American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
Brewdog Ploenchit / Courtesy BrewDog)
The beer biz never sleeps at American Craft Beer. And here’s just some of what’s been happening in the beer world while you were drinking your way through the weekend.
BrewDog Opens First Bar In Bangkok, Thailand
On July 13th global craft brewer, BrewDog furthered its reach into Asia with the opening of BrewDog Ploenchit, just across from Central Embassy in Bangkok. BrewDog currently operates over 100 bars and hotels globally.
To understand the intrinsic importance of BrewDog’s UK and international bar network one only has to look to the traditional pub and brewery distribution system in the United Kingdom, where large pub chains serve as outlets for company sanctioned beer that is served chain wide.
Jus as with other UK breweries such as Fuller’s, BrewDog has opted to cut out the middleman and build their own network of pubs that cater almost exclusively to their brand
According to the Drinks Business “BrewDog announced plans to open another 200 venues in key markets over the next seven years.”
James Brown, CEO of BrewDog Bars, said in a statement that the company’s plan to “treble our bar estate over the next decade” is “already bearing fruit” thanks to local partners in different markets across the world.
Words to Drink By
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs American businessman and inventor.
Photo© Brewers Association
Craft Beer Declines In First Half Of 2024
The Boulder, Colorado non-profit that advocates on behalf of craft brewers, The Brewers Association, just released its midyear numbers for 2024.
And although it wasn’t horrible news, it did point to a continuing decline in the craft beer sector.
Craft beer volume was down around 2%, but at the same time, the number of active craft breweries increased from 9,339 in June 2023 to 9,358 as of June 2024. So there’s that.
And 54% of the breweries surveyed in this survey, reported growth in the first half of 2024 compared to a year ago. So there’s that as well. But that also means that almost half of the respondents were not seeing growth in the first half of 2024.
“While the category continues to struggle to find collective growth, there are still plenty of success stories in the midyear data,” Bart Watson, vice president of strategy and chief economist at the Brewers Association said. “With so much choice in beer and beverage, brewers need to consistently think about how their brands can meet what beer lovers and drinkers are looking for.”
That’s the basic temperament of the Brewers Association’s Midyear survey. It’s not the worst, but it is a mixed bag. Some breweries appear to be doing fine, others not so much.
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