Revolver Brewing's Granbury, Texas brewery has the space and the equipment ready to go for 75K bbls worth of annual capacity. So after deal it struck to sell majority stake to MillerCoors and join high-end focused Tenth & Blake unit, it's figuring out transition "from a self-distribution model to a third-party distribution model," co-founder Rhett Keisler explained to Craft Brew News. That allows it to expand territory from Dallas-Fort Worth down thru Waco to Austin and out to College Station/Bryan. Two clearest targets are Houston and San Antonio, natch. And Rhett and team "not ones to sit around," he said, so they're looking at "executing very quickly" that transition to MC distrib system. It'll make move for home DFW market first. But Rhett expects it will "all unfold fairly quickly."

That's in part because it can: though Revolver currently only on-pace for about 25K bbls by yr-end (note, only slightly more than 22K bbls shipped last yr), it's got equipment in place to be able to do over 37K bbls and tanks on site to double that. That puts it close to 75K bbls/yr that Rhett and team "just need to hook up." That'll happen over next couple months. Speed of expanded production has potential for pretty sizeable impact on total 2016 production. Already, "business is strong" overall for Revolver, and craft "on fire" in Texas, in Rhett's view. The state still "underdeveloped" for craft, reminded Tenth & Blake CEO/prexy Scott Whitley, who thinks Revolver is "probably the best brand in the state." And tho the co plans to move quickly on bringing Revolver into distrib network, "brands in craft are built differently," he noted. So building up Revolver largely about "leveraging the things they've done really well so far" while working to "give them the arms and legs" to get the growth available to it.

MC to Provide Chain Assistance to Maintain Shelf Space Revolver has needed the arms and legs too. Indeed, it's been hindered a bit by self-distribution, at least in chains. Its flagship Blood & Honey is about 3/4 of its total biz, just as it was in scans thru May 1, as we reported last issue. But declines seen for 3 other smaller beers was "a direct result of self-distributing," Rhett told us. Alone, folks at Revolver "do not have the capabilities" to service and merchandise chain accounts, so "can't get the type of commitments to hold the shelf space," he said. That changes once within MillerCoors system, so should "see those trends turn around," he said. Indeed, that's something MC has done with Saint Archer, Scott commented, ensuring that its "core four" brands are in all key accounts. So in "demanding" and chain-heavy off-premise retail world in Texas, Scott thinks his co can help Revolver get "greater" shelf space to "enhance exposure," with "fewer out of stocks."

That was a crucial piece of what Revolver was looking for in doing deal in the first place. It started looking at options for a transaction last year. And it also fit MillerCoors craft strategy, as it seeks "local craft" with the "ability to scale," as CEO Gavin Hattersley told us last week (reported earlier today in beer marketer's INSIGHTS). Gavin noted help MC can provide helping small brewers go deeper with chains too. And structure of MC's craft deals so far, taking a "meaningful majority" but not 100%, "leaves a real incentive" for founders to stick around and continue to expand the brand, he commented.

Keeping around the founders also likely to help maintain relationships locally. And like craft brewers generally, Revolver worked to engage local fan base over last 4 yrs. It still holds an event at its brewery every Saturday from noon to 3pm, Rhett explained, putting in 65 picnic tables and an outdoor stage to host "five-hundred to a thousand people out there on any given weekend." It's an oppy to "educate" and also get "feedback," Rhett said. Scott too appreciates "the beauty of having that consumer touchpoint," as Tenth & Blake getting more experience with it. Recall, it recently opened Blue Moon on-premise location in Denver, besides now operating 5 more on-site locations after its craft acquisitions. Each of its 4 acquired partners operate a tasting room at their brewery and Hop Valley also has a separate restaurant/brewpub. (Note Terrapin does operate a tasting room, but Georgia law bars direct sales, instead requiring visitors to purchase facility tours to receive "souvenir" beer.)

Texas Guild Restructures Membership: No Voting Rights for Acquired Members Like many other state small brewer associations, Texas Craft Brewers Guild announced yesterday it would not allow brewers with ownership stake taken by larger non-craft alc bev bizzes to keep voting rights, Houston Chronicle reports. So brewers like Revolver and Independence, which recall struck deal with Lagunitas (itself part-owned by Heineken) could choose to be associate members instead. That membership allows those breweries to participate in "education, safety and marketing efforts," but not vote or participate in legislative activity. Timing "was coincidental," according to exec director Charles Vallhonrat, who noted that small and independent brewers "lack the resources of global conglomerates and often have different legal and regulatory goals and priorities," according to the paper.  

Join us at the 23rd annual Beer Insights Seminar, at the historic Waldorf=Astoria in New York City this November, and hear from craft pioneer Larry Bell and his daughter and VP Laura Bell of Bell's Brewery. The meeting begins with a reception Sunday eve, Nov 13, and continues with a jam-packed day of programming Monday, Nov 14. Besides Larry and Laura, you'll hear from MillerCoors CEO Gavin Hattersly, Constellation Brands Beer Division prexy Paul Hetterich and FIFCO (parent co of North American Breweries) CEO Ramón Mendiola Sánchez. Beer Marketer's INSIGHTS president Benj Steinman will provide his annual industry overview and more speakers will be announced in the coming weeks. Head to our website for more info. Seating is limited, so reserve your spot today.  

Small breweries keep opening at an average rate of well over 2 per day, according to Brewers Assn stats, but most of them still starting pretty darn small. Not so for Atlanta's Scofflaw Brewing Co, which moved into an 18K sq-ft spot over a year ago, building out 4-vessel, 20-bbl brewhouse with tanks enough to do 7500 bbls/yr, the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote. And it's got space to add more tanks as needed, of course. Co-founder Matt Shirah spent years as a "corporate turnaround executive" before experimenting with homebrewing. When starting up Scofflaw, he brought in Travis Herman to brew, a UC Davis-trained brewer who did stints at Lost Abbey and Russian River. Kegs of the co's 4 core beers hit home market a couple weeks ago, including 2 different IPAs and a pale ale. It's already got "a small barrel-aging program" going, "and the facility was designed with a separate area for producing sour beers." It's got a canning line waiting for installation too. Look out.  

Different sorts of expansion projects popped up in a number of clips over past week, some of which include a juicy nugget or two. The strategy ain't new: these brewers, like many others, are investing in projects to help them either remain connected to home markets or establish local ties with new ones. So, for example, Sierra Nevada inked partnership with NBA's Sacramento Kings to put a branded "Draught House" in the team's new arena in town, according to Sacramento Bee. The 10-yr deal comes with a "limited edition ale" only available at the new Golden 1 Center and fits with the location's goals of sourcing 90% of food and drink from within 150 miles. At same time, New Belgium announced a $4.3 mil donation to Colorado State University in hometown Fort Collins. That gave it rights to name one of the school's stadium hospitality areas the New Belgium Porch. The donation builds on a $1-mil gift by the co and co-founder Kim Jordan last yr, which went toward the school's Fermentation Science and Technology program and facilities. Recall, New Belgium also recently opened up much more space at its brewery for visitors.

Elsewhere, Southern Tier broke ground on its Pittsburgh brewpub location last week, the Pittsburgh Business Times reported. The city's Southern Tier's #2 market, Artisanal Brewing Ventures CEO John Coleman told the paper. It's #2 craft brand for Frank B Fuhrer Wholesale, behind Sam Adams, according to current CEO Frank B Fuhrer III. He projected selling about 130K CEs of Southern Tier this yr. The brewery hopes to open the doors in Pittsburgh in October, and by the end of the yr produce about 120K bbls, up from 107K bbls last yr. The new pub location will also offer beers from Victory, other primary brand in ABV portfolio.

New Locations Coming for Milkwaukee, Karl Strauss, New Holland, Maui, Almanac, Prairie Artisanal Milwaukee Brewing just took on much bigger space, leasing 58K sq-ft in an old Pabst warehouse to expand its brewing capabilities, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Initially it'll just use the space as a warehouse, but plans include putting in brewing system, tasting room and more. The co's up 30% so far this yr, sales veep Mike Christensen told the paper, and expects to finish up about the same to 15K bbls. (We caught up with Mike during quick visit this spring, see April 27 issue.) SoCal-based brewery and brewpub chain Karl Strauss announced plans for a new Anaheim brewery and pub. Outfitted with a 7-bbl system, the near 12K sq-ft location will be Karl Strauss' 10th in SoCal. It anticipates an opening late this month and release of more than 35 special small batch beers per year.

In Michigan, work continues on New Holland's new The Knickerbocker location, a small brewery, distillery and restaurant in Grand Rapids. It's on target to open next month, according to extensive MiBiz piece on succession planning that includes thoughts from New Holland co-founder/prexy Brett Vanderkamp and a handful of other folks in Mich beer biz. Out in Hawaii, Maui Brewing will build a 2d restaurant location in Oahu, it announced this week. The co plans to ship 45K bbls out of its Maui-based production facility. Its 1st Oahu brewpub is scheduled to open later this yr, while the second won't come til early 2018. Bay Area's Almanac Brewing announced it'll have its own space for 1st time, with plans to open tasting room in San Francisco this fall. The co has brewed at other breweries so far, so looks forward to putting down roots in SF. Prairie Artisan Ales also announced a new Oklahoma City location last week too. Recall, fellow OK brewer, Tulsa-based Krebs recently acquired Prairie. The co now plans to open a brewery and tasting room with studio space for local artists in Oklahoma City by next spring.

Boston Beer, CBA Innovation Breweries Over last weekend, innovation breweries and brewers at much larger craft companies got some attention too. Work on new, experimental recipes at in-house "Nano-Brewery" at Boston Beer's Boston facility by brewery manager Jennifer Glanville and recently-hired Megan Parisi featured in Fast Company profile this week. Their efforts often featured in tasting room at Jamaica Plains HQ/facility. Similarly, trial and error on Widmer-focused small pilot system at Craft Brew Alliance's Portland plant to be on display in planned smaller tasting room devoted to experimental products, per Oregon Live. Both pieces highlight importance of innovation and value of getting direct feedback from drinkers, natch.  

Unusual shape of canned 15-pks of All Day IPA has seemingly not hindered retailers stocking the pack and watching it fly out the door at prices comparable to craft 12-pks. All Day is one of fastest growing craft brands off-premise. It's been doubling or close in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data all year, with an average case-equivalent price near $29.50 thru July 10. That's about $6.50 lower than avg craft case, at least in part due to unusual pack size (the growth of which so far contributing to lower avg price per case in scans). All Day's already the #12 craft brand in IRI foodstores by volume, yr-to-date thru 7/10, up near 100%. That also represents largest absolute case-growth of any craft brand YTD in that channel. It grabbed another 0.5+ share of craft cases to 1.1. So Founders is punching way above its weight class there, as All Day is the biggest brand that isn't from Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Lagunitas, Shiner or MillerCoors/Tenth & Blake, all multiple times the size of Founders.

Now here comes PC Pils, new offering from Founders that'll also hit shelves in canned 15-pks, as well as bottled 6-pks, this fall, the co announced this week. It fills a seasonal position in Founders' lineup, available throughout its distribution footprint from October thru the end of the yr, at least in 2016. Recall, Founders also played around with another unique pack with release of 9-pk of Rubaeus, a raspberry ale. Note that Founders suggests the 9-pk retail for about the same price as the 15-pks, at about $17.99. (For a 15-pk, that equates to close to a $29 case; for a 9-pk, more like $48.) Also note that specials at certain retails lower that: All Day's going for $13.99 at Binny's in Chicago this week, for example.

Due to success of All Day, perhaps inevitable that other brewers would follow: SweetWater will start selling 15-pks of its Hash Session IPA later this month. It's moving the beer that debuted as a spring seasonal to yr-round status. It's joined by Hash Brown, bolstering its Hash beer offerings (which employ hop hash, scrapings from hop pelletizers). The Hash Session 15-pk will also be priced similar to 12-pks, SweetWater confirmed for CBN. Then too, Shock Top debuted new 15-pks earlier this yr. And on a smaller scale, Bronx Brewery announced debut of new Bronx Banner, "an Easy Golden Ale," in 8- and 15-pks yesterday.

So What? Affordability and Segment Price Gaps; Session Styles and Value; M&A and Pricing These moves strike a number of chords. First, it reminds of recent finding by joint Nielsen/Brewers Assn survey that when asked what would cause current craft drinkers to drink more craft, "more affordable" was clearly the top answer. Just over half of respondents said so (tho that was down slightly from last year's survey). It also reminds of note that average craft price/case jumped almost $5 since 2012 in IRI data, from consultant Bump Williams' most recent client letter (August 1st; yes, that implies that All Day currently sells at a lower average price per case than the category as a whole did in 2012). So at the same time that the highest-priced craft brands get an outsized portion of craft $$ growth, the price gap between craft and mainstream brands widens. Gap between Corona and mainstream prices seemed to contribute to that brand's slowdown a number of years ago. Could that be happening with craft now?

Further, note that All Day essentially created the session IPA category, which SweetWater's Hash Session clearly also working within, and that PC Pils clocks in at 5.5% ABV, on the upper threshold of what some will refer to as "sessionable." Questions have repeatedly been raised about the value proposition of lower-ABV craft "session" brands. It's something folks at New Belgium wondered about when performance of that co's Slow Ride Session IPA came up in discussion with us in June. That brand has largely not been cycling last yr's roll out. And it isn't alone. Session IPAs generally have not taken off quite as quickly as many suspected, something IRI's Dan Wandel has shown in presentations throughout the year. That begs a couple questions: will consumers pay craft prices for less alcohol? Does session work best as a craft value play? Breaking a perceived connection between value and alcohol content is a key element to success of session-only Notch Brewing in northeast, as founder Chris Lohring has repeatedly explained, including to us back in 2014. Then, he referred to it as an early challenge that had started to ease due to increased exposure of brands like All Day. But a 15-pk of a lower-ABV (or, average ABV when looking at the total beer category) at craft 12-pk pricing seems much more likely to solidify the relationship between value and alcohol content rather than break it.

Finally, recall the questions some have raised about the potential for craft M&A to influence pricing. A couple of brands in 15-pks aren't likely to shake up craft's pricing architecture significantly, so no alarm bells ringing. In fact, average craft case prices up over a buck, 3.2% in IRI foodstores thru July 10, and up a full $1.20, 3.4% in MULC. Avg prices were down for only 8 of the top-30 craft brands in MULC, almost all of which saw intro or expansion of availability of larger pack sizes (12 pks, typically) since this time last yr. But it's possible that backend payment incentives for Founders founders and/or Sweetwater based on volume (both did transactions in last couple of yrs), as some have suggested. That would certainly add pressure to come up with new ways to drive volume. And 15-pks fit that bill pretty well.  

MC's Hop Valley expects to reach 55-60K bbls in 2016, Hop Valley co-founder Chuck Hare shared with CBN. At the higher end of that window, that'd be up 52% for the yr, adding another 20K bbls of growth for the 2d consecutive yr. Oregon is still "up huge" year over year, said Chuck (up 37% in-state thru May). It just had one of its top-5 sell weeks ever in first full week after announcing the deal. And these last two weeks have been "two of the busiest" at its taprooms in co history. Recall, last yr OR was still 3/4 of total biz, tho might be slightly lower this yr with surrounding states continuing to develop too (see below). Taproom biz around 2K bbls each of the last couple yrs, Chuck added.

There will always be "haters" after a deal is done, but Chuck acknowledged that there's generally been not as much backlash from local community as previous Oreg deal (10 Barrel), which was "quite a bit different," he thought. "Public is picking up" that owners are staying on (as they did in AB/10 Barrel deal) and "keeping an equity stake" (AB bought 100% of 10 Barrel). Plus, it's "getting easier and easier every week with more and more announcements." Indeed, it was "important…to keep a good piece of equity," said Chuck. After deciding about 1 yr ago that Hop Valley would look into options, there were "only two real players": ABI and MC. Yet selling 100% was "not what our intention ever was" and "I thought ABI was going to be pretty full" with both 10 Barrel and Elysian in the PacNW. Now Chuck confident his team "made a decision to go with the right company."

Distribution and Raw Material Concerns Major Factors; Bay Area Push This Fall Importantly, new distribution and access to raw materials were big factors in Hop Valley's decision to sell. Essentially, Hop Valley looks at MC as "a large distribution deal," said Chuck. Co already has strong brands with "a couple really new innovative packages" and "great chain distribution" but there are still "a ton of growth opportunities" in OR and the PacNW, as well as outside mkts. Hop Valley just recently signed on with Elixir, DBI and Bay Area Bev for NorCal distribution, tho "didn't get in there in time for the most recent set," so "hoping the fall season is going to be really big down there." Co will look to enter new mkts further outside its region too, but "don't quite know what those are going to be yet," Chuck noted. MC is going to help figure out "where we will be strong," "best shipping route" etc. And Hop Valley "want[s] our beer to touch as many people as possible." Yet co has 150K bbls of capacity at Eugene facility, so has "a lot of time" to figure out how its biz will evolve and "don't have any intentions" to brew anywhere else but Eugene for foreseeable future.

Then too, co is already "ordering our hops right now for 2023" which is "really really difficult" since "you don't know…what's going to be selling" that far out. Chuck and co don't know if IPA style will be as prominent in 2023 and when co asked itself "are we going to be able to source those raw materials" that "really answered a lot of questions for us."

Off Premise Focused; New Brands and Pkgs Fueling Extra Growth Vast majority of Hop Valley's biz is focused off-premise; about 80% package vs 20% draft. Indeed, Hop Valley's another example of a young co that's turned most of its focus toward off-premise, recognizing the difficulties of getting "permanent handles" and "placements" on premise. While Citrus Mistress and Alphadelic IPAs providing bulk of the growth, Chuck pointed to new Light Me Up Lager, which "has been ripping," he said. It's not aimed at "craft drinker[s]" but rather as a way for consumers "to get into the craft game" and "segue" from other segments such as Pabst and other "macro brewers" he thought. There's some crossover from craft consumers too "that wanted to drink a light lager, but had too much pride to do it." Then too, Hop Valley's added some new packages for Alpha Centauri Double IPA in 4pk 12oz bottles and Citrus Mistress 16oz can that've added incremental growth this yr.

It's "Probably in [MC's] Best Interest" to Align Distrib Network, sez Chuck "I would imagine that MillerCoors wants to align their brand within their network," and it's "probably in their best interest," said Chuck. "I don't know" what will happen regarding Portland-based AB house Maletis Bev, but Maletis is a "phenomenal partner" and without them "I wouldn't be on this phone call," he told us. Ultimately "those decisions get made by either Tenth & Blake or by MillerCoors" and "I'll help in any way I can." Also recall, MC will have to make decision in Spokane, WA where Columbia currently has Hop Valley, but Odom is MC house for that territory.  

MillerCoors will acquire a majority of Revolver Brewing of Granbury, Texas, the co's announced this morning. It's 3d craft deal struck by MC in about a month. Like the others, Revolver will join MC's craft and import arm Tenth & Blake as a separate business unit, while founders retain stake and top management stays on. Revolver is 4-yr old brewery about 35 miles outside of Forth Worth, founded by father and son Ron and Rhett Keisler. Deal allows co to stay put in Granbury while benefitting from "additional resources to invest in and accelerate the growth of the Revolver brand in Texas," Rhett said in statement. The co shipped almost 22K bbls last yr, up over 47%.

With recent moves, MC's craft strategy now becoming much clearer, as today it picks up another relatively small brewer with local strength. Indeed, MC impressed with impact Revolver's made in Tex in short order and "our main priority will be to work with the Revolver team to support its continued success," with further focus on big Tex market, Tenth & Blake prexy/CEO Scott Whitley said. Deal with undisclosed terms expected to close in 3d quarter.

So Revolver will join Terrapin, Hop Valley and Saint Archer, which MC took majority stake in last yr. Those four brewers totaled about 155K bbls in 2015 and all growing strong so far this yr (see below for more on Hop Valley). These 4 likely to put MC acquired craft volume upwards of 200K bbls by yr-end, and it likely ain't done acquiring yet. As the 2d largest US brewer revs up it biz in craft segment in big way, it still has long way to go before catching craft volume acquired by largest competitor Anheuser Busch. But note that MC's Blue Moon and Leinenkugel's brand families are significantly larger than AB's Shock Top.

Led by Blood & Honey, Revolver Up 30+% in Scans Early in 2016 Revolver got off to strong start off-premise, expanding its biz by over 30% in IRI multi-outlet + convenience thru May 1. It topped 17K cases, +33%; $$ +36% to about $740K. That made it #118 craft brewer in IRI database, at 0.06 share of craft $$. About 3/4 of its biz there was lead brand Blood & Honey, a 7% ABV American-style wheat ale with, you guessed it, blood orange and local honey. It was growing between 50-60% thru first 4 months of this yr. Four other Revolver brands each sold about 1000 CEs thru May 1, including all incremental Ironhead IPA. But 3 others clearly not receiving focus in chains, at least, and down double digits.

Revolver's coming off a year where it more than doubled sales in Dallas-Fort Worth foodstores, topping 3 share of craft $$ in 2015, again per IRI (as we wrote in the 2016 Craft Brew Guide, published earlier this year). It was #7 craft supplier in the market, behind Deep Ellum and Rahr & Sons. Blood & Honey was #6 craft brand there and #32 beer brand overall, +85%. In fact, for 13 wks at the end of last yr, Blood & Honey was about the same size as Sam Adams Seasonal at grocery stores in closest metro market to Revolver's brewery.  

Boston Beer going even further with Coney Island brands, funding expanded offerings and distribution territory of now lead family within Alchemy & Science subsidiary. It's adding a Hard Cherry Cream Ale to Coney line of hard sodas, in 6-pks and variety pack, the co announced today. At same time, it's bringing the core Coney beer brands to Connecticut and Rhode Island. That includes Mermaid Pilsner, Overpass IPA and others, already available in 7 Northeast states.  

Years-long dispute over whether or not Saint Louis Brewery can trademark "Schlafly" name it uses on beers now seemingly over after Trademark Trial and Appeals Board dismissed opposition of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, filed all the way back in 2012. She (who is, in fact, related to co-founder Tom Schlafly) and Dr. Bruce S. Schlafly opposed the brewer's application, claiming Schlafly was merely a surname. But this week, TTAB dismissed those oppositions, agreeing that the brewery "had established acquired distinctiveness," per write-up by atty John L. Welch over at TTABlog. Basically, the Schlafly we all know successfully showed that plenty of consumers know its beer and recognize that "Schlafly" communicates the source of that beer, not just a name.  

BrewDog officially launched $50 mil crowdfunding campaign in the US, its 5th round of Equity for Punks and first ever in the US. Recall, this is the most ambitious crowdfunding program ever by a private co in the US, and is both cheaper and "comes with few of the downsides" of traditional IPO (see Mar 18 issue). Each share costs $47.50 and minimum investment is two shares, a similar offering to those that BrewDog has done in the UK, where it's now raised over $34 mil from 46K "equity punks." Shareholders in exchange get equity and various discounts in BrewDog pubs.

Meanwhile BrewDog's Columbus, OH brewery is said to be on track for Nov 2016 launch, per Telegraph article, and once its open BrewDog expects to ship 85K bbls in first 12 mos (see Mar 18 issue). So recent news that US sales vp Jason Davis left co before project off the ground means co likely searching for someone to fill the void asap to be ready for US push. Keep in mind, last yr BrewDog brewed 114K bbls globally, so US would quickly become a sizable chunk of total biz. All in, it will be interesting to see how Equity for Punks campaign and how BrewDog brands in general are received by US in this increasingly competitive environment.

IPA Brand Will Be "the Biggest Selling Beer in the World by 2025," sez BrewDog's James Watt; 3 Candidates; Unlikely at Best . . . BrewDog co-founder James Watt made bold (and improbable) prediction "that an IPA would be the biggest selling beer in the world by 2025," during presentation at 2016 Beverages Conference hosted by Redburn. What's more, only Lagunitas IPA, Goose IPA and his own Punk IPA will be in contention for this title, said James. Redburn's Chris Pitcher "felt uncomfortable" with this forecast "especially considering there are 400mhl of lager to be converted in China, but disruptors are meant to make us feel uncomfortable and this outlook was 100% in keeping with earlier theme of true entrepreneurs thinking exponentially," he wrote.

Editor's Note: CBN felt at least as uncomfortable with the prediction. Lagunitas IPA is currently the largest IPA in the world; at a little over half of its total biz, Lagunitas IPA reached an estimated 415K bbls in the US. It also does small but growing amount of biz overseas, and of course has big oppy to grow thru Heineken's global network. Yet just lookin' at current largest brand in the US, Bud Light shipped an estimated 36.7 mil bbls last yr, down about 10% since 2010. So even if Bud Light volume cut in half (an improbably steep decline) in the next 10 yrs, Lagunitas IPA would still have to grow 45X to pass it. That seems impossible. And keep in mind, Bud Light isn't even the largest lager brand in the world. China's Snow is larger despite being almost exclusively sold in China. AB's Goose IPA was still estimated less than half the size of Lagunitas IPA in 2015 and BrewDog globally shipped about 80K bbls of its Punk IPA (70% of its total biz).

All in, even if the numbers don't seem to add up for 2025, just the notion that this can be someone's line of thinking now in this new age of beer is noteworthy. Even that Redburn had a smaller co like BrewDog's co-founder speak at its conference is of significance. Overall "James' presentation [which included more about BrewDog's actual business, not just the IPA prediction] was inspirational," Chris wrote. "It brought home what true disruption looks like, smells like and how important a company's culture, people and shareholders are in driving this forward even as the enterprise becomes bigger." Maybe it won't be 2025 (or maybe it will?) but apparently it's no longer out of the question for some industry folks to think that an IPA brand could eventually become the largest in the world. What would we call "big beer" then?