Q: With the depth of the economic downturn, are you concerned about consumers trading down to lower-priced mainstream beers?
A: Really good beer is still a very affordable indulgence for most people. In a time when people maybe can’t afford a fancy bottle of wine, everybody can afford a six-pack of Sam Adams and hopefully other craft beers.
Q: What’s been happening with your input costs for grains and hops? How are you dealing with that?
A: The costs of our ingredients have gone through the roof. We use two-row barley and noble hops. They’re both more expensive, and unfortunately for us, there really are no substitutes.
Our costs have gone up double digits for the last couple of years. But luckily our volume has continued to grow as more drinkers get turned on to good beers.
Q: You’re a relative giant in the craft-beer industry that’s dominated by small players, like you used to be. Are you comfortable in that position?
A: Being the largest craft brewer is like being the tallest pygmy. You’re still not ready to play for the Nuggets.
To give you some perspective, Anheuser- Busch is almost 200 times our size.
Q: Should there be concern about the big mergers and increasing foreign ownership of large U.S. brewers?
A: As an American brewer, I was sad to see (foreign investment in) Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors.
I think it’s important that America maintains its brewing heritage, and I find it a little weird that Sam Adams, which still is less than 1 percent of the beer market in the United States, is now the largest independent brewer. It’s like a Little League team winning the World Series because nobody else showed up.
Q: What do you think about the craft-style offerings being rolled out by the major brewers?
A: I guess I should feel flattered that these enormous global brewers want to try to copy the beers being made by the small independent craft brewers.
I think consumers will always prefer a craft beer from a real craft brewer, a brewer that is small, independent and traditional.
Q: Have you tried the new Budweiser American Ale?
A: Yes, I have. It’s obviously well-made, and it’s sort of an entry-level craft beer. But if you’re a real craft-beer drinker, there’s no real finish to it. It’s kind of flabby.
Q: What has the effect of the mergers among the major brewers been on the ability of craft brewers to get adequate distribution and shelf space?
A: We have the same concerns that other craft brewers have about being able to get our beers to consumers.
We’re all concerned that as the distribution channel is dominated by beers from (major) breweries, our ability to reach the shelf and continue to give consumers the variety of flavors that craft brewers make will be compromised. So far, we haven’t yet seen an impact.
Q: What are the prospects of Boston Beer being a takeover target?
A: Well, all I can say is that we’ve had offers for a long time and we’re still independent. I have all the voting shares, and I like making beer.
Q: Is the rising popularity of wine and spirits a threat to the craft-beer industry?
A: Not at all. It means that drinkers are becoming interested in beverages with more flavor, more variety and more authenticity. That is exactly what craft beer offers drinkers today.
Q: What do you think about Colorado’s craft-brewing industry?
A: I’ll always feel very much at home here in Colorado because 24 years ago, when Sam Adams was being picked as the best beer in America at the Great American Beer Festival, that helped launch us. I’m very gratified to see such a vibrant, interesting craft-beer scene happening here in Colorado. This is a great place to drink good beer. I was in Munich (recently), and Denver is a better place for a beer lover.
Q: What’s the best beer you’ve tried recently, outside of your own offerings?
A: That’s an impossible question because there are so many wonderful beers being made by craft brewers in the United States today. There are many, many great beers.
Q: What’s the worst craft-beer style that you’ve run across?
A: I’ll have to say I’m not partial to beers with chile peppers in them.
But I always remember what my father, who was a brewmaster, told me: All beer is good. Some beer is better, but all beer is good.
Edited for length and clarity from an interview by staff writer Steve Raabe.
