Kansas bill to raise production cap for microbreweries from 30K to 60K bbls passed in state Senate this week, now moves on to House. Separate bill to allow those licensees to also produce cider passed too, according to Topeka Capital-Journal. That 60K-bbl cap, by the way, matches distinction in federal tax code, a brewers guild lobbyist explained to paper. Brewers were less successful in their efforts in Mississippi. There, pair of bills that made similar adjustments that would allow brewers to sell some beer directly to consumers, among other changes (see CBN from Feb 19 issue), died in respective committees. With those bills off the table, leaves Miss as one of 2 states to bar all direct sales by breweries. Again, Georgia is other, where brewers still waiting on further guidance from Dept of Revenue on allowable pricing structure by which they can sell tours and give away "souvenir" beer.  

Tiny NY-based Harlem Brewing landed a deal with mega-retailer Walmart to get its Sugar Hill Golden Ale into 39 NY stores starting next mo, NY Post reported earlier this week. The 15-yr old brewery produced just 800 bbls in 2014 according to Brewers Assn estimate, all out of Saratoga, NY, and owner Celeste Beatty never really thought of Walmart "as a store where I'd sell my products," she said. So how'd this come about? Interestingly, Walmart simply "sought her out after seeing her interviewed on TV," according to paper. Indeed, Walmart is lookin' to ramp up its craft biz since it's "a growing category for Walmart" and as part of its broader initiative to support more American manufacturing jobs, spokesperson told paper. Walmart currently carries some other NY-based brands such as Saranac, Southern Tier and Saratoga. And Walmart is allowing Harlem brands to keep prices up in $10-12 range, Celeste told paper. All in, Harlem expects to see sales increase "as much as 20 percent because of the New York deal." Co hopes to eventually supply other Walmart stores out-of-state too; currently it has distribution in "New York, Atlanta, the Carolinas and Detroit," noted separate The Root article. And Celeste "recently put in an offer on a space in West Harlem for a production brewery, which will include a tasting room." Stay tuned.  

This isn't the first time Brooklyn Brewery has brought up issue of renewing the lease for its facility/tasting room based in Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, but this is certainly the most strong-worded anyone from the co has been on the matter: "We know our ability to renew is zero," ceo Eric Ottaway told Crain's NY Business, largely due to soaring rent prices from landlords lookin' "to redevelop buildings in to-high-end commercial or resident spaces," paper added. It's unclear if co would lose any of the $800K in state grants it received to renew lease back in 2009 if it moves before the lease is up in 2025. But nonetheless, the search is on. Brooklyn is seeking ~60K sq-ft building that would function very similarly to its current facility/tasting room and tho there's no set "timeline," it "could opt to relocate well before the lease runs out." "What's tricky is finding a space where we can do the manufacturing but also have the retail be an important component," he added, acknowledging that "it's hard to find a neighborhood that has the level of visibility that Williamsburg has."

Keep in mind, that's not the only building project it's workin' on. Brooklyn still finalizing deal to build a 200K sq-ft production facility in Staten Island. As Brooklyn's export biz continues to grow, Brooklyn "need[s] to bring our manufacturing close to the ports in the city," said Eric. Gotta be an extra kick to the wallet for Brooklyn to contract brew in Utica only to ship it back down to the NYC ports and finally overseas. Stay tuned.  

Duvel Moortgat USA $$ sales up 23% for 4 weeks thru Jan 24 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience, even while volume up "just" 8%. That's called trading up, big time. And recall DMUSA #s don't include Firestone Walker. Firestone Walker, tho majority owned by Duvel Moortgat, is separate. And it's flying high in early 2016 (as CBN already reported). Firestone $$ sales up 78% and slightly bigger than DMUSA, $3 mil in sales vs $2.75 in IRI for 4 weeks. If you put the 2 together, they would be #7 craft co, just slightly ahead of Deschutes. Up $1.85 mil, 47% between 'em last 4 weeks.

Duvel Moortgat ceo Michel Moortgat "has a vision for creating a global craft brewing empire," wrote Kansas City Business Journal, which interviewed him recently. "The whole craft brewing industry is moving fast," Michel said. "This company is evolving well. We're ambitious. A bit like the Kansas City Royals, we want to be world champions." The co has 6 brands in Europe and 3 in US, sez Biz Jnl (Boulevard, Ommegang and Firestone Walker). About 40% of its total global biz in US, CBN understands, clearly growing at faster pace than its largely European biz.

"The innovation of craft beer is higher in America," added Michel. So that even if "inspiration" comes from Europe, like with farmhouse brew Tank 7, "packaging and identity is clearly American which inspires people in Europe. The Midwest inspires the boundless possibilities of America, and that makes people drink the beer. I think people need a little bit of dreaming in their life." Interesting quotes from Michel. He also spoke about US craft beer trends spreading to Europe. "IPA is really big here, but it's only starting to get big in Europe. So it still has development to go there. But when we see a new trend here in the U.S., like sour beers, wild yeast beers or barrel-aged beers, then we can likely predict that will be the next trend in Europe. The world has become a village."

Meanwhile, the Ommegang brewery is looking for a more "permanent" GM, according to note sales veep Bobby Dykstra sent to distribs the other day. Bill Wetmore "has run Ommegang for the last 2 years" but will "step aside…. As many of you may know, Bill has been splitting his time between family commitments in Ohio and the brewery in Cooperstown…. Bill has very capably filled the role" but it's "important that we establish a permanent long-term leader… based full time in Cooperstown." Bill continues as Ommegang GM and mktg director thru the summer, while Ommegang continues its search and "we hope to announce Bill's next role in the coming weeks," said Simon, i.e. he will be staying with DMUSA.  

The world's largest brewer devoted a full paragraph to its effects in US and internationally in its end of year earnings release this morn. "The development of the craft category in the US, and increasingly around the world, is a prime example of how new vigor and energy can be brought to the consumer's experience with beer." While ABI "building a position in the craft space with acquisitions" in US for yr, in 2015, "we also expanded our global craft portfolio with acquisitions in other countries such as the UK, Mexico, Canada, Colombia and Brazil."

ABI ceo Brito was asked about global potential of some of its US craft acquisitions on conference call this morn. "For sure," he said, some of these brands have "global potential" but before even getting to international, let alone global, ABI wants to build some of its US craft acquisitions nationally. Brito pointed to success of Goose Island IPA, which grew 150% last yr. Can some of these brands ultimately build more global positions? "We think the answer is yes. We have thoughts around this," but he didn't delve into details. Meanwhile, word continues to percolate that ABI still working on even more craft acquisitions in US. It's reportedly close on a couple of deals.  

Scale's clearly got its benefits, but everything's relative, right? As the craft beer biz gets more and more local, many comparatively small players make a big (and growing) impact within limited distribution footprints. That's most clear with Wisconsin star New Glarus: #29 beer supplier by $$ overall in IRI's national foodstore channel. But it's only in one state. So just over 2% of all US beer-selling grocery stores stock its beer (measured as Category Weighted Distribution, at 2.35). Yet its dollar sales per point of CWD (or velocity) was over $6.5 mil in 2015. That's the 4th highest of any beer supplier in IRI data, about $750K ahead of Heineken USA, not quite twice Boston Beer's $$-velocity per point of distribution. For reference, AB's velocity in foodstores last year was about $35.7 mil, MC's $23.4. And New Glarus grew its $$ sales per point of CWD by over $1.1 mil in foodstores last yr, even more than Constellation did (to $8.6 mil). No craft co makes quite the same impact at home as this Wisc-only brewer. But others also keeping distribution tight and becoming a lot more valuable to the small number of retailers (and distributors) that carry their beers. These are craft's hometown heroes: unfamiliar further afield, but hittin' home runs locally.

Some of these local faves rise to the top after shuffling up national IRI grocery data and eyeing beer suppliers by velocity. Look at little NoDa Brewing in North Carolina. It sold less than $600K worth of beer in IRI-tracked food stores last year, but did so in just 0.12% of them. Zoom in on NC. NoDa sold beer in just 2.4% of state groceries that sell any beer in 2015 and grew $$ sales 162%. It neared a quarter of a million $$ in sales per point of CWD, the 4th highest velocity of any beer supplier in the state. Lead brand Hop Drop N Roll IPA represented over half its $$ sales and, in the few retailers that stocked it, cases flew out the door at a faster rate than cases of Stella Artois, Modelo Especial or Blue Moon did in the state. And at an average price per case of $54, its $$-velocity was twice that of those other high-end brands.

You've heard more about another fast-flyer with tight distribution: Rhinegeist seemed to explode onto the Ohio scene last year, up almost 500% in national IRI-tracked grocery stores. But it had about the same CWD as New Glarus, just over 2.3. With $4.44 mil in sales "nationally," Rhinegeist's beer sold at 11th highest velocity of all beer suppliers. Over a third of Ohio foodstores sold Rhinegeist brands in 2015, a big jump from 16-17% the year prior. Another midwest favorite, Short's, also moves quickly in its tight Michigan-footprint. Up 27% by $$ last yr, all Short's brands sold at about the same velocity ($1.75 mil per pt of CWD) as Diageo Guinness USA in just 3.3% of US grocery stores that sell beer. Recall, Short's just initiated distribution outside Mich, in western PA and Chicago. So will be interesting to watch how that change may affect the co's velocity.

Locally-Sold, Nationally-Known Phenoms; Harder in Developed Mkts? Some of the biggest growth stories of 2015 fit this picture of craft brands with relatively small distribution and a very fast rate of sale. Near top of that list: Firestone Walker 805 Blonde, of course. Easily a top-30 craft brand nationally, 805 finished the year with CWD under 14 and velocity over $915K. Elsewhere, Four Peaks Kilt Lifter sold at faster rate than Sam Adams Seasonal, nationally ($793K vs $762K, respectively). Only available in Arizona, Kilt Lifter $$ up 33% last year. No wonder AB was interested.

In PacNW, Fremont's Interurban IPA rolled out of foodstore doors significantly faster than Fat Tire did nationally, with $$ up near 40%. Looking at just its home Seattle-Tacoma market, Interurban's velocity on par with its rank as #4 craft brand. In fact, no craft brand there stands out for moving significantly faster than similarly-sized brands. Makes sense in an incredibly crowded market where craft at over 40 share of $$ and bigger than domestic premiums even by volume in foodstores. Similar story in Portland, San Francisco and San Diego foodstores. Just a couple of hometown brands punched above their weight in terms of velocity in the Calif markets. Russian River's Pliny the Elder is clearest example: small number of SF and SD foodstores each scanned about as much $$ from Pliny sales as every single beer-selling grocery in each market did of Corona Light. And that's on about a third the volume. That's the power of Pliny.

Meanwhile, across the country, a couple tiny brands making a big impact in far-less developed Florida craft market. Craft gained 1.2 share of $$ to 13.2 in IRI grocery channel there and still less than 10 share of cases (including Blue Moon, Leinenkugel's, Shock Top, etc). There, tiny brands like Grayton 30A Beach Blonde Ale and Intuition Ale Works I 10 IPA available at less than 10% of beer-selling foodstores and moved at about the same rate as Sam Adams Seasonal and in-state star Cigar City Jai Alai, respectively. As competition in craft heats up even further, seems likely retailers will stick with brewers that add the most value to their stores when making tough decisions.  

Join us in Chicago this Spring and hear how a trio of leading craft founders view the shifting craft space during a new panel discussion, just finalized. Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione, Stone's Greg Koch and Victory's Bill Covaleski will take on explosion of IPAs over last few years and where the key style is headed. You'll also get their perspectives on other crucial craft trends, including how the very structure of the segment continues to develop. They join a program of other top industry execs and observers all digging into our Spring Conference's twin themes: the growing high end and the current deal landscape. Speakers include Boston Beer founder/chairman Jim Koch on a high-end leaders panel with Constellation's Bill Hackett and Heineken USA's Ronald den Elzen, plus Sierra Nevada's Brian Grossman and Joe Whitney, IBG's Joe Thompson, First Beverage Group's Bill Anderson and Paragon Bev Advisors' Mark Hall and Randy Jozwiakowski. Reserve your space today and we'll see you May 16-17 at the Ritz Carlton in Chicago. Need more info? Head to our website.  

Hiring for its new Asheville, NC brewery, New Belgium got about 4,000 applications for just 20 "Liquid Center" tasting room positions, a Citizen-Times report suggests. That's something like 6+% of the city's 21+ population (tho applicants from surrounding area too, of course). The 20 new hires increased NBB's total NC brewery/distrib center employee-count to 80, expected to nearly double to between 140-150 by the end of next year. And the Liquid Center, expected to open next month, will have room for over 150 visitors. The co is tapping relatively new Beer 101 course at nearby Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College to help train these new entry-level employees.  

Joint "Buy Local Beer Here" campaign in Montana represents big shift from past few years when members of Montana Brewers Assn, Tavern Owners Assn and Restaurant Assn not exactly on same page. Recall, taverns not terribly thrilled with tap rooms in past, charging that the bar-like outlets with much-cheaper license costs take biz away. But now stickers and signs alerting diners to availability of Montana-made beer started popping up in the state, a joint campaign by the 3 assns so all can share in growth of craft segment there, the Missoulian wrote this week. "We decided to focus on the thousand things we have in common instead of the three things we disagree on," gov't affairs director of MTOA John Iverson said.  

DESTIHL Brewery plans to build a new $14 mil, 47K sq-ft production brewery in Normal, IL by early 2017, co announced. The brewery will sit on 6 acres of land with initial 30K-bbl/yr capacity, ultimately expandable to "more than 150,000 barrels of beer annually." Indeed, "building this new production brewery has been part of our long-term business plan since we opened our first brewpub in Normal in November 2007," founder and CEO Matt Potts acknowledged. Expansion is "being driven by heavy demand" in both existing footprint and "many other markets presently wait-listed by the brewery for over a year," per release. Recall, DESTIHL didn't open its first production brewery until May 2013 and quickly expanded distribution to 14 states total. Now co expects to hit 15,000 bbls this yr and will have plenty of room for further growth. And DESTIHL specifically mentions that excess space will be used to "vastly increase production of its wildly popular Wild Sour Series" along with "other growing brands." Co will break ground this spring and expects to "initially" bring in 70 new jobs with expectation to double that in 5-10 yrs. It currently employs 180 people between its two brewpubs and production facility.

Creature Comforts Expects 18K Bbls This Yr as It Continues to Expands Cap Athens, GA-based Creature Comforts Brewing co has rapidly grown biz since opening in 2014 and already expects to produce 18K bbls in 2016, co announced. To help 'em get there, co will add four new 120-bbl fermenters and one 120-bbl brite tank that'll boost cap from 15K to 23K bbls/yr. It already "plans to add a fourth brewhouse vessel later in 2016," to further increase cap to 28K bbls/yr. All in, Creature Comforts invested $1.25 mil into operations thus far since opening. There are currently "no plans to expand" beyond current footprint in Athens and Atlanta mkts.