We know that craft has grown 10-15% for the last few years, depending on your source. But 1700+ brewers aren’t all gobbling the same share. And certainly the biggest guys aren’t growing at the same rate as the regional or even more local breweries further down the list, and there are sweet spots and speed bumps throughout…

You’ve got several different means of expanding, right? You’ve got the Sierra Nevada realm of opening another production facility, possibly across the nation. Or you add on incrementally in your backyard, provided you have the space; Boulevard might be an extreme example there. Or you contract brew, usually by utilizing extra space from an older regional brewer, like Brooklyn at Matt Brewing Co. Or Schlafly doing cans at Stevens Point in Wisconsin. But what if you don’t have any land to expand on, and don’t want to spend the money to build a whole new facility? And what if the traditional means of contract brewing don’t appeal to you? Maybe you want a little more control over the brewing process.

What Missouri decision, you say? The one we mentioned yesterday from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri Central Division, wherein Missouri’s Missouri Beverage Company sued importer Shelton Brothers for violation of the Missouri franchise law. The closer we looked at it, the more we realized what it signifies: A significant win for suppliers in the ongoing struggle over franchise laws. If this decision has precedence – and indeed, Missouri has cited to New Jersey’s case law for its similar franchise statute, so New Jersey likely does the same – distribs might start scrutinizing state codes more closely. Because according to last week’s decision on Missouri Beverage Company v. Shelton Brothers, the distributor and supplier never had a franchisor-franchisee business relationship at all.

Things you’ve been hearing a lot about lately: Mikkeller, the seemingly omnipresent brand powered by one nomadic Dane. New York City’s Birreria, the rooftop Italian beer garden brewing with Dogfish and Italy’s Baladin and Del Borgo. And CBD’s sodding, continual coverage of hot pockets of these “crafty” imports, or the growing cadre of (at least comparatively) smaller-batch imports that are at least seemingly driven by consumers that also drink American craft. (Whew.) Consumers looking for something more obscure. But you want numbers and quantification. You want to know what so-called crafty import brands are hot, and why, not just big-picture stuff. So here’s the deal.

The formation of CraftWorks last fall brought Rock Bottom, Gordon Biersch, and Old Chicago Grill under the same roof, simultaneously creating one of the largest beer-centric casual restaurant chains in the nation. The system has close to 200 units altogether; Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch brew most of their beer in-house, while Old Chicago Grill is famed for having 110 worldwide beer brands. Each concept has new locations slated for this year. But what we’re more interested in is the treasure trove of on-premise intel that must be behind this system. So we picked the brain of Stuart Melia, CraftWorks’ vp of beverage, on this roughly 40%-60% (bev-food breakdown) chain. The highlights in his words:

Can a big company learn to act more like a small one? The formation of MillerCoors’ Tenth and Blake venture about a year ago seemed to assume it could, with a proclaimed mission to innovate in the craft segment. And yet, no new Blue Moons have yet churned out of the spinoff company. To that end, your editor has even asserted that the big brewers might find it more efficient to acquire rather than innovate. Perhaps Tenth and Blake’s latest will prove that wrong. (Of course, there’s always acquisition and innovation, but I digress.) Tenth and Blake spokesman Tom Ryan and Tenth and Blake director of strategy Jeff White just let CBD in on what the

Oftentimes distributors get a bad rap in the craft brewer world. But “we are good people,” said World Class Beverages’ Jim Schembre in speaking to the North Carolina Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association. Interestingly, he encouraged distributors to defend and describe the three-tier system to consumers and suppliers: how much it costs to ship beer, pay drivers and buy trucks, etc. For “if you don’t know it, you’re getting pounded” on social media, he warned.

It’s June 16. That means you may have just missed this month’s issue of Wired. But just in case, run to the nearest slow-turn grocer and try to five-finger it, because there’s an article on page 130 called

For those wary of that amorphous, juggernaut class of 600+ new breweries coming online, consider exhibit A: Larry Sidor. He’s the guy that worked for Olympia 20+ years before helping define the style and flavor of Deschutes as brewmaster, engineering sales-driving flagships like Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale and Inversion IPA and big beer benchmarks The Abyss and The Dissident. On his watch, the company has grown from 118,000 barrels to 208,000, making them craft brewer No. 5…

CBD has learned that New Belgium will hit the Washington DC area with a motley crew of distributors: Reyes Family are in for Northern Virginia and D.C. (Premium Beverage) and in 49 counties in Central and Southwestern Virginia (Blue Ridge Beverage Co.) according to a Truth Squadder. But they didn’t only stay with MillerCoors houses, for A-B house M. Price Distributing confirmed that they’ll bring the item in around Hampton, Newport News, and Williamsburg toward the end of August. We’ve heard whispers of independent houses too in the area, but no confirmations. There have gotta be some overlapping territories. An interesting strategy for sure that will be explained come official announcements. BBD broke news of NBB being Eastern Seaboard-bound in January…

The small brewer excise bill is heating up, and it’s not even on the floor. Friday Nick Matt and Sam Calagione responded to Larry Bell’s BA posting from Tuesday, countering his argument that small brewers shouldn’t be fighting for tax rollbacks for brewers at the 2-to-6 million barrel mark (see “Philly’s On-Premise Animal”). Their core points:…

We’ve heard a lot of concern about craft consumers’ promiscuous palates this week, and industry consultant Bump Williams’ latest client letter just sharpens them. Some of the top craft brands seem to be losing a bit of share — Bump pinpointed Fat Tire shrinking in core markets in particular. And Boston Lager may be going through a “maturity cycle more than anything else,” though Boston is doing well with their seasonals and Brewmaster’s Collection. When these big craft guys lose brand share, where does it go?…

Certain names are recurring darlings for Philly’s craft beginnings. Ed Friedland is one of them. Ed is the craft specialist for Origlio’s separate and dedicated craft division, responsible for landing most of its 47 craft brands by way of his original namesake distributor, which Origlio eventually purchased. His dad was the first to import Guinness and Bass in Pennsylvania, and brought in Carlsberg and other European imports. The area had a thirst for then-unconventional beers even that generation or two ago, but “a few passionate customers back in the day really helped,” he says. Like curious palates and forward-thinking tavern owners. In fact, the case state largely driven by the on-premise…

The crowning jewel of 4-year-old Philly Beer Week? Possibly yesterday’s inaugural Forum of the Gods, which saw Ale Street News’ Tony Forder and Don “Joe Sixpack” Russell grill Larry Sidor (Deschutes), Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River), Carol Stoudt (Stoudt’s), Brian Grossman (Sierra Nevada), and Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head) on industry thoughts and trends…

At late May’s California Small Brewers Association meeting, the “crystal ball” panel fielded a question on private label beers. It’s interesting that would even be on the radar of craft suppliers – after all, private label is less than one percent of the entire beer category, and less than that for craft, according to Nielsen’s Nick Lake. It has no on-premise opportunities. And, as big brother publication Beer Business Daily reported last week, private label had been declining for years before the Summer 2010…