Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | February 19, 2024 | wbjournal.com Wachusett Brewing's acquisition is the latest signal of change in the cra beer industry, but a collaborative spirit remains a future PHOTO | MATT WRIGHT BY ERIC CASEY WBJ Staff Writer T he January purchase of Wachusett Brewing in Westminster, the oldest cra brewery in Central Massa- chusetts, by Finestkind, the cra beer parent company behind New Hampshire's Smuttynose Brewing, may have come as a surprise to the casual beer consumer. But for those in the know, this acqui- sition was just the latest example of the changing cra beer landscape. As the cra boom of decades prior fades into memory, operators in the space are finding themselves faced with Craf ting a number of challenges. Discussions of mergers and acquisitions, changes in consumer preferences, and the per- sistence encroachment of some of the world's largest alcohol companies are becoming more commonplace. e simple narrative proclaiming the cra beer industry is dying may fit nicely into a headline or television news chyron, but it doesn't begin to explain the complexities of the Central Massa- chusetts cra beer space. Operators throughout the region, from companies brewing tens of thousands of barrels a year, such as Charlton-based Tree House Brewing, to the smallest of micropubs, still sell their creative products to legions of fans and customers. Others haven't been so fortunate, as businesses like Milk Room Brewing in Rutland and River Styx Brewing in Fitchburg have closed their doors for good. Today's challenges are far from insurmountable, but it's clear as the cra market matures, operators themselves will have to evolve, while remembering the collaborative spirit that helped make the industry what it is today. Crafty conglomerates e Brewers Association, a Colorado- based national trade group of more 5,400 beermakers, has a straightforward definition of how to qualify for its designation as an independent cra brewery: the brewery must have annual production of 6 million barrels or less, and it must be independent, meaning less than 25% of the brewery is owned or controlled by a alcohol industry member that is not itself a cra brewer. e official certification logo provid- ed by the association to approved cra entities may be something beef aficio- nados look for, but the casual consumer is more likely to pay attention to flashy packaging or amusing names of some brews. ere's little stopping a brew- ery from calling itself as cra even if it doesn't make the association's definition. "ere's a lot of cray brands out on the shelves that dupe folks," said Katie Stinchon, executive director of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild, a Fram- ingham-based organization representing 140+ breweries in the state. Much of this duping comes from the biggest alcohol companies. Since the emergence of the cra beer scene in the 1990s, companies like Illinois-based Molson Coors and Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev have been producing products under smaller brand names, utilizing packaging and market- ing to appear more akin to something created in a garage by hipsters than by a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. "ere's mega-corporations putting out cra-like products or simply pur- Mass. craft breweries '11 0 50 100 150 200 '22 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20 45 203 Number of craft breweries Source: Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2022 Mark Gawlak (left) and Dan Whalen are the co-founders of Courthouse Brew in Worcester, one of the newest breweries in the region's evolving craft beer scene.

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