E-Malt.com News article: US, WI: Wausau craft brewers report higher sales

When Zach Johnson lived in Madison as a student, he began to develop a taste for beer with more flavor than the watery brew that typically flows at college keg parties.

Now 29 and living in Wausau, Johnson sat recently at the long, wooden bar inside Red Eye Brewing Co., one of Wausau's three craft-beer breweries. There, he enjoyed a Belgian wheat-style beer, savoring the local flavor flowing from his pint glass.

"It's just smooth," Johnson said. "It's just an easy beer to drink."

Johnson is among a growing number of people forgoing more well-known domestic beers such as Budweiser or Miller for locally made, flavorful beer. And in Wausau, he has plenty of options.

The three breweries that have opened here since 2007 — Bull Falls Brewery, Red Eye Brewing Co. and The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co. — all have seen continued growth and increased production, a trend that falls in line with national numbers. Throughout the U.S., craft brewers produced 11 percent more beer in 2010 than in 2009 and sold 12 percent more beer, according to the Brewers Association.

Each local brewer has his own take on why craft beer is taking off locally. Theories range from Wisconsin being at the heart of the microbrewing explosion to a slow shift toward more locally made food and drinks. But really, brewers say, the growth comes down to one factor: the beers are good, offering flavor and varieties not produced by corporate brewers.

"I'm assuming if we can continue to make a decent product, there will be no shortage of people looking for craft beer," said Mike Zamzow, brewmaster and co-owner of Bull Falls Brewery on Wausau's east side.

Craft brewers' foothold in the national beer market undoubtedly remains small, but double-digit annual growth is becoming the norm.

In 2010, craft brewers combined to produce 9.9 million barrels, up from 8.9 barrels in 2009, a trend that has shown no sign of fading in recent years, according to the Brewers Association.

In Wausau, each brewery has enjoyed growth in the local market since opening. Bull Falls expects to produce more than 700 barrels this year, up from 680 in 2010, Zamzow said. Great Dane, producing the most beer of the three breweries, made 1,200 barrels in 2010, the brewery's first full year of operation. Meanwhile, Red Eye brewmaster Kevin Eichelberger said Red Eye had a 20 percent bump in beer sales the first two months of this year.

But while small, independent breweries are continuing to gain traction, their share of the market is as small as the batches of beer they produce. According to the Brewers Association, craft brewers made 4.9 percent of all U.S. beer in 2010.

Still, it's clear the mega brewers want in on the action. Anheuser-Busch recently bought Chicago-based Goose Island Beer Co. for $38.8 million.

Zamzow said the deal is evidence that big brewers realize where the industry is growing, and desperately want to find a way into the craft beer market.

"If that doesn't tell you something, you're missing it," Zamzow said.

For the brewers, it's clear why people are flocking to their beers, and showing no remorse for abandoning big brands such as Miller, Coors and Budweiser.

Zamzow said once beer drinkers find a good craft beer that fits their taste — and the range of brews available is vast — there's no turning back. Robust flavor, quality ingredients and the added touch of being locally made all weigh into the equation.

"They lose their taste for (light beer), because there is no taste," Zamzow said.

James Botsford sat recently in Bull Falls' tap room — it does not have a restaurant like Red Eye and Great Dane — where he sipped the brewery's most popular beer, Five Star Ale.

For the 61-year-old town of Wausau man, other beers just don't stack up. Since having his first Bull Falls beer when it opened in 2007, he hasn't looked back.

"I just think the quality of beer here is remarkable," he said.

But beyond locals, an entire subculture is running around the nation seeking the best craft beers. In the world of brewers, they're more commonly known as "beer geeks," and they can be found in any local brewery on most weekends.

Often, the beer geeks are looking for one particular variety of beer — India Pale Ale, or IPA — that they use to judge a brewery's capability to make an awesome glass of brew.

"That beer can define a brewery," Zamzow said.

Zamzow knows firsthand the importance of having an IPA in his lineup of beers. When he first opened, he regularly had people come in looking for an IPA. When he didn't have one on tap, they headed out the door, he said. Now the Bull Falls IPA is on tap, and pumped full of hops.

At Great Dane, brewmaster Pete McCabe said he's selling twice as much IPA as he was when the brew pub opened in 2009.

Eichelberger has several variations of IPA and has made an American-style IPA into Red Eye's most popular beer. He said brewers can create scores of variations of IPA, using different types and amount of hops along with other flavors. That creativity is one reason it has such appeal.

"I think the IPA is one of those beer styles that certainly has a lot more flavor," he said. "An IPA here is not an IPA there. Whereas an American wheat beer tends to be run of the mill and average wherever you go."

Wausau-area beer lovers might be a little spoiled with three breweries in a city of fewer than 40,000 people, but for the beer makers, it's easy to see success for each.

One reason three breweries can thrive here is because each brewmaster has his own style and appeals to slightly different markets.

Zamzow considers himself a traditionalist, more interested in German-style beers. Zamzow, a home brewer for 10 years before opening Bull Falls with his father, Don Zamzow, prides himself in his lagers, but also offers very popular ales.

At Great Dane, McCabe is certain to have beer on tap that his customers are going to like. But he said he approaches beer-making with the idea of making beers true to their style, so people can get a good feel for what each should taste like.

"I like to think a lot of beers we do here come from my own drinking background," McCabe said.

For Eichelberger, getting creative with traditional styles is a top priority. At Red Eye, he has brewed beers with additional ingredients such as licorice root and lavender, saying he likes to step outside the box.

Beer lovers such as Johnson said the wide variety is one appeal to seeking out locally made beers. While they might cost a little bit more than canned, watery beer, they're always worth it. For example, a pint at Great Dane cost $5, while a mug of Budweiser might cost no more than $2 at some local taverns.

"The thing is, you have typical bars in every city where you'll have average beers," Johnson said. "It's nice to see people trying new things."


20 April, 2011