Category: Uncategorized

To better understand the role of a beer distributor, take a look at the following analogy:  The distributor’s job is to get the dog food on the shelf; it is the brewer’s job to get the dogs to pick the food up!  It may be simplistic, but it does make the point that the role […]

By the spring of 1986, it was apparent that Corona, with its clear bottle, introduced a couple of years earlier, was a hit.  Corona sales had increased each year even though it was only available in a 20- bottle loose case.  This package made Corona a predominately on premise package so the brand’s potential was […]

This post begins the fifth year of Beer Business Unplugged and as usual, I will comment on past posts and the industry in general.  While this year’s posts did not produce one blog in particular which resulted in an off-the-chart read, the one post that brought in the most responses was, ironically, last weeks’ Remember the Alamo. […]

 The number one question I get about crafts is: “How large will the craft segment become in the US?”  Of course no one knows that answer, however, I do tell those questioning the future of crafts to look at Oregon and Washington to understand what the potential is for crafts.  Maybe the question should instead […]

I moved to Kansas in 1978 as the executive vice president of Coors of Kansas.  Although this was not my first exposure to 3.2 beer, it would be my first exposure to selling the liquid.  So-called “strong” beer was sold only in liquor stores and private clubs, whereas 3.2 beer was sold everywhere.  As I […]

In the early 1970s, I purchased a new Chevrolet Caprice which was loaded with all of the bells and whistles.  It was a family car, and after owning it for three years, even with very low mileage, the car had basically fallen apart.  The dash panel had cracked, wires fell out from under the dash, […]

One winter night while working at Coors Brewing Co., a co-worker and I decided to visit a local bar and play some pool while enjoying a couple of cold ones.  The bar was a Coors draft exclusive, and after we introduced ourselves to the owner, we were interrupted by another individual who was drinking a […]

Even as late as the mid-1970s, the six-pack was by far the number one package for both cans and bottles.  In fact, with the exception of loose cases of 24 units, the six-pack was the only package available to the consumer.  When the 12-pack was introduced about this time, there was but a small price […]

This past Friday, May 27th, was Jim Koch’s 67th birthday and, as we do every year we take this week to revisit Jim and Boston Brewing.  2016 is a year in which we find Boston Beers in an unfamiliar position, a position which is driving pundits to question the future of the brewery. Recently, Berenberg, […]

Nielsen numbers on the beer industry, ending May 7th, show beer case sales down once again to -1.3%.  While year-to-date numbers still are positive, it is too early to say if these recent numbers will continue or not.  No doubt one of the biggest contributors to the industries’ slow and negative growth in recent years, […]