Why craft beer? For specialty beer fanatics, this question is a loaded one, but it's one that we work tirelessly to answer.
Perhaps the best way to address it is to consider more common examples of "craft" commodities.
When a restaurant creates its menu, the goal is simply to provide a variety of items to please their customers' cravings. If
choosing meat dishes, for example, it might seem silly to offer five options of pork chops which are all cooked the same way
with identical ingredients. It might seem even more peculiar to only serve hot dogs from a dozen different hot dog producers.
Depending on the clientele of a restaurant, the chef will generally offer meat at incremental price points, ranging from a simple
hamburger up to a prime cut of filet mignon. Regardless of the customer base, the general rule is to offer a variety of different
meats, ranging from chicken to beef to pork.
Similarly, markets tend to offer varieties of certain foods at various price levels. A pre-sliced loaf of sandwich bread might be
offered for a dollar, but they also sell freshly baked breads of all shapes, sizes, and styles. Individually wrapped processed
cheese is typically one offering, but they will also sell blocks of hand made cheeses of different styles and higher price points.
Behind the bar, a very similar approach is usually taken with wine and liquor selections. Most customers could order a cocktail
with a well liquor, a middle tier liquor, and a "top shelf" liquor. With the trend toward higher quality, the "top shelf" liquors are
frequently the biggest sellers, and they bring a sense of class to an establishment. Additionally, dozens of varieties of liquor are
commonly available. Wine selections often cover twenty or more styles at price points from $15 a bottle to hundreds of dollars
per bottle.
So why do these stores, restaurants and bars offer foods, liquors, or wines that cost more to bring in? The answer is two fold.
First, the benefit of offering a wide variety is that it achieves the initial goal of satisfying the customer's demands. And second,
people have an affinity for quality, and they are often willing to spend a little more to get a superior product. The added
advantage to the bar, restaurant, or market of offering more costly products is that they can typically earn a greater profit margin.
The fascinating stories behind craft breweries, their incredible diversity of styles, and their impeccable quality have made craft
beer the fastest growing sector of the adult beverage industry. And this growth is not limited by the ultimate consumers of these
beers. We constantly get questions from first-time craft beer drinkers about where these products can be purchased and why
they are not more readily available. The unsatisfied demand for these amazing beers exists everywhere, and it is growing at an
accelerating rate. By working to develop and promote your own craft beer offerings, you won't just appease the millions of
existing craft beer drinkers, but you will help enlighten undiscovered craft beer lovers to an exciting new world.
To fancy restaurants who believe you are not selling enough beer, consider that you just might not be selling the right beers. To
pubs with twenty draught lines and twenty cheap lagers on tap, consider that you will sell just as much cheap lager through five
of your tap lines and you will bring in a higher profit margin on the rest if you diversify your list. To markets that worry that they
don't have sufficient shelf space for craft beer, consider that you will make more on a single cork topped bottle of Belgian Ale
than you will on three six packs of cheap beer. So the question to ask is not "Why Craft," but rather "Why Not Craft"?
Finally, to those bars, restaurants, and markets that have discovered and embraced craft beer, please make a commitment to
spread the gospel of great beer, and to always be willing to learn more. Even the most accomplished of beer scholars such as
"The Beer Hunter" Michael Jackson will attest that there is a limitless amount of information on the subject. If there is ever
anything that we can do to help educate yourself, your staff, or your customers on the craft beers that we brew, or any others
for that matter, please let us know.
Perhaps the best way to address it is to consider more common examples of "craft" commodities.
When a restaurant creates its menu, the goal is simply to provide a variety of items to please their customers' cravings. If
choosing meat dishes, for example, it might seem silly to offer five options of pork chops which are all cooked the same way
with identical ingredients. It might seem even more peculiar to only serve hot dogs from a dozen different hot dog producers.
Depending on the clientele of a restaurant, the chef will generally offer meat at incremental price points, ranging from a simple
hamburger up to a prime cut of filet mignon. Regardless of the customer base, the general rule is to offer a variety of different
meats, ranging from chicken to beef to pork.
Similarly, markets tend to offer varieties of certain foods at various price levels. A pre-sliced loaf of sandwich bread might be
offered for a dollar, but they also sell freshly baked breads of all shapes, sizes, and styles. Individually wrapped processed
cheese is typically one offering, but they will also sell blocks of hand made cheeses of different styles and higher price points.
Behind the bar, a very similar approach is usually taken with wine and liquor selections. Most customers could order a cocktail
with a well liquor, a middle tier liquor, and a "top shelf" liquor. With the trend toward higher quality, the "top shelf" liquors are
frequently the biggest sellers, and they bring a sense of class to an establishment. Additionally, dozens of varieties of liquor are
commonly available. Wine selections often cover twenty or more styles at price points from $15 a bottle to hundreds of dollars
per bottle.
So why do these stores, restaurants and bars offer foods, liquors, or wines that cost more to bring in? The answer is two fold.
First, the benefit of offering a wide variety is that it achieves the initial goal of satisfying the customer's demands. And second,
people have an affinity for quality, and they are often willing to spend a little more to get a superior product. The added
advantage to the bar, restaurant, or market of offering more costly products is that they can typically earn a greater profit margin.
The fascinating stories behind craft breweries, their incredible diversity of styles, and their impeccable quality have made craft
beer the fastest growing sector of the adult beverage industry. And this growth is not limited by the ultimate consumers of these
beers. We constantly get questions from first-time craft beer drinkers about where these products can be purchased and why
they are not more readily available. The unsatisfied demand for these amazing beers exists everywhere, and it is growing at an
accelerating rate. By working to develop and promote your own craft beer offerings, you won't just appease the millions of
existing craft beer drinkers, but you will help enlighten undiscovered craft beer lovers to an exciting new world.
To fancy restaurants who believe you are not selling enough beer, consider that you just might not be selling the right beers. To
pubs with twenty draught lines and twenty cheap lagers on tap, consider that you will sell just as much cheap lager through five
of your tap lines and you will bring in a higher profit margin on the rest if you diversify your list. To markets that worry that they
don't have sufficient shelf space for craft beer, consider that you will make more on a single cork topped bottle of Belgian Ale
than you will on three six packs of cheap beer. So the question to ask is not "Why Craft," but rather "Why Not Craft"?
Finally, to those bars, restaurants, and markets that have discovered and embraced craft beer, please make a commitment to
spread the gospel of great beer, and to always be willing to learn more. Even the most accomplished of beer scholars such as
"The Beer Hunter" Michael Jackson will attest that there is a limitless amount of information on the subject. If there is ever
anything that we can do to help educate yourself, your staff, or your customers on the craft beers that we brew, or any others
for that matter, please let us know.
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