Movie Review: Beer Wars
Last night, I went to see the one-night-only showing of Beer Wars written, directed, and produced by Anat Baron. This was personally a very eye-opening documentary about the never ending battle for market share between craft brewers and the “Big 3″ mega brewers – Anheuser Busch, Miller, and Coors. Hence, the title of the film. The modern day story of David and Goliath displays the drive and passion of craft brewers against the “evil”, massive marketing firepower of the huge and mighty beer conglomerates which have 78% of the market share as a group.
The showing starts of with a little bit of beer industry history and the beginnings of the “Big 3″ as they began their rise to the top, most notably Anheuser Busch. With less than 50 breweries in 1978, the United States now boasts one of the largest selections of beers produced among the almost 1500 breweries today. This resulted in around $97 billion dollars in sales last year. Although domestic beer sales are down, craft beer and imports continue to show growth.
There were 2 main stories weaved into the movie that supported Anat’s identification of the constant struggles that craft brewers face on a day to day basis. These two “lead roles” were played by Sam Caglione, the founder and owner of Doghead Fish Brewery and Rhonda Kallman, founder of New Century Brewing Company. Each were at different stages of their business, yet their stories provided a look into the hurdles that are encountered by craft brewers.
Sam’s difficulties related to start of and eventually the large success of his microbrewery and the pains of building a larger production facility. For example, when he started building on his first brewery, it was illegal to run that type of business in Massachusetts. Well, he didn’t realize this until he was close to completing construction. However, he petitioned and mixed it up with local politicians to get legislation passed in the 11th hour before opening his doors. More recently, it’s the risk of having 9 million dollars on the line to expand his facility and production along with being dinged by petty legal papers served by Anheuser Busch regarding the way he labels his types of beer. Ridiculous.
Some of Rhonda’s challenges are the same as Sam’s but she is beating the streets self promoting a new caffeinated beer – Moonshot. One of the similar clashes that they both face is shelf space/placement in retail establishments. This is thee battleground. It seems unbelievable unfair the way this “real estate” is claimed. Although she was co-founder of Sam Adams along the side of Jim Koch, her biggest task is finding the investment money to take her product to the next level of getting her beer recognized. The viewer also gets a glimpse at the strain that her hectic schedule puts on her family emotionally and financially.
Along with these narratives and Anat’s own quests, there is additional commentary weaved in by Greg Koch, founder of Stone Brewing, Jim Koch, founder of Sam Adam’s, Kim Jordan, co-founder and CEO of New Belgium Brewery, Maureen Ogle, beer historian and author of Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer, Todd Alstrom, founder of BeerAdvocate, and Charlie Papazian, President of the American Homebrewer’s Association among many other things in the beer world. They provided insight to some of the big topics of the documentary including: the three tier system, beer in politics, and advertising.
There are many great facts, figures, and secrets revealed in the movie and I could on and on about what really goes on in the industry. But, you really should go see it for yourself. If you are a craft beer drinker, home brewer, or a casual history buff, I highly recommend checking this movie out. After seeing Beer Wars, it has strengthened my support of the craft brewery movement. Enjoy!
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.