It's Not Necessarily Miller Time Anymore

Imported beer sales are up in the Midwestern United States. This interesting article attributes the growing interest in imported beer to the globalization of beer. I suppose the theory goes that whatever you put in front of people they will buy. I can't deny that there's a certain amount of truth to that.

But take this theory for a test drive before settling on that one. What if Midwestern beer drinkers are simply growing up? The micro brew craze of the mid nineties left us with at least one, and usually more, microbreweries or brewpubs in every major city in the US. After prolonged exposure (a good thing) to a wide variety of beer styles, perhaps the reason for this increase in sales of imported beer is a growing demand among Midwestern beer drinkers for a wider variety of quality beer.

Whether the "if you distribute it they will buy" interpretation of these numbers or educated drinker theory is true, this is a delicate situation for beer but one that I think is mostly positive. When breweries consolidate and globalize smaller brewers can suffer or see their product become watered down by the corporation that bought them. But when more and a wider variety of beers are available in more places it can foster innovation as craft brewers are inspired by the new imports to try new brews or improve the quality of the beers that they already make.