Beer, Blogs And Bias

Last month, beer reporter James Arndorfer broke a story that Anheuser-BuschCos. was readying a new brew called Budweiser American Ale. Tradepublications and Anheuser's hometown paper quickly chased the scoop.

With his dispatch, Mr. Arndorfer beat the giant brewer's ownpublicity machine to the punch. Making the story more irritating forAnheuser-Busch: Mr. Arndorfer's beer-news site is owned by Bud'sbiggest rival.

Mr. Arndorfer, 37 years old, is a full-time employee of Miller Brewing Co., the U.S. arm of SABMiller PLC. A former reporter for Advertising Age, he now runs Brew Blog, a free Web site dedicated to breaking news about beer.

What may be even more interesting, though, is what the article says about journalism. In an age in which journalists are whining that their jobs are disappearing, here's yet another example of where suddenly there are new types of jobs for journalists appearing every day. But, even more interesting, is a quote at the end of the article highlighted by David Card. It's from Harry Schuhmacher, the editor and publisher of a fee-based trade publication on the beer industry:

"I tell Miller you're subsidizing a free publication, and it hurts the trade press," he says. "But they don't care."...Mr. Schuhmacher adds that he writes fewer positive pieces about Miller than he once did because he knows Brew Blog will always publish the same stories.

Craft beers are still increasing their share in supermarkets. But at a slower rate than what we’ve seen recently.

Crafts gained 0.5 points of share for the four weeks ended April 12, according to beer sales statistics from Nielsen. That’s the smallest pickup since the April 4, 2007 period, when craft gained 0.5 points.

This slowdown in the growth rate has been expected. Crafts have been forced to raise prices to keep up with the skyrocketing costs of hops and other inputs. The average weighted price of a case of craft beer increased by 5.5 percent during the period, according to Nielsen’s beer market analysis. That’s more than twice the rate for the industry as a whole.

But the fact crafts have been able to maintain a healthy growth rate in face of these rising prices suggests crafts have legs.

Indeed, supermarkets are stocking more craft beers.