The Brewers Association and Symphony IRI Group, both of which track brewing industry statistics, reported dollar sales for craft beer being up 15 percent for the first half of 2011, meaning that craft beers are on pace to achieve their sixth consecutive year of double-digit dollar sales growth in supermarkets. The two organizations also announced that craft beer has, for the first time, reached a 10 percent dollar share of the overall beer category in supermarkets — nearly double what it was in 2005. The craft segment seems destined to reach 10% overall market share sooner rather than later.

The top 15 brands account for 40 percent of all craft dollar sales. The best-selling brand is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Canned craft beer offerings are continuing to grow, with 12-ounce cans up 121 percent over 2010. And we’re talking about assertively flavored craft beer, too. The India pale ale category has passed pale ale to become the number two selling craft beer style in supermarkets. In the beer-loving state of Oregon, craft beer has outsold premium brands since October 31, 2010. The big guys are nervous.

The craft beer industry is a job creator, too! Craft breweries continue to grow despite many challenges. They currently provide an estimated 100,000 jobs and contribute significantly to the U.S. economy. Beer production by craft brewers for the first half of 2010 was an estimated 4.6 million barrels, compared with 4.2 million barrels sold in the first half of 2009.

America now has 1,790 breweries, according to the Brewers Association, an increase of 165 breweries since June 2010. The BA also tracks breweries in planning as an indicator of potential new entrants into the craft category, and it lists 725 breweries in planning today, compared with 389 a year ago. Not all of them will make it to market, but the numbers are astounding and bode well for the continued growth of the craft beer segment.

The Celebrator Beer News is honored to have been a part of, and an observer of, this amazing growth over the last nearly quarter century. With our next issue, the Celebrator will celebrate 24 years of spreading the word about good beer. Many thanks to our dedicated subscribers and readership for their support of our efforts over the years. We’re looking forward to covering the beer story in the decades ahead. The great beer we all now enjoy and celebrate is our reward.

A 2011 Retrospective

What a year it was! We began 2011 without the services of our longtime San Diego associate editor, Rich Link, who retired after 22 years on the beer beat. Later, we lost longtime correspondent (and 1998 Beerdrinker of the Year) Bobby Bush, who covered the southeastern part of beer country for us. We welcomed the beer-savvy writing talents of Brandon Hernández, who now covers the vibrant beer scene in San Diego County. Check out his report on San Diego Beer Week in this issue.

The iconic Brickskeller closed in Washington, D.C., but its sister beer-focused restaurant, RFD (Regional Food and Drink), continues to bring the good stuff to the nation’s capital. John Hickenlooper, founder of Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver, entrepreneur brewpub creator and eventual mayor of Denver, moved up to become governor of Colorado (go, John!) and still had time to address the brewers at the GABF awards ceremony this year. Beer guys rule — literally.

In 2011 we saw the maturing of Beer Weeks all over America. Philly Beer Week set the bar high some four years ago, and now almost every major (and some not-so-major) city has a beer-focused week of its own promoting great craft beer.

The Celebrator hosted a highly successful Brews Cruise to Alaska, in which some 80 beer lovers enjoyed tastings, lectures, dinners and tours on a cruise ship from Seattle to the Inside Passage and back. More beer cruises are planned for 2012.

The Celebrator also covered the Kona Brewers Festival, which was wiped out by the Japanese tsunami but managed to open a day later in a new location — a testament to brewer tenacity, to be sure.

Passings

In 2011 it was our sad duty to report the passing and document the lives and times of far too many contributors to world beer culture. In the Celebrator’s February/March 2011 issue, we reported on the death of Bruce Nichols in late 2010. Nichols, cofounder of Philly Beer Week and sponsor of Michael Jackson’s legendary beer lectures at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Anthropology and Archeology, died unexpectedly.

Legendary publican Don Younger, founder of the Horse Brass Pub in Portland, Ore., passed away on January 31 after a short illness. There was a tremendous outpouring of love and affection for him, including a memorial gathering attended by beer lovers from around the country and the world.

“Rocket” Rod Romanak, homebrew evangelist, died on February 4 from complications of melanoma on the island of Hawaii.

Another beer legend, Pierre Celis, died on April 9. Mr. Celis literally revived a lost beer style in creating his Hoegaarden Wit beer, first in the tiny village of Hoegaarden, Belgium, and later at his Celis Brewery in Austin, Texas.

New York City beer pioneer Ray Deter, founder of d.b.a., died in a bicycle accident on July 3 in the city he loved. A huge New Orleans–style funeral parade paid tribute to his many contributions to beer in New York and New Orleans.

Yet another pub pioneer, David Farnworth, founder of Lucky Baldwins Pub in Pasadena, Calif., and several sister pubs, died just recently. Please see our remembrance in this issue.

These giants of beer culture made enormous contributions to what we now think of as commonplace: great beer served properly by knowledgeable staff in comfortable beer-centric surroundings. Give some thought and thanks to them and to what they left behind, which we can enjoy every day.