accounting for the opportunity of KCCO Black Lager,” debuting this fall, since Currie estimates the partnership could lead to $4-6 mil in revs next year.  At CBA distrib mtg in Vegas, execs put Chive plans and KCCO Black Lager right next to Buffalo Wild Wings activities and Game Changer brand.  Execs noted Chive gets 3.5 mil hits per day and figures CBA’s getting over $1 mil in media value from relationship.  Marketing will include national launch parties next yr with social media links, natch (such as #bestoffensiveline, as in pickup lines), sports links (tailgate games, “one-handed sports”), with radio, billboards, out of home and print ads.  So what’s with this “KCCO” and why does it have so much potential?

Keep Calm and Chive On  Those 5 words, an adjustment of the British “Keep Calm and Carry On” saying dating back to WWII and re-popularized in the US during the recent recession, have become a Chive catchphrase of sorts, abbreviated KCCO.  To understand what the lager’s debut means for CBA, investors need to understand the Chive, which they may not since its “targeted customer is probably not an analyst,” Currie wrote.  But it’s “one of the most heavily trafficked websites for the 21-30 age demographic,” with 20 mil unique monthly visitors and a “very loyal” group of followers that identify themselves as “Chivers” who have no problem throwing their money at the site.  Limited-run branded t-shirts sell out in minutes if not seconds, along with other branded merch.  “If 1% [of] the monthly visitors of the site buy 5 six-packs per year, it is a $4-5 mil revenue opportunity,” Currie estimates.  For more insight into this Keep Calm and Chive On lifestyle, look to a recent BusinessWeek article arguing that the Chive has basically won millennial marketing.  

Founded in 2008, the Chive’s site gets more internet traffic than NPR, USA Today, ComedyCentral, OKCupid and Disney, according to Quantcast.  It’s mobile app has been downloaded nearly 9 million times and has almost as many daily users as Facebook’s app.  It’s revs top $50 mil and could be closer to $100 mil, according to BusinessWeek.  So it’s spent $4 mil on a new headquarters in Austin and another $3 mil to renovate it with an indoor slide, hot tub, bar, typical office stuff.  The “average Chiver” is a 28 yr-old college-educated male making $60K/yr that “likes to drink beer.”  And buy t-shirts.  Lots of them, mostly from the Chivery, the site’s online shop.  Even tho ads on the site run between $25K and $100K a pop, merchandise makes up 4x the co’s ad earnings.  The BusinessWeek article also indicates that alongside selfie-ogling (selfies being pictures taken of oneself, like those uploaded by various Chivettes to the site) and laughing at cat-pics, Chivers also have donated almost $1 mil across 8 charity campaigns hosted by the site.  Chivers now often use “Chive On” to brand random acts of generosity, like buying a stranger’s lunch or giving $10 at a toll booth to cover cars behind them.  And Chivers seem to love being Chivers, calling themselves Chivers and making it easy for other Chivers to know that they too Chive On.  The Chive has effectively crossed over from a purely digital space by creating a lifestyle brand and opportunities for Chivers to meetup with other Chivers.  And drink with them. Usually beer.  And that’s where KCCO Black Lager comes in.

Coincidence? Just one week after our sibling publication INSIGHTS Express broke news of big upfront fees (3x GP) that New Belgium got from its Ohio distribs for brand rights, New Belgium announced that it’s resuming site work next mo in Asheville in preparation for groundbreaking next spring.   That followed an 8 month delay, according to Mountain Xpress.  “The delay stirred local rumors that the Fort Collins, Colo-based brewery might not make good on its plan to invest $175 million into the new plant,” wrote the paper.  But NBB spokesman Bryan Simpson countered in q&a with the Xpress: “We never blinked or had a second thought about it.” NBB still on track for late 2015 opening there.

Not everyone is happy about that.  Jonathan Wainscott is running for City Council, partly basing his candidacy on his concerns over the brewery; the site is 400 feet from his home.  “He says the prospect of increased truck traffic in the neighborhood, the possibility of unpleasant odors from the brewery and other issues did not get enough attention from the City Council,” reported Asheville Citizen Times.  “It was the lack of criticism and the lack of critical thinking displayed by the council,” Wainscott said, calling the plan “folly…. In the excitement we’ve all felt over New Belgium, I don’t think anybody’s been courageous enough to say ‘this is not going to work.’”  Wainscott and a council member got into a public shouting match about it.  Bryan Simpson noted “certainly there’s going to be all sides to any issue like this…We’re always open to anybody’s questions or kudos or criticisms” but he bemoaned the tone of the exchange.  NBB is working to address concerns, including about traffic.  He noted “Our goal is still to pursue two routes… and that’s going to take some work on the ground.  We’re going to have to widen an intersection.  We may potentially have to raise a trestle or lower a road.” 

Tho craft is still experiencing robust growth overall in IRI (+16%), segment is undergoing dramatic shifts these days.  Big flagship crafts like Sam Adams Boston Lager and Fat Tire are getting healthier, some other key brands are flying and far more brands and brewers than before are declining.  Amidst 16% growth overall, it’s pretty stunning that fully ¼ of the top 100 brands and a greater % than that of brewers are now down in IRI multi-channel + convenience yr-to-date thru Oct 6.  This is a change.

Widmer Hefe is the only top 10 craft brand that is down, off 5.8%. Soon it won’t even be a top 10 craft brand.  And only 4 of the top 30 are declining (as we reported last issue), including Redhook ESB, Sam Adams Light and New Belgium Seasonals.  But 1/3 of brands #31-100 are down. And some are down big.  In descending order of size: Alaskan Amber down 10%, Lost Coast Great White down 16%, Long Trail Ale down 14%, Magic Hat Variety Pack down 14%.  All those are in the top 50.  Pyramid Hefe (once a top 10 craft brand) has dropped out of the top 50 and is down 24%.  Other variants by some of these same brewers, including 5 in all from Pyramid and 5 from CBA, are among the decliners.  But some others are surprises, including Abita Rasberry Wit down 0.1%, Bridgeport IPA down 10%, Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale down 11%, Kona Seasonals down 6%.  Interestingly, both Alaskan and Firestone have reported solid/strong growth rates overall, so scan data may not be indicative of their total picture.  But this is still a revealing peak under-the-hood that shows even while craft segment is flying, not everything is coming up roses. It’s up to 30 of the top 100 brands that are down in the last 4 weeks, and many of the drops are even steeper.  What’s more, 134 of the top 500 craft vendors are down yr-to-date (including some really small ones) and 149 down in the last 4 weeks.

Join us for the 20^th annual Beer Insights Seminar on Monday November 11^th at the Waldorf=Astoria in NYC.  It’s a jampacked day with up-to-the minute content plus plenty of time for networking with industry leaders.  Our program includes plenty of craft focus: Harpoon ceo Rich Doyle has a featured slot.  Craft will figure prominently during two panel discussions, one including Boston Beer’s sales veep John Geist, the other with the industry’s top scanner data experts who will update current craft trends on-premise and off-premise.  Ten Golden Rules ceo Jay Berkowitz will provide actionable insights into the world of social media and internet marketing, so critical to craft brewers.  Also on tap: presentations by AB sales veep David Almeida, Pabst prexy Kevin McAdams and a “fireside chat” with HUSA prexy Dolf van den Brink.   BMI publisher Benj Steinman will give an overview of industry trends.  Seating is limited.  Click here for more info.  Click here to register.

Keep up with us between issues at our blog, and on Twitter: @BeerInsights, @CraftInsights  and @ BevInsights