{"id":27273,"date":"2017-08-22T07:00:04","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T14:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shescookin.com\/?p=27273"},"modified":"2017-08-21T23:57:45","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T06:57:45","slug":"10-barrel-brewing-focused-on-southern-californias-beer-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shescookin.com\/10-barrel-brewing-focused-on-southern-californias-beer-market\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Barrel Brewing and the Craft Beer Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, August 10th, 10 Barrel Brewing<\/strong> collaborated with Teton Gravity Research (TGR) to host a film screening beach party at local Huntington Beach hot spot, The Bungalow, Huntington Beach. Timed perfectly to bask in the residual surf mania following the Van’s U.S. Open, the evening’s festivities featured a free premiere of TGR and Taylor Steele’s surf film Proximity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

While 10 Barrel<\/strong> may be known to Orange County craft beer drinkers, probably more for being bought by AB InBev in 2014 than their beer, I responded to their PR firm’s query to attend the event as I was curious why a brewer with no presence in the OC was throwing a free party in Huntington. 10 Barrel is based in Bend, Oregon and has breweries in Boise, Portland, Denver and, most recently, San Diego.<\/p>\n

\"10<\/p>\n

I met with 10 Barrel’s marketing director, Andy Goggins, at The Bungalow prior to the event to find out a little more about the company and their direction. 10 Barrel’s foray into the Southern California craft beer scene created quite a stir even before the opening of their mega\u00a0 10,450-square-foot multilevel brewpub<\/a> in San Diego on May 27th.<\/p>\n

“To say that 10 Barrel Brewing\u2019s entry into San Diego has been controversial would be an understatement, thanks to its ties to macro beer behemoth Anheuser-Busch Inbev. Since the brewery, which has roots in Oregon, first announced that it would be expanding into East Village\u2019s burgeoning Makers Quarter district, a good portion of the local craft beer community and its constituents have been pushing back. Several breweries have gathered to brew a beer together in revolt, while a crowdfunded protest sign will reportedly be flown over the brewery\u00a0this weekend.” {San Diego Eater<\/a>}<\/p>\n

Being a craft beer drinker vs. craft beer aficionado, I did some online research which revealed that 10 Barrel has had a number of award winners at the Great American Beer Fest in recent years. In 2015, P2P American Stout garnered a bronze medal and, in 2016, came back to win Gold. P2P stands for Power to the People – very catchy, as a lot of beer names are. Also in 2016, 10 Barrel’s Bend brewmaster Tonya Cornett’s Cucumber Crush German-style Sour Ale took home a Bronze.<\/p>\n

\"Andy<\/p>\n

On a warm summer’s day, the Cucumber Crush sounded interesting. I have yet to develop a taste for sours, but I thought it was\u00a0light, refreshing and just a tad sour, making it a a good introduction to that style. Andy and I chatted about 10 Barrel’s culture<\/a> of young people (aka millennials), action sports, living life to the fullest and having fun while you’re at it – all very evident on their dynamic website. Thus, their interest in drawing the surf community into the fold and increased focus on Southern California.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Craft brewers are banding together to cut off beer brands acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the largest brewer in the world. Make no mistake, this is a very heated issue.<\/p>\n

Brew Studs, a blog dedicated to craft beer, published a list of brands acquired<\/a> in part or completely by AB InBev and is calling on craft-beer fans to ditch them. Brew Studs contends that the\u00a0Brewers Association<\/a> defines American craft brewers as \u201csmall, independent and traditional<\/a>” thus, brewers who are fully owned by AB InBev or have sold off a significant portion of the company to AB InBev, no longer have this trio of qualifications and should be avoided.<\/p>\n

Included in the list:<\/p>\n

Goose Island |\u00a0Kona |\u00a0Omission |\u00a0Red Hook |\u00a0Widmer Bros. |\u00a0Blue Point |\u00a0Ten Barrel |\u00a0Elysian |\u00a0Golden Road |\u00a0Four Peaks |\u00a0Breckenridge |\u00a0Karbach |\u00a0Devil’s Advocate |\u00a0Wicked Weed<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

But AB InBev is not alone. As reported by Fortune<\/a>, a\u00a0bender of craft beer mergers and acquisitions has upended the annual Top 50 Craft Brewing list compiled by Brewers Association, with four brewers removed from the 2016 list because of recent deal making.\u00a0The craft brewers that were removed from the list due to M&A activity were Lagunitas Brewing (#6 in 2015; sold 50% stake to Heineken); Ballast Point (#11, sold to Constellation Brands), as well as Breckenridge Brewery (#47) and Four Peaks (#49) acquired by AB InBev.\u00a0To be a craft brewer, less than 25% of the brewery can be owned or controlled by a big alcohol beverage rival. The brewery must also report production of 6 million barrels of beer or less.<\/p>\n

Sales growth for the craft beer industry has outpaced the overall $106 billion category, so gaining a share of the niche market pie is understandable and just plain good business strategy. One interesting part of these acquisitions is that Big Beer corporations have allowed these craft brewers to retain their operational autonomy and focus more on providing resources and building up marketing and distribution channels.<\/p>\n

Andy emphasized that each of 10 Barrel’s breweries have retained their stable of brewmasters<\/a> who have creative freedom to continue with their signature styles. Their talent roster includes two females: Whitney Burnside in Portland and R&D Brewmaster Tonya Cornett in Bend, Brewmaster Jimmy Seifrit, and Head Brewer Bobby Jackson. Pub brewers: Shawn Kelso in Boise, Denver’s Kay Witkiewicz, and Ben Shirley in Denver complete the team. On their website, 10 Barrel Brewing boldly states “we have gotten bigger, but we will always stay the same”.<\/p>\n

My friends who are avid craft beer fans choose to support the many\u00a0small, local\u00a0 independent brewers. <\/strong><\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on the changing craft beer landscape?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Craft<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Surf enthusiasts, here’s a peek at the Proximity trailer and the who’s who of surfers featured.<\/p>\n