Craft Brew conference reveals several new projects
A six-pack of beer trends poured at this month’s Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego:
1. Beyond hops: Due to a global shortage of this raw material, brewers seek other sources for aroma and bitterness. “I’ve heard people say yeast is the new hops,” said Bryan Pearson of Colorado’s Brewing Science Institute.
Or how about lemon grass, dill and marjoram? “We’ve had a lot of interest from brewers,” said Jack Vince of Indio’s Golden State Herbs.
2. Small is beautiful: Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors increasingly produce smaller-batch boutique beers – think Blue Moon – basking in what beer analyst Benj Steinman terms “the craft halo.” “The image of craft beers is so positive,” he said, “it rebounds to the entire industry, including the Big Three.”
3. Local is lovely: As gas prices continue to rise, brewers will seek local suppliers of malts, hops and other materials, and focus on boosting sales in their immediate surroundings.
4. To everything, there is a seasonal: Beer analyst David “Bump” Williams credits much of craft beer’s “torrid” growth to seasonal beers. “And this is incremental growth,” Williams stressed. “This is not taking away from the other, nonseasonal sales.”
5. Shine a lite: While most craft brewers scorn low-cal beers, a shaky economy may lead more to experiment with “lites.” Why? They sell. Last year, Sam Adams Light sold more than Redhook ESB and Pyramid Hefeweizen – the best-selling beer from each brewery – combined.
6. Distilled wisdom: In Scripps Ranch, Ballast Point’s brewer Yuseff Cherney worked until 3 a.m. the morning before the conference distilling his first batch of whiskey. The Point joins Anchor, Rogue and a handful of other craft brewers dabbling in spirits. More will follow, Cherney said: “This is the next step in brewing.”
