Posts from the CBC: Damn those are good quotes
A very quick update this afternoon from the Craft Brewers Conference in what is currently the Rainy City, Chicago. We’ve got FACTS, here. And to spare you from epic ramblings on loosely connected subjects, we’ve got QUOTES. Damn fine quotes. Let’s get with the facts!
Did you know?
* This year up to 3,400 people are in attendance at the CBC. Where are you? On a side note I wouldn’t mind being the BA rep who carries the moneybags out of the Sheraton when this thing’s over. You’d never hear from me again.
* More than 27 countries are representing the world craft scene this year. There’s a rumor going around that a model U.N. session might ensue at the Publican tonight.
* According to the science of stats, 1,552 breweries produced beer at some point during 2009. Thanks to these breweries, roughly 100,000 people can avoid the unemployment line.
* Top Selling Styles!
1. Seasonals (vague, I know)
2. Pale Ales
3. Ambers
4. IPAs
5. Amber lagers
* 86-percent of regional craft brewers increased sales in 2009…and the numbers keep growing. Overall total craft beer revenue looks something like this. 2007: $5.9 billion. 2008: $6.2 billion. 2009: $6.9 billion. I’ll go out on a limb here and say 2010 might just break $7 billion.
Those were some fine stats. But what about quotes?
A few awards were doled out to a number of notable craft brewing figures this morning, and here’s what they had to say.
F.X. Matt Award (for defending and promoting craft beer): Brooklyn Brewery founder Steve Hindy.
“Disunity [between breweries and wholesalers] in the beer industry is bad for beer.” Hindy spoke toward uniting the two fronts in order to create a formidable presence on Capitol Hill. This during the rising push to promote H.R. 4278, essentially an excise tax reduction bill meant to “level the playing field” between craft brewers and the macros. Lesson: Unleveled playing fields are not good.
Brewers Recognition Award: Bell’s founder Larry Bell
“One of the reasons I got into brewing is because I didn’t want to go to jail — they don’t like you selling homebrew out of the basement.”
The Russell Schehrer Award (for innovation in craft beer): Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman
“When I started brewing 30 years ago, American beer was really considered a laughing stock by serious brewers around the world. Now, collectively, because of what we’ve all done, the world looks to America for leadership.”
There you have it. Facts & Quotes. Stay tuned for more today, tomorrow and Saturday from the CBC. There’s also some magic happening here.
