Molson Coors and SABMiller announced yesterday that they’re merging their US operations making them a rather formidable competitor to Anheuser-Busch.

It makes me think that the U.S. brewing industry is rather hourglass shaped in a funny way. You’ve got 3, now 2, companies (MillerCoors, A-B), that create something like 90%+ of the beer sold in the U.S. That’s the top of the hourglass.

Then you’ve got 5 or 6 “(Large) Regional Breweries” that create the bulk of the craft beer sold around the U.S. (Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Yuengling, New Belgium, Dogfish Head maybe? I don’t have the numbers near me - I’m guessing.) That’s the middle neck.

Then you’ve got 1400 craft breweries and brewpubs that make something like 0.05% of the beer sold in the craft beer segment each.

Of course, I’m completely ignoring imports here, so it’s an imperfect image, but….

It makes me wonder - is growth a sign of failing quality? I certainly don’t buy Sierra Nevada or Sam Adams as much as I buy from smaller breweries. It may have a lot to do with shipping and storage for Regional Breweries. The unfortunate fact is that once your beer leaves your warehouse you have little-to-no control over how it’s stored and presented in the marketplace. Local beer tends (to me) to taste better - I’d rather have a Duck Rabbit over a Sam Adams - but is that just because it’s fresher?

More likely it’s perception, as both of my examples there are actually brewed in North Carolina, and I tend to like imports which, let’s face it, travel a hell of a lot farther than a bottle of Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada.

Certainly worth thinking about, though. At some point in your growth cycle as a brewery, do you have to fight against the perception that you’re one of the big boys and, thus, making lesser quality beer. I think you do. And I think we have the megabreweries to thank for it.