Craft brewers share recipes, brewing equipment
Dear Reader,
Lager Heads hopes you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Much to be thankful for.
A story this morning from the Denver Post discusses a cool brewing arrengement between the New Belgium and Elysian breweries. Spurred by “curiosity,” Colorado-based New Belgium (maker of Fat Tire) and the Seattle-based Elysian brewery have agreed to share their breweries with each other. From the story:
{It] is believed to be the first such venture among craft brewers. … They’ll make the other’s products, experiment with new beers and expand their distribution channels.
“It’s a unique model,” said Julia Herz, craft beer marketing director at the Boulder-based Brewers Association. “I see some clear advantages in melding the cultures of two brewers and seeing how their businesses interact.”
Interesting question: Will this sort of thing catch on in places such as St. Louis? The beer industry is seeing a lot of consolidation among the big boys (see MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev). Do the traditionally independent little guys need to team up more closely?
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Jeremiah McWilliams is a native Virginian who came to the Post-Dispatch in early 2007 to cover beer and other consumer products. He previously covered manufacturing for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Va. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University. 
I think we could see some consolidation around the country. It probably makes good sense for some of the breweries with small distribution areas to be able to increase their output without a lot of overhead of expanding their facility or investing in new equipment. In St. Louis, both O’Fallon and Schlafly already have their eyes set on their own expansions. I don’t think we’ll see a Schlofallon brand any time soon, but you never know.