Schlafly brewery cracks top 50 list of craft brewers
St. Louis Brewery Inc., maker of Schlafly beer, made its debut on the Brewers Association’s list of the top 50 American craft brewers. The list (see it here) from the Colorado-based trade group ranks independent breweries by liquid sold. The Schlafly folks came in at No. 50 on the list of 50. Boulevard Brewing Co. of Kansas City came in at No. 8.
“We can celebrate this weekend,” notes Dan Kopman, chief operating officer at St. Louis Brewery. The Schlafly brewers are getting ready for the company’s Repeal of Prohibition Beer Festival this Saturday at the Bottleworks in Maplewood.
There are challenges in the craft beer industry, including price increases for raw materials and supplies and tough competition for tap handles and shelf space. But Schlafly is not the only craft brewer celebrating these days. The category continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace than in years past.
“Craft brewers continue to have success and generate excitement behind the flavorful beer movement,” Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, said in a statement.
(8 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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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. 
Congrats to the best brewer in STL! Been making great beer since 1991! Now, keep it up till you are up on top of KC’s Boulevard!
If you compare the 2007 and 2008 reports, though, the only brewery that doesn’t show up is Capital Brewing of Middleton WI. Only with A-B selling to Inbev thus allowing Schlafly to take on some new sales did they expand. What did they do, go from #51 to #50? Ooh, what a milestone.
I’m more impressed with Kona, who went from #24 to #14.
If Schlafly makes great beer and subsequently benefits when people give them a try because they want to pass on AB that’s not their fault. I think it’s great that with all of the growth in the macro industry that Schlafly has been able to keep up with other breweries. Is Kona’s jump all that impressive if it’s aided by the fact they are owned by AB?
Considering Widmer sales declined during the same time period as Kona’s rose, I think that A-B ownership doesn’t matter. Besides, if an A-B wholesaler gets paid more to push Bud Light and Michelob over Kona, they’ll push Bud Light and Michelob. Kona’s growth came from Kona.
Kona may in fact make great beer, but you can’t deny the distribution power of AB! As far as Widmer’s own benefits from being associated with AB, I believe they have been growing steadily, but a SIGNIFICANT portion of their 2008 losses were due to merger costs. I can’t believe Kona or Widmer would strike a deal with AB if they didn’t think they would get their brews pushed more. And with the rise in popularity of craft relative to micro brews I guarantee AB would love to push the Kona and Widmer micros to tap into that part of the market.
Read Jeremiah’s article on April 7 titled “Craft Brewers Alliance tries to fight through the tough times.” Also take a look at how much Widmer gets now than it did a year ago in St. Louis. I think you may find that AB Inbev doesn’t need to push Widmer anymore. They want to push AB’s core products.
Ya I saw this on Monday. Probably more like #60 to #50. This thing has taken off like a rocket! That is not counting the large increase in sales just this year while other micros sales have not grown nearly as much. Schlafly has a large market to work with that is largely untapped in this field. There are really no micro brews south of Chicago in Illinois. Kentucky and Tennessee are pretty much barren as far as micros go also. Have at it! This honor gives them national exposure now.
Mmmmm, Bell’s. Bell’s Two Hearted is the tastiest.
Followed by Schlafy Outmeal Stout and Summit Extra Pale Ale.
Keep up the good work Schlafly.
Congratulations!
very nice work, Boulevard Saison Brett and the Double Wide, rock!
But wait! If all the hoosiers are boycotting AB-I, why didn’t Schlafly rocket straight to #1? I know why - because the hoosier “boycott” is an EPIC FAIL.