Bud Enters the Home Draft Market

Anheuser-Busch is entering the home draft market.    Seeming to follow suit from Heineken, with their Draughtkeg and Krups Beertender and from Coors and Miller’s pig keg offerings, the Draftmark is making it’s debut in select St. Louis stores this week with Budweiser, Shock Top Belgian White, and Bass Pale Ale on offer.  It will be interesting to see how successful the BIG brewery will be with their home draft system.  The Draftmark fits on a shelf inside your refrigerator, has a rechargeable battery and a “permanent pouring system”. Draftmark owners will be able to buy refills for their system and Bud is claiming freshness for 30 days.

If Bud expands their refill offerings to some of their more exciting brews, like Bodingtons Pub Ale or Stella Artois, they may have a real winner. We here at Brewing and Beer aren’t always kind to the big 3, but we’re always interested in new ways to enjoy beer.  We have only two questions so far: When is the Draftmark going national, and why in the world of beer does it require a battery?

Learn More: www.anheuser-busch.com/s/index.php/anheuser-busch-brings-premium-draft-beer-experience-home-with-draftmark/

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Jim Koch on Competition in the Craft Beer Industry

Jim Koch of Boston Beer believes the craft beer industry will fail or succeed together

“As a craft brewer in America, after 27 years we’ve finally gotten to 1 percent market share, so my competition is not craft brewers because we’re all going to succeed or fail together. My real competition is ignorance and apathy. I’m about creating an appreciation of good beer, educating people about it and teaching them to treat it with respect. If I can do those things, I can succeed.” -Jim Koch

Read more here –> http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220792

A New Lager Looks to Fill the gap Between Mainstream and Craft Beer

Kräftig is looking to fill a niche that may not exist

The craft beer industry has steadily gained market share from the big three (Bud, Miller, Coors) over the past decade, rising to 7.6% of total beer revenue in the US in 2010¹. This steady incline is occurring while total beer sales have been slowly declining over the past 3 years, down 1.0% in 2010 from the year previous and expected to dip again in 2011¹.  Therefore it’s easy to see the risk involved with opening a craft brewery in America today, but there’s one brewery trying to really beat the odds: Kräftig.