External Analysis
While there are many similarities between large beer producers and smaller craft breweries, the content of this report will focus attention solely on the craft brewing market. Within the topics below, I will give an overview of external factors that have an impact on the Boston Beer Company.
Economy
In 2012, the craft brewing industry as a whole earned $10 billion in revenue; and increase of 32% over the previous year (Goddard, 2016). By 2014, the volume share for craft brewers market grew to 11% out of the entire beer market (Berman, 2015). Their collective efforts provided over 424,000 jobs, more than $55.7 million to the US economy, amounting to 1.5% of the US Gross Domestic Product. This is especially relevant as …show more content…
American cultural norms towards alcohol in general depends on what part of the country you’re in, with the northeast and great lakes areas being the most liberal, and the deep south having the most stringent laws. Of all the states in the union, the heaviest drinkers can be found in Wisconsin, North Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois (Main, …show more content…
In the aftermath of the great recession, craft beer sales exploded, rising from $5.7 billion to $10-12 billion in 2012 (TIWID, 2013). For those that aren’t drinking away their sorrows, alcohol is the celebratory additive of choice for birthdays, weddings, graduations, sports events, and family gatherings. To complement the realization that 55.1 billion of gallons of beer was sold during 2012 (Goddard, 2016), the CDC defines heavy drinkers as those that have had one drink per day over the course of a month and binge drinkers as those that have had four or more drinks in a single session. In 2012, it was found that 8.2% of the population were heavy drinkers and 18.3% were binge drinkers (TNM, 2016). In 2014, those numbers changed to 6.7% and 24.7% respectively.
Technology
Pre-Modern Era Inventions
Coolship
A large, long, uncovered metal pan one foot deep that is used to cool hot wort. During the cooling process, yeasts and bacteria ferment and is the source of flavor in Belgian beer (Goldfarb, 2015).
Saccharometer
Invented in 1770, this modified hydrometer is used to measure the density and gravity of alcohol. This was a vast improvement over the previous method which consisted of sticking a hand into the mixture and making a subjective guess based on the stickiness of the mixture. Now, this tool allows brewers to change the color, flavor, and alcohol content of batches (Goldfarb, 2015).
Drum Malt
While there are many similarities between large beer producers and smaller craft breweries, the content of this report will focus attention solely on the craft brewing market. Within the topics below, I will give an overview of external factors that have an impact on the Boston Beer Company.
Economy
In 2012, the craft brewing industry as a whole earned $10 billion in revenue; and increase of 32% over the previous year (Goddard, 2016). By 2014, the volume share for craft brewers market grew to 11% out of the entire beer market (Berman, 2015). Their collective efforts provided over 424,000 jobs, more than $55.7 million to the US economy, amounting to 1.5% of the US Gross Domestic Product. This is especially relevant as …show more content…
American cultural norms towards alcohol in general depends on what part of the country you’re in, with the northeast and great lakes areas being the most liberal, and the deep south having the most stringent laws. Of all the states in the union, the heaviest drinkers can be found in Wisconsin, North Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois (Main, …show more content…
In the aftermath of the great recession, craft beer sales exploded, rising from $5.7 billion to $10-12 billion in 2012 (TIWID, 2013). For those that aren’t drinking away their sorrows, alcohol is the celebratory additive of choice for birthdays, weddings, graduations, sports events, and family gatherings. To complement the realization that 55.1 billion of gallons of beer was sold during 2012 (Goddard, 2016), the CDC defines heavy drinkers as those that have had one drink per day over the course of a month and binge drinkers as those that have had four or more drinks in a single session. In 2012, it was found that 8.2% of the population were heavy drinkers and 18.3% were binge drinkers (TNM, 2016). In 2014, those numbers changed to 6.7% and 24.7% respectively.
Technology
Pre-Modern Era Inventions
Coolship
A large, long, uncovered metal pan one foot deep that is used to cool hot wort. During the cooling process, yeasts and bacteria ferment and is the source of flavor in Belgian beer (Goldfarb, 2015).
Saccharometer
Invented in 1770, this modified hydrometer is used to measure the density and gravity of alcohol. This was a vast improvement over the previous method which consisted of sticking a hand into the mixture and making a subjective guess based on the stickiness of the mixture. Now, this tool allows brewers to change the color, flavor, and alcohol content of batches (Goldfarb, 2015).
Drum Malt