Shifting rather neatly, the craft beer industry continues to grow as colossal brands lose market share. Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, explained this shift at Wednesday’s opening reception for the Craft Brewers Conference in Washington D.C. Gatza said he wasn’t surprised by the growth, which has been a year-to-year truth at this conference, however he also said that he’s encouraged by the 0.9 percent volume growth of the overall U.S. beer industry

Butcher and Bryant insisted that authenticity can carry a brand to strong sales and a point of differentiation. This authenticity derives from more than just a friendly smile; it’s rooted in well-crafted beer, a genuine connection with consumers and a drive to maintain your brand.

Atwater, which recently completed a $1 million upgrade to its facility, is searching for a 70,000 square-foot site in its home city, Detroit. The site would expand Atwater’s production capabilities, increasing production to approximately 100,000 barrels per year.

MillerCoors has come up with a crafty way to get its brands on television — TIVO notwithstanding. The beer giant is partnering with Turner Broadcasting for marketing spots across TBS, TNT, CNN, truTV, Funny Or Die, NBA on TNT, Bleacher Report, and NASCAR.com, among others.

Forty-nine down and one to go. The American Homebrewers Association, or AHA, recently announced that Mississippi governor Phil Bryant signed a bill to legalize homebrewing throughout the state.

With a slate of craft beer-related bills awaiting approval from the Texas legislature, a group of in-state brewers have expressed mixed feelings about the proposed measures.

While bottles and cans have served as the core packages in craft beer’s surge, the 32 and 64 oz. resealable bottle known as the growler has lagged behind. It’s not for lack of desire — growlers are one of the most popular containers for brewers and consumers alike. What has hampered the growth of the growler is that, in many retail locations, it remains illegal to refill them.

As it waits on a potentially new ownership structure, Crown Imports has plans to partner with a celebrity chef to develop a beer that will likely aim to complement Mexican cuisine, according to Ad Age.

Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey, a brewing company based in San Marcos, Calif., announced today the hires of Frank Green III, on-premise sales manager, and Adam Martinez, media and marketing specialist.

In supermarkets last year, craft breweries logged approximately $32.6 million from can sales alone—a 168 percent increase from 2011. The major players in craft’s boom played a significant role in this success, as explained by Dan Wandel, senior vice president of beverage alcohol client solutions for Symphony IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm.

While bars and fine dining restaurants have caught on to the craft beer boom, casual restaurants are lagging behind, according to data provider GuestMetrics. Pulling from a database of more than $8 billion in sales from 2012, GuestMetrics found that craft beer accounted for 28 percent of overall beer sales in fine dining restaurants, 22 percent of beer sales in bars, and only 20 percent of beer sales in casual restaurants.

By spreading its footprint in supermarkets and convenience stores, craft beer continued its strong growth in 2012, seizing a greater share of the beer category. Dan Wandel, senior vice president of beverage alcohol client solutions for Symphony IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm, validated craft’s growth with statistics he shared as the featured guest of… Read more »

Innovative beer styles sprout from varying inspirations. Sometimes, they derive from a brewer’s unparalleled creativity and fearlessness. Other times, things just run amok. Such was the case for Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout from Denver-based Wynkoop Brewing Company, when all it took for the buzz to develop was for brewmaster Andy Brown to jiggle some bull testicles on camera.

The steps toward brewery expansion hold consistent themes, regardless of scale or vision. A nanobrewer hoping to seize the attention of a region and a craft brewer with limitless goals often follow a similar, occasionally subconscious mantra: every day, grow incrementally. To that end, we sat down with Heather Sanborn of Rising Tide Brewery and Luke Livingston of Baxter Brewing Co. to hear their thoughts about brewery development in the latest edition of Brewbound’s Brew Talks.