Craft Brewers Conference 2019 - Denver, Colorado

I attended the CBC in Denver, Colorado to learn more about the brewing industry and the challenges they face. The conference had over 1,000 exhibitors, 14,000 attendees and 93 seminars so there was no shortage of things to do.

At the Welcome and Keynote address, Bob Pease, the President and CEO of the Brewers Association, shared some interesting stats about the brewing industry.

• Breweries created over 15,000 jobs in 2018.
• In the year 2000 there were ~1,000 craft breweries in the US
• In the year 2010 there were ~2,300 craft breweries in the US
• In the year 2015 there were ~ 6,000 craft breweries in the US
• In the year 2018 there were ~7,400 craft breweries in the US
• The trend is continuing to increase, with roughly 4 breweries opening a day in the US.

Bob Pease introduced the keynote speaker, Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer for Iron Maiden. While his music career is what he is most known for, he is also an entrepreneur, Pilot and brewer. He gave a great address where his focus was on integrity, creating a brewing experience instead of just selling beer, staying craft and creating fans, not customers.

“A customer is a person who can walk away. You don’t want customers. You want fans. You want friends.”

He focused on creating an experience for your patrons to turn them into fans. Don’t just sell beer, sell the passion behind the beer. Food pairings, beer tastings, educational tours, inviting speakers in to educate customers etc.

The trade show floor was packed with over 1,000 exhibitors showing everything from bottling machines to my personal favorite, Beer Paws. Beer Paws is a company that specializes in making “beer” for dogs, as well as treats using spent grain from breweries.

R. S. Quality will be exhibiting next year, so look for us in San Antonio!