Boston magazine is out with a long, excellent feature about Jim Koch’s struggle to keep his once world-beating Sam Adams brand relevant in the face of a changing craft beer culture–a culture Koch helped invent. (There are more than 3,000 breweries in the US today, according to writer Andy Crouch.) Sam Adams is a billion dollar brand and Koch is worth a billion all by himself, but below are ten craft beer brewers that presumably keep him up at night. These are the craft beers that have young beer lovers–and youth rules the segment–ordering more.
According to the Beer Advocate, here are the top ten. None of them come close to selling what Sam Adams sells, but they signal a change in the landscape:
Heady Topper
The Alchemist
American Double / Imperial IPA
Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout
Goose Island Beer Co.
American Double / Imperial Stout
Barrel-Aged Abraxas
Perennial Artisan Ales
American Double / Imperial Stout
Bourbon Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Dark Lord
3 Floyds Brewing Co.
Russian Imperial Stout
Pliny The Younger
Russian River Brewing Company
American Double / Imperial IPA
Pliny The Elder
Russian River Brewing Company
American Double / Imperial IPA
Mornin’ Delight
Toppling Goliath Brewing Company
American Double / Imperial Stout
Double Sunshine IPA
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
American Double / Imperial IPA
Founders CBS Imperial Stout
Founders Brewing Company
American Double / Imperial Stout
