Bump Williams Consulting company has released a summary of the top-selling craft beer brands in the food channel, YTD to Dec. 25. Read on – you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be really glad you didn’t have to read all 130 pages at once because you subscribe to CBD…

It’s a trend we think will accelerate. Many entrepreneurs are finding defunct heritage brands’ built-in sense of place and latitude for reinvention allows them to come back with one foot in the craft space…

You may recall California’s Hangar 24 as one of the fastest-growing craft breweries of all time. In 2011, they did just over 15,000 barrels, about 50% growth. A new expansion project will bump them up about 3 times their current volume at the brewery…

The continued relevancy of top craft brewers is an enduring concern for 2012. You know the deal; many flagships have shown a bit soft in some markets. But some producers have shown that the way forward is to flank with the right newer offerings to generate and retain interest and occasions. Even if they can’t make up the volume, these brands reignite interest…

How big is the American cider market? Well. Things will change if, say, a big brewer decides to literally buy into all the recent hoopla around the beverage. But the total American cider market was about 350,000 barrels in 2011, and growing at about a rate of 18%, according to data from Lester Jones of the Beer Institute. Coincidentally, the number’s small size even surprised Jim Koch…

Call it the year of hybridized craft models: Another Angel City-like deal has just gone down. But it’s not under Boston Beer Co. It does, however, involve Boston’s former district manager of the Pacific Northwest. As of yesterday, Jeff Hansson has become national sales director for Coronado Brewing Company, which has also acquired Jeff’s burgeoning brewery in the deal…

The year already feels different, doesn’t it? Deals have gone down on the supplier side, and you can bet the wheels are turning in the second tier. We polled some sources for their top-line concerns in the craft distribution space in the coming months…

always like the smaller festivals for the chance to observe a few craft beer drinkers in their natural habitat. The way they interact with the booths can provide a roadmap for consumer trends: What are they asking for in their drunken and base needstate? Who gets the long lines? At last weekend’s Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines festival, there were also a few innovative sessions that pointed the way forward…

You were promised more on the strategy and vision of Boston Beer Co’s Alchemy & Science, which yesterday announced its first acquisition in LA’s Angel City Brewing. Well. A&S chief Alan Newman is such a character, and with such a candid voice that helps one understand his business M.O. and operations psyche, that this one just must be a Fly on the Wall…

Your editor realizes the flack she’ll get for the title’s suggestion. But consider Alchemy & Science’s newly outlined mission “to increase awareness of craft brewed beers by exploring and managing a broad range of opportunities, from creating and/or incubating new breweries to providing legacy solutions to craft beer/brewery founders.” Our little industry was clearly busy over the holiday period, and not just with sales…

Last February, St. Louis news reports alerted an impending Schlafly sale after founders signed confidentiality agreements with local investors. Founder Tom Schlafly has long made it public that he intended to put a succession plan in place, as a childless leader of an ever-expanding beer business…

Retail Whisperer Bump Williams was overachieving as always yesterday, having sent out a sort of holiday sales retrospective and predictions for 2012 while most continued their holiday tipple. Among his observations was the proclamation that craft was the clear winner of holiday sales, having “skyrocketed to a near all-time high…

Pennsylvania, Delaware and South New Jersey will “round out the East Coast distribution areas for Kona Brewing Company signature beers” the week of Jan. 17, according to a company statement. The three markets will carry Kona’s full portfolio in stores and on draught. The brewer will be in 30 states with these additions…

You all are very interested in MillerCoors’ well-oiled specialty operation, and for good reason. This piece on Tenth and Blake’s projects in the craft distribution and retail space represents a sign of the times: Everyone is trying to influence planning and schematics. Some have more pull than others…

Continuing our Best Of series: Every story we write on cider is among our best read. We alerted the trend first in April, having heard a bevy of distributors extol its virtues on tap towers – an easy and profitable sell, especially for the craft handle that sags…