Craft Beer Trends to Watch in 2017 – Part 2

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Transcript

Improved transcript coming soon…

welcome back to what’s brewing with Augustine oh podcast your source for all good things in craft beer craft coffee and craft food I’m your host Augustine’s Dino Iacopelli and today were to continue the discussion that apparently I was long-winded about in our last episode which is the craft beer trends to watch in 2017 and what we talked about last time was a little bit on the fact that the market is going to continue to grow in 2017 Elise by one because Augustine of brewing is going to open this year but actually there are a couple other breweries that may even beat us opening and the a market here in Wichita is a is definitely still in a growth phase many other places are as well in and will continue to see some growth perhaps not as rapidly as a percentage of the whole market as we do but we are still in the growth phase as we are slowly turning more and more people away from bland macro beers to more fully flavored but very well-made beers in the Wichita area and beyond so what to where we left off at last time was I discussing some the different models and the different sorting niches that breweries were going to have to explore in the near future if they’re going to find their place in the larger market and I be able to survive we talked a little bit about the fact that there there’s a pro to opening up just a brewery and taproom which I is a very seductive way to go it it’s so wonderful wonderful way to start small and then grow out of that it does allow for a little bit lower of a set a start up costs and so the barriers to entry are considerably lower for for that area which unfortunately is why that area of the market is growing so rapidly and probably the first area of the market place that will saturate out in terms of craft beer in my opinion is going to be those production facilities that have taprooms attached to them especially the ones that are at of a smaller scale I think that there is going to be a rapid ground game to grow those type of operations more rapidly and I think in some cases the growth that is seductive and is you pressure on those type of operations is good to be great and there’s going to be an increased number of breweries that one of failing because a scale before the really ready to scale craft beer is really hot right now but if you don’t have the the systems in place to allow for the scale and still be able to be competitive in the larger market you have a lot of trial trouble in the at the bigger picture and so moving along to the the model let that we have at the Augustine of brewing we are a planning to be a brewery and restaurant we are seeking a independent niche than America get into too much in this the context of the podcast here but you know we want to appeal to maybe a little bit broader of a market than some of the taprooms out there are aiming for we want to be a lot more welcoming in terms of families and creating an experience an environment that is service wise a very large cut above anything that currently is exists in the Wichita market the nice thing is these are things that can be done at fairly low cost it’s just a matter of building the systems and making the decision to do these things that can make for a much more enjoyable enjoyable experience whether you’re single whether you’re married with kids whether you’re somewhere in between we are looking to create the environment that is flexible and adjustable enough that there is going to be an appeal to all of those areas now is that necessarily niche in anywhere well yeah I think actually it is and those of you who visit Augustine 01 we do opener to see that there’s going to be wonderful opportunities for entertainment whether you are there on a night at night out on the town with the with friends or whether you’re coming in a little frazzled with your wife and couple of kids just to try to have a drink and get away from it all and so I think that that winds up being a model that is a more sustainable model longer-term because it allows for growth in control of the product flow that you don’t necessarily have full control of when you are seeking to distribute 80 to 90% of your production out of house you lose a sense the control over the tap handles that you can get and keep and find that market is increasingly becoming tight it is a situation though that more bars more restaurants are taking on craft beers that are local and so the number of tap handles that are available to us are dramatically and increasing and that does help offset it but at some point it is going to get to a a a point where it’s not if you build it they will come anymore and so focus on quality is one piece that is certainly requirement but also of an increased focus on the the niche that you’re filling in the story that you’re telling is going to become much more important I look at Augustine of brewing as an entertainment company as it is much as it is anything else we are serving food we are serving beverages but were also serving experiences and so because were serving those experiences that mindset in the then our trainings in a surround that mindset is what is going to ultimately set us apart from the broader marketplace we believe so it something along those lines or something along hopefully a much different line is what you were rough thinking if you’re in that market of thinking about own owning and operating a bring the future is to always look at that niche it always think in terms of especially with your beer how are you getting it distributed because it is not just a case of if you build it they will come anymore and so that blended marketplace approach is going to in my opinion be a big part of the future of craft beer here in the US you’re going to have an increased number of regional breweries yes but I think the real growth is going to be at the the small and medium scale level and creating situations where you are able to lock in a very clear-cut and controllable product flow and that’s not necessarily something that’s a guarantee going forward especially if you do not have an outstanding product to begin with if you do have an outstanding product that is world-class and that’s what it’s gotta be it’s got to be a world-class craft beer in order to really guarantee good distribution good growth and as a certified Beer Judge I can say that there are very very few craft beers that are world-class in the Wichita market and even beyond the Wichita market and it is going to become a situation where as our consumers become more and more educated which each year the understanding and education of the average craft beer drinker is getting higher and higher and higher and as that becomes the case there is not to be nearly the tolerance that there has been for poor beers being made beers that just maybe are bad but they just don’t shine and there’s a lot of really good beers here locally and in Wichita and I think that that’s great but the push to make even better beers is going to become even greater and were to come back in episode 24 with the last segment of our craft beer trends to watch a 2017 where we will actually talk about the beers in themselves where I see the craft beer market going in 2017 and beyond so thanks for listening and to back and soon