Kate Bernot

Independent of state guilds and tourism boards, breweries are teaming up in creative ways to encourage multi-brewery visits.

• Beer Tourism
• Brewery Tourism
• Marketing

Simply having great beer is no longer enough, and on-site pie is a hit any way you slice it. Using pizza as a prism, here are three operational approaches to drawing more customers with food.

• Hospitality
• Kitchen
• Brewpub

Twisted or otherwise, hard tea can be made creatively at a small scale while appealing to a surprising range of customers. Here’s how a few small breweries are finding ways to make this drink work for their operations.

• Hard Tea
• Beyond Beer
• FMBs

With a tight focus on oak-aged beers inspired by Belgian lambic and gueuze, Lisa and Brandon Boldt are making their niche more convivial and approachable.

• Case Study
• Spontaneous Fermentation
• Lambic

New research and can-lining tech are expanding the options for beverages such as hard kombucha, canned cocktails, and more. Meanwhile, experts strongly urge brewers to test their cans thoroughly before releasing new drinks to market.

• Packaging
• Cans
• aTULC

Results of a burnout survey indicate beer industry pros are asking fundamental questions about their career paths, often feeling undervalued—and some are leaving it all behind.

• Burnout
• Human Resources
• Stress

With tighter competition, fewer wholesalers, and lower wholesaler interest, small breweries are looking for incremental ways to grow sales. That’s led to new models and some new opportunities—but there are no easy paths.

• Selling Beer
• Sales Strategies
• DTC

As damaging weather events become more common, breweries should consider whether investing in backup equipment now could help save money in the long term.

• Insurance
• Disaster Preparation
• Backup Generators

For some breweries looking beyond beer, copackers have become vital partners for launching new products. Here’s what to know when weighing your options.

• Beyond Beer
• Copacking
• Contract Brewing

Much of the growth in convenience-store beer coolers is in the form of large, single-serve packages—but that doesn’t make the stovepipe a sure bet for all breweries.

• Packaging
• Cans
• 19.2 Ounces

It’s long been known that malt contains precursor compounds that can be unlocked via fermentation for bright, tropical-fruit aromas. Researchers are beginning to quantify those contributions, and brewers are putting them to work in the brewhouse.

• Malt
• Thiols

Minnesota’s peculiar beer laws compelled Austin Jevne and Annie Henderson to spin off a contract-brewed brand distinct from their original brewpub. Turns out, the lemonade they made from those lemons tastes pretty sweet.

• Case Study
• Midwest
• Minnesota