Comments on: Top-selling craft beers revisited

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:43:18 +0000

Lew is right. Many of the beers that interest us aren’t even a blip at this level. In fact, many don’t even sell in supermarkets.

For instance, when BrewDog arrives in the states next month it will be in maybe four markets and only liquor stores.

For comparison sake, remember that imports have a 21.3% share of dollar sales and craft 6.5%.

In the first half, IRI has Corona Extra at $235 million, with Heineken way behind at $144 million. Others include 6 Guinness $28, 8 Newcastle $25, 9 Becks $22, 13 Stella $18.

By comparison, SNPA was the top craft beer at $27.3 million. Fat Tire is at $13.3 – granted in only half of the country but still less than Wife Beater.

That shows you the power of – and marketing dollars behind – international brands.

By: Lew Bryson

Lew Bryson — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:29:18 +0000

Stonch, if you get into that, you’ll have people clamoring to remove American beers like Fat Tire and Sam Adams. It always appears obvious to the one doing the removals, but it’s often different from other perspectives. Not saying I don’t approve, or — God help me — that “all beers are good”, but it’s a sticky issue.

By: Stonch

Stonch — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:30:26 +0000

Remind me, how do sales of imports compare to these? I’d be interested to see where beers from Britain, Belgium, Germany etc slot into this if you only included “craft beers” from those countries (i.e. you exclude the likes of Newcastle Brown Ale, Stella Artois, Beck’s etc).

By: Rick Sellers

Rick Sellers — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:06:34 +0000

Odd numbers here, especially at the very top. How can SN Pale be one in IRI and number 4 in Nielsen?