13 March, 2012

Wisconsin Craft Brewers in Competition?

The State Journal recently published an article called "Wisconsin a hotbed for craft brewing". It was nice to see Tanner Brethorst and his soon to open Port Huron Brewing Co. in the Dells get some press along with other various craft brewers.

What caught my eye was this:

“We’re not going after each other. It’s about chipping away at that other 92 percent,” Brethorst said while seated in his still-unfinished tasting room. “I really don’t care how many breweries start up.”

I read this just after reading this Tweet at the Beer Wars Twitter feed. It gives the following statistics: "From 2009 to 2011, there are 22% more breweries, 25% more packages and only 3.6% more shelf space."

So while I can understand that the craft brewers in Wisconsin aren't intentionally going out to lure customers away from each other, there is a finite amount of shelf space. So I can see one craft brew pushing out another. I don't know that this has ever happened here in Wisconsin but it seems possible and more likely as more craft breweries start up.

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