Why Do The Big Guys Fail Craft Beer?

Interesting find from the Sun's Kasper on Tap blog. Beer writer Rob Kasper notes:

Meanwhile, the Miller Lite Brewers Collection, an attempt to mix craft and light beers, is all but dead. A spokesman in Milwaukee said the brewers collection -- a blonde ale, a wheat and amber--- had been "suspendend" in August and there are no plans to restart it.

Now, Coors does make the wildly popular "Blue Moon" Belgian wit styled beer, so there's hope for the big guys, but I'm curious what people think about why the macros fail.

I know there are stories out there about the hilariously arrogant attitudes of the large beer producers, and that craft beer drinkers are also notoriously skeptical and perhaps hostile to the big guys. However, the big guys should still be able to push out at least a small handful of broadly accepted craft beers.

In many industries, the phrase "content is king" defines success. I hunch this is the problem with the macros' attempts into micro beer. Look at the generally bland offerings named above -- a blonde, a wheat and an amber. Those are all solid styles but none that are likely to excite the macro crowd or the micro crowd.

If I were at Budweiser and I was serious about making a few new beers, I'd be aiming for that which is not safe. Belgian styles (other than the wit), a variety of porters, an American macro stout on nitro with some unique flavor to differentiate from Guinness but with the same cascading effect. Lambics. You name it, try it. Not everything will sell, but it will look like you're serious and finally acknowledge the value in painfully crafted but flavorful beer.

Now, maybe they've already considered this. Hell, it'd be corporate suicide if they haven't. Maybe the numbers aren't there, as far as their business model and plant is concerned. I don't know. But a lot of beer drinkers are probably curious to find out. Transparency might not be such a harmful thing in this situation, let people know what you've tried and why you've said no to various projects.

Perhaps an effort to go open source, and let a small army of beer drinkers and brewers storm the castle and lend their ideas and expertise about smaller volume business, sustainable brewing, local brewing and so on. Maybe even build partnerships, buy and distribute hops at discounted prices, work with breweries to be less a force of competition driving them out (Wal Mart?) but a way to grow their business in parallel.

Its strange that a few incredibly powerful companies atop the beer industry with all their resources hasn't successfully tapped into the craft beer market yet. That can't last forever, but in the meantime its overdue.