Collaborations: A craft beer industry anomaly and tradition
Collaborations have always been a big part of the craft beer world. But it’s a style of business that isn’t nearly as commonplace in other industries. So why is something that seems so antithetical to competing and crushing your competition, so valued with beer? And why are we leaning into collaboration culture rather than shying away? Here are a couple reasons:
1. Collaborations tend to produce higher quality beer
There’s a saying, "A rising tide floats all boats,” which is to say that as more and more breweries make great beer, everyone benefits. This has been the case with craft beer for over a decade, and that's why there has been explosive growth in the number of breweries. There are now 8,000+ independent craft breweries in the US. We'll see if this trend continues, but for now the spirit of collaboration is helping us all make better beer by sharing knowledge rather than hoarding it.
2. Collaborations can be brand builders
Building a brand is very important in business and even more so with craft beer. Especially as we see the market crowding more and more, it's important for a brewery to strongly communicate their brand. Working with another brewery exposes a brand to another brewery’s fans, which is something that they may have not discovered without working together.
3. Collaborations are a place for continual education.
As a brewer of nearly two decades, you'd think I know everything there is to know about beer. That, of course, couldn't be further from the truth. I'm a believer that we never stop learning and if you want to be the best at your craft, you need to always challenge yourself. As we work with our friends on collaborations, we are bound to learn new techniques, procedures and recipe development ideas. I've learned more from my colleagues than I have in textbooks. And since our industry is so young by typical standards, there are new ideas being discovered all the time. I don't want to miss out on that.
4. Brewing is fun! Brewing with friends is more fun.
We work in an amazing industry where, in essence, I turned a hobby into a viable business that supports my family. Not many people get to do that. However, the beer business is no Silicon Valley. If someone tries to break into the beer world with a 'get rich quick' mentality, they are going to be sorely mistaken. Instead, making beer is fun, challenging, and fulfilling.
There are likely countless other reasons that brewers today want to collaborate with their friends, and I could write a lot of them here, but you probably wish I would just finish this post and list the upcoming collaborations that we’re working on so you can seek them out in 2020. Here's a short list of what we have coming:
Ninkasi Brewing - The Distance. Bourbon barrel aged Imperial stout with cocoa nibs, cherries and coconut brewed for the 2020 KLCC fest in February.
Fort George - Malt Gauntlet and Songbird. Malt Gauntlet is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with cinnamon and vanilla expected to release early February for Stout Month. Songbird is a peach sour releasing soon after Malt Gauntlet!
Breakside Brewing - Bier de Coupage (blending young and old beer). This is a beer made for Breakside's 10th anniversary. It will be all draft and the pilot batch is expected in March.
Pfriem-Bourbon barrel aged blended beer due in 2020. We're working on a project to age a blond strong beer and blend a strong stout in after aging.
The Bier Stein-celebrating 15 years of Eugene's Bier Stein with a Red White and Blue wild ale (Raspberry, Blueberry, Vanilla). Due in July.
Coldfire- TBD. Due for Eugene Beer Week in June.
Alesong Anniversary IPA. Friend TBD. Our annual canned IPA brewed in collaboration with one of our respected friends, because we can. Out in June and July.
And more yet to be planned!
Brewing collaboration beers is challenging when you consider travel, the back and forth communication, and figuring out who 'owns' the beer. But at the same time, they are beneficial to your quality and knowledge, they can increase sales, and most importantly, they are a whole lot of fun. If you can't have fun, well, time the find a new industry to be a part of. For me and Alesong, we'll continue to collaborate.
