ChiTown Beer

I saw Beer Wars Live last night, a guerilla-style documentary about the plight of the craft beer man in a world controlled by Anheuser-Busch InBev (the Budweiser people), followed by a live discussion of the industry moderated by Ben Stein.

The very heavy-handed film featured Anat Baron (former CEO of Mike’s Hard Lemonade and the writer, director, producer, star, caterer, goddess, etc.  of the film) stumbling around Boston, New York, D.C. and (briefly) St. Louis to find out why it was just so gosh darn hard to be a craft brewer in America, where AB InBev owns almost 50% of the market share and with MillerCoors included, they own 78% of the US market.

Jim Koch, founder of the Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams, etc.), probably summed the movie up the best when he proudly, but sadly told the cameras that while Boston Beer Co. is the largest craft brewery in the United States, all the beer he produces is about equivalent to the run off from the AB InBev breweries. “My life’s work is their industrial waste,” he said.

To what extent Budweiser is an evil-corporation hell-bent on destroying the little guy and to what extent the little guy is simply a Budweiser waiting to happen was only somewhat probed by Stein in the discussion that followed.

The movie focused on Sam from Dogfish Head Brewery in Deleware and touched base with  Greg Koch from Stone Brewing Co. in California. While these two are very successful craft brewers, the movie’s female lead, Rhonda Kallman, a founder of the Boston Beer Co., was having trouble pushing her new caffinated beer, Moon Shot.

Kallman seemed to have immense trouble getting a foot in the door, even in the after-movie discussion. It’s ironic that even at an event about how hard it is for the little guy to get into the industry, the two larger craft brewers won’t give the time of day to a smaller one.