I get a lot of questions about my path into the beer industry from folks interested in the same. Many of them work in Logistics, IT, or Data Analytics, so I often share information to get their wheels turning on how the two professions coincide and where their expertise may be able to add value to a brewery someday. I've been meaning to get this all written down and out of my head for a few years, so I thought I'd make a blog entry about it:
Read More"Sour" beer is a difficult category to measure, which is why you don't hear a lot of statistics about it. When it comes to sales data tracked in major retailers, a significant portion of ''sours'' are incorrectly classified, or they cross over into another style and are housed there instead. In IRI, these crossovers include Seasonal, Special Release, Belgium Ale, IPA, etc., instead of the "Wild or Sour Ales" bucket. Lagunitas' Aunt Sally for example, falls under Seasonal. So a significant chunk of data gets lost, leaving you with a painful exercise to truly understand how well sour is actually selling in the US.
Read MoreWhat better way to get back into the beer blogging spirit than with some 2019 predictions to kick off the year! I remain positive on the beer industry and its future, but "the pinch" happening right now as a result of 7,000+ breweries and a seemingly flat consumer base cannot be ignored. So while some of these predictions may have negative undertones, I remain excited about what we're going to see moving forward as the cream rises to the top. I invited some industry friends from around the country to contribute a prediction of their own. So thank you to Chris, Kenny, Kate, and Danny for letting me include yours. And here we go...
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