BOSTON LA GENO Seasonal Brew SAM Boston Beer Co. founder Jim Koch adapted a family recipe to create Sam Adams Boston Lager in the 1980s. Today there are more than 60 styles of Sam Adams. offering and Avery's Old Jubilation) are released- brewer that used to lead the craft revolution (such malty drinks that are often infused with cinna- as Wicked Weed, Goose Island, Elysian or Terra- mon, nutmeg and other seasonal flavors. pin), they're giving money to a macrobrewer and lowering the odds that an independently owned THE SUCCESS OF craft beer has created some ob- craft establishment can find shelf space at stores. stacles for brewers. State laws, for instance, vary The flip side to that argument is that people wildly and are often restrictive, dictating how who try a "macro craft beer" are more open to try- breweries must handle distribution (which often ing others. And that expands the overall audience means relying on their biggest competitors) and, for craft beer. Right now, 40% of the population until recently in some states, prohibiting the sale over the age of 21 drinks craft beer "at least sev- of their product in their own tasting rooms. eral times a year," according to pollsters Nielsen- A bigger problem is consolidation. Big brewers Harris on Demand. have seen profits dip as people show a preference That number has been going up, on average, one for bolder styles, and, as a result, macrobrewer- or two percentage points per year, which, accord- ies have gone on buying sprees, paying premium ing to Bart Watson, chief economist at the Brew- prices to acquire craft companies. Whether the ers Association, works out to 4 million to 5 million quality of the beers from those outlets has suffered new craft drinkers per year. And as brewery open- is debatable, and, to be sure, there's plenty of de- ings continue to outpace closings and beer makers bate among passionate aficionados. keep creating new, intriguing styles that macro- What irks beers lovers more, though, is that few brewers don't dare take a chance on, that number people realize that by buying a six-pack from a is likely to continue to keep growing. 44